The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surface

by Thomas Wallace Knox

The first discoverer of gold in Australia is believed to have been the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, who, in 1841, found gold in the mountainous regions to the west of the Vale of Clwyd, in New South Wales; in 1844, he exhibited a specimen of gold in quartz to the then Governor, Sir George Gipps, and others. But the subject was not followed up, “as much from considerations of the penal character of the colony, as from general ignorance of the value of such an indication.” Mr. E. H. Hargreaves returned to Sydney from California in 1850, for the express purpose, as he states, of searching for gold; and on the 12th of February, 1851, he succeeded in finding gold at Summer Hill Creek, in New South Wales. This discovery afterwards led to gold being found in other places in that colony, and to the discovery of the gold-fields of Victoria.

SEPARATION OF VICTORIA FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.

Previous to this time, however, the colony of Victoria was a dependency of New South Wales, and a strong feeling had gained ground that it suffered in consequence. Complaints were made that the expenditure of Government moneys in the district was not equal to the amount of revenue yielded by the taxes levied and lands sold within its borders. The distance from the capital was also found to operate injuriously to the interests of the colonists, and a cry was raised for separation. The demand was, as a matter of course, resisted by New South Wales, but as the agitation was carried on with increased activity, it was at last yielded to by the Home authorities. The vessel bearing the intelligence arrived on the 11th of November 1850. The news soon spread, and great was the satisfaction of the colonists. Rejoicings were kept up in Melbourne for five consecutive days, on three of which not even a newspaper was published, and on the night of one the city was illuminated. Before, however, the separation could be legally accomplished, it was necessary that an act should be passed in New South Wales, to settle details in connection with the establishment of a Legislature in the new colony, and that sundry other observances should be gone through. The requisite forms were at length given effect to: on the 1st of July 1851, a day which has ever since been scrupulously observed as a public holiday, it was publicly announced that the Port Philip district of New South Wales had been made a separate colony, to be called Victoria, after the name of the Queen of England.

In little more than a month after the establishment of Victoria as an independent colony, it became generally known that rich deposits of gold existed within its borders. Two years and a half previously a lump of gold had been exhibited in the shop of a jeweler at Melbourne, named Brentani, which it was said had been found in the locality of the Pyrenees Ranges by a shepherd named Chapman. This created some little excitement at the time, but as the man could never point out the place where he had found the specimen, and indeed soon deserted a small searching party he had undertaken to guide to the spot, it was readily supposed he was an impostor, and had obtained the gold by melting some articles of jewelry he had stolen, and so the belief in the existence of a goldfield gradually grew weaker. The discovery of gold, however, in New South Wales, by Hargreaves, in February 1851, caused numbers to emigrate to that colony. This being considered detrimental to the interests of Victoria, a public meeting was held in Melbourne on the 9th of June, at which a “gold-discovery committee” was appointed, which was authorized to offer rewards to any that should discover gold in remunerative quantities within the colony.

The following is a short statement of the order in which the Select Committee appointed by the Legislative Council to consider claims for rewards for gold discoveries in Victoria, placed the various claimants in their report dated 10th of March 1854:

HISTORY OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY.

The Hon. W. Campbell discovered gold in March 1850, at Clunes; concealed the fact at the time from the apprehension that its announcement might prove injurious to the squatter on whose run the discovery was made, but mentioned it in a letter to a friend on the 10th of June, and afterwards on the 5th of July 1851, which friend, at Mr. Campbell’s request, reported the matter to the gold-discovery committee on the 8th of July. Mr. L. J. Michel, and six others, discovered gold in the Yarra Ranges, at Anderson’s Creek, which they communicated to the gold-discovery committee on the 5th of July. Mr. James Esmond, a California digger, and three others, obtained gold in the quartz rocks of the Pyrenees, and made the discovery public on the 5th of July. Dr. George Bruhn, a German physician, found indications of gold in quartz “two miles from Parker’s station,” in April 1851, and forwarded specimens to the gold committee on the 30th of June. Mr. Thomas Hiscock found gold at Buninyong on the 8th of August, and communicated the fact to the editor of the Geelong Advertiser on the 10th of the same month. This discovery led to that of the Ballarat gold-fields. Mr. C. T. Peters, a hut-keeper at Barker’s Creek, and three others, found gold at Specimen Gully on the 20th of July; worked secretly to the 1st of September, then published the account. This led to the discovery of the numerous gold-fields about Mount Alexander, and afterwards to those of Bendigo.

The deposits were found to be richer and to extend over a wider area than any which had been discovered in New South Wales. Their fame soon spread to the adjacent colonies, and thousands hastened to the spot, desirous of participating in the newly found treasures. When the news reached home, crowds of emigrants from the United Kingdom hurried to these shores. Inhabitants of other European countries quickly joined in the rush. Americans from the Atlantic States were not long in following. Stalwart Californians left their own gold-yielding rocks and placers, to try their fortunes at the southern Eldorado. Last of all, swarms of Chinese arrived, eager to unite in the general scramble for wealth.

TROUBLES ABOUT MINING LICENSES.

The payment for a license to dig for gold was first fixed at £1 10s. per month, and this was afterwards reduced to £1 10s. per quarter. The license fee was not seriously objected to in the early days of the gold-fields, when gold was found in large quantities by almost all who sought it, but in the course of a year or two, the number of gold diggers had increased so enormously that many were unsuccessful, and the license fee even in its reduced state became a heavy burden. The mode of collecting the tax by means of armed troopers, who surrounded parties of miners at work, and arrested all without licenses, was very obnoxious, and led to resistance.