The Gold Rush!!!! By Joshua

When was gold first discovered in Australia? Edward Hargraves became famous because he first discovered gold in Bathurst, NSW in 1851 which started the Australian Gold Rush. Edward Hargraves called his goldfield Ophir, named after the Biblical City. Edward Hargraves was paid 10,000 pounds as a reward for being the first person to find gold.

What was the largest ever gold nugget named? It was named the Welcome Stranger which was discovered by John Deason and Richard Oates in 1869. The Welcome Stranger nugget weighed 2268 ounces (64kg or 296.72g) – that’s as heavy as an adult!!!

The Goldfields of Victoria Ballarat and Bendigo were known around the world for its rich gold. Over 22 million ounces of gold have been taken from its Gold Mines – that’s 623,689kg!!!

Famous people of the Gold Rush Peter Lalor was an Irish immigrant, born on 5th February 1827 who led the Gold Miners in the Eureka Stockade. He lost his left arm in the battle. After the battle he worked in Politics starting as a member for Ballarat in November 1855. Find facts about Sir Charles Hotham

The Gold Mining License The Government introduced the license to make sure every person who wanted to look for gold could be taxed (it’s like a fee). The license tax had to be paid by the goldfield workers (also known as “Diggers”) even if they found nothing. The Diggers hated paying for the license tax. The license tax was collected by the Gold Commission’s Police force who were very cruel and used to beat Diggers for the money

The Eureka Stockade The Eureka Stockade started on the 3rd December 1854. It began on 30th November 1854 when the Diggers protested by burning Gold Mining licences at a meeting on Bakery Hill, Ballarat. The Diggers then marched to the Eureka mine and setup a barricade using wood and rocks. On Sunday 3rd December 1854 the Police force launched an attack on the stockade. There were too many troops and the battle was over in 20 minutes. 22 Diggers and 5 Policeman died in the fight between the Diggers and the Government Police force.

The Eureka Stockade The battle between the Diggers and Government Troops.

My trip to Sovereign Hill This is “Goldasaurus” a 4.4kg gold nugget, found in 2003 by people working in the Golden Triangle. (centre of the Victorian Goldfields) It was found by a metal detector and was only 60cm below the ground. The “Goldasaurus” nugget is valued at $750,000. I tried looking for Gold but all I could find was rocks!!

My trip to Sovereign Hill These people dressed up like the Government Police (the “Reds”) and told us all about how they controlled the Goldfields. They were very loud and didn’t like the Diggers very much. They lined up and fired their rifles in a parade. It was loud!!

My trip to Sovereign Hill We saw how they used to make plates out of flat metal sheets. They used an old machine with lots of wheels and belts. I had a go at olden day bowling which was similar to the way we play bowling today but ball wasn’t round and the laneway wasn’t flat!

My trip to Sovereign Hill My favourite part was going into the mine. We had a lady sharing stories about how difficult it was working in the mines. The place where the workers stayed was really small. Workers normally stayed in the mine for more than 12 hours a day. Lots of people died working in the mines. We only went 60 feet below the surface but workers used to go down 1,000 feet! We went here

THE END!!! I HOPE YOU LEARNT SOMETHING NEW ABOUT THE GOLD RUSH!!! 