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Australian Gold Rush History Educational Information
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Gold Rush History Student Worksheets
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 Page 1 ~ 1850s Gold Rush Overview Much of the information about the goldrush is anecdotal. It was a period of history when few records were kept and even those records were often incomplete. The majority of information about this period has been passed down orally from generation to generation. Much unearthed information is in danger now of being permanently lost. The 90 year olds of today are the last generation left who sat around and listened to the old stories instead of watching television. 
The existence of most of the mines in this area were never recorded by the Mines Department. The goldrushes are a rich and fascinating part of our history and were highlighted by the exploits and deeds of those pioneers. It is now up to us, their descendents, to preserve what is known of these important times.There were many reports of gold in Australia prior to the 1840s but they were always suppressed by the Colonial Secretary or landowners because the powerful graziers believed a goldrush would cause the loss of all their cheap labour. By the late 1840s, however, the situation had changed. The English Government, concerned about the security of Australia, was attempting to increase the population. It was worried that the French or Russians were capable of invading the colony as both those nations had large fleets in the area. The Crimean War was imminent. And a declaration of war between Russia and England would make Australia a legitimate target. But their efforts to populate were also being thwarted by the Californian goldrush, which was luring diggers to America, and the growing opposition to the transportation of convicts. Edward Hargreaves was one of the first diggers to return from America, disappointed at what he had seen there. Hargreaves is often regarded as the father of the Australian Gold Rush. On his return from California, he saw geological similarities in his own district of Bathurst. It is believed that shepherds, the Tom Brothers and Lister, found the gold Edward Hargreaves later presented to the Colonial Secretary. Hargreaves is also attributed with the invention of the cradle and the discovery of gold in Ballarat. Hargreaves was in the right place at the right time. The Bathurst gold was the catalyst for a large wave of migration and a source of revenue for England who made sure all the gold ended up back in the old country. The "epicentre" of the goldrush in New South Wales was the Bathurst district and with the word spreading, hopeful prospectors started to arrive from the British Isles, Europe, China and America. The rush started in a frenzy at Ophir but the easy gold was soon taken and diggers began to drift around searching for new prospects. Diggers returning from Ophir and the Turon informed the Colonial Secretary of their gold finds in Moruya and Mogo in 1851. These areas are considered part of the Araluen Field which roughly extends from Nerrigundah to Majors Creek and across to Nelligen and takes in the wide spread area of Mogo. The Araluen Field proved to be one of the three principal gold producing regions in Australia at the time and 30,000 diggers worked the area. This goldrush was mainly the result of alluvial gold being found in the waterways. It had been washed there millions of years earlier as the result of extraordinary climatic conditions which existed at the time of the ice ages. Some of these old waterways were still easily accessible and some had been deeply buried as the result of subsequent geological events. Therefore, the vast majority of alluvial gold has never been recovered. Mogo was not an area where nugget gold was found (the largest nugget, it is believed, weighed only 9oz), and most of the gold found was called mustard gold which is quite fine as the name implies. 
Approximately 7,000 Chinese worked the area and tended to live in groups, preferring to commute to the diggings. They also worked as teams and were considered to be highly efficient in extracting gold. Many of the Chinese living in the area resided at Chinamans Point, upstream from Batemans Bay on the Clyde river.A local digger, Doc. Ladmore, sold 8 pounds of gold that assayed out at 23.68 carats (24 carats is pure gold). It is considered to be some of the purest gold ever found. That discovery allowed Ladmore to purchase a stamp battery that was used to crush ore for all the small mines that could not justify a stamper of their own. In 1899 Albert Sebbens found a 4.5 oz.nugget in this region and during the depression a Mr. Christina found a nugget weighing 7 oz. More recently a nugget was found in the district that supposedly weighed 9 oz. During the gold rush the price of gold was 3 pounds ($6) per ounce. Average weekly wages just before the rush were 3-4 shillings (30-40c). Estimates of diggers' earnings during that period vary but a local survey taken around Majors Creek in the 1860s, indicated earnings at being around 4 pounds ($8) per week. It was quite common for diggers to find up to 3 ounces per week. From this it is easy to see why the towns and farms quickly became deserted as people from all walks of life bought pans and picks and headed for the bush in search of their fortunes. Women made up only a small part of the population of the goldfields. It is variously estimated that during the goldrush women comprised less than 20% of the population. They generally stayed at home with the children. With the prevalence of disease in the gold towns, it was an extremely unhealthy place for children, and children living in the diggings had a very high mortality rate as the result of diseases that we, fortunately, now only read about in history books. The late 1850s and the early 1860s brought in a gradual change to life on the diggings. After the first rush, with all its excitement, families began to drift into the mining areas and a sense of normality started to return to their lives. Diggers who had rushed around trying to find all the easily accessible gold, now settled in the mining districts they had come to regard as home. The towns took on an appearance of more permanency. Churches and other public buildings started appearing and a sense of civic pride became apparent. The residents of these towns believed in their future as they believed that gold would always be a viable industry. 
Not until Prime Minister Whitlam (1972-75) repealed the law, it was compulsory for all gold to be sold to the government, or its agents, at the dictated price within 10 days of discovery. This law was put in place in an attempt to stop people taking gold out of the country. The Government also made all gold discoveries tax free in an attempt to encourage mining. Hard rock mining followed the alluvial rush and around the Mogo area most of the gold was found in quartz reefs. Silver and copper were also found in the district and, at Moruya, one mine was yielding 3.5 oz of gold and 53 oz of silver to the ton. Some of the more complex concentrated ores were sent to England for smelting. Prior to 1821 the English currency had coins made out of the precious metals (gold, silver and copper). The gold standard was used from 1821 to 1914. All gold was stored by the government who then issued currency units which were of less value than the gold they represented. The currency units became promissory notes, much the same as cheques. As you may know, when a cheque received is taken to the bank, the money is given to the receiver from the bank account of the promisor. So if a $20 note was taken to the central bank (Reserve Bank), technically they would hand over 20 dollars worth of gold. Some coins, made of valuable metals, were still used in that period, but, for example, gold used in a "gold coin" was of less value than the face value of the coin. The gold and silver in storage (e.g. Fort Knox) gave stability to the currencies. The value of gold, silver and other metals were still used as a basis for currencies up to 1984. In 1984 the government "floated" the dollar and for the first time in centuries, gold was not the basis of our monetary system. This meant the final curtain had fallen on most reef mining in Australia. Binbimbie was the last operating mine in the Mogo area and it closed in 1984. So ended an era of reef mining that had lasted over 100 years. |
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Discover Australian Gold Rush History at Mogo
between Batemans Bay and Moruya on the South Coast of NSW Australia.
Australian East Coast Tourism Website