The Australian gold rushes changed the convict colonies into more progressive cities with the influx of free immigrants. Before the end of the year, the gold rush had spread to many other parts of the state where gold had been found, not just to the west but also to the south and north of Sydney. Hargraves was offered rewards by the Colony of New South Wales and the Colony of Victoria.
Hargraves had been to the Californian goldfields and had learned new gold prospecting techniques such as panning and cradling. The first gold rush in Australia began in May 1851 after prospector Edward Hargraves with others claimed to have discovered payable gold near Orange, at a site called Ophir. Īfter the California Gold Rush began in 1848, many people went there from Australia, so the New South Wales government sought approval from the British Colonial Office for the exploitation of mineral resources, and offered rewards for finding gold. Gold had been found several times before, but the colonial government of New South Wales ( Victoria did not become a separate colony until 1 July 1851) had suppressed the news out of the fear that it would reduce the workforce and destabilise the economy. Prospector Edward Hargraves claimed to have discovered payable gold near OrangeĬhanged the convict colonies into more progressive cities with the influx of free immigrants Western Australia joined Federationĭuring the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered.
Significant numbers of workers (both from other areas within Australia and from overseas) relocated to areas in which gold had been discovered Gold diggings, Ararat, Victoria, by Edward Roper, 1854
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