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Events/Rush · 1851

Victorian gold rush

Rush, from July 1851, Australia.

What happened

Gold was notified in the Yarra Ranges and the Pyrenees on 5 July 1851, soon after Hargraves found gold near Bathurst. The Mount Alexander, Ballarat and Bendigo fields followed. Between 1851 and 1861 an average of over 40,000 people a year reached Victoria. Victoria was the largest Australian gold producer for 47 years, until 1898.1,2,3

Why it matters

Gold turned a small colony into the centre of Australian population and wealth.1,2,3

How this rush compares

Victorian gold rush

  • First discovery clunes1850-031Hon. W. Campbell at Clunes, "probably" first
  • Rush notification1851-07-051Gold notified in the Yarra Ranges and the Pyrenees
  • Commonwealth population 1851 (1851)437,665 people1Australia end of 1851
  • Commonwealth population 1861 (1861)1,168,149 people1Australia end of 1861
  • People who came (1861)40,000 people per year, average1"Over 40,000" a year reached Victoria 1851 to 1861
  • Years as top australian producer (1898)47 years1Victoria led until Western Australia passed it in 1898
  • Victoria gold 1901 (1901)730,450 fine ounces1ABS table
  • Deaths at the Eureka Stockade (1854)28 people4Six police and troopers and at least 22 diggers, State Library Victoria
  • Peak year18561Victoria's highest yearly gold output

California gold rush

  • Discovery1848-01-245Marshall at Sutter's mill
  • Population before rush (1848)14,000 people (non-Indian)6State population estimate when gold was found
  • Population end 1849 (1849)100,000 people6"nearly 100,000"
  • Population 1852 (1852)250,000 people6"some 250,000"
  • Census population (1850)92,597 people71850 US census count
  • Gold recovered (1855)750,000 pounds7Estimated recovered 1848 to 1855. About 340 tonnes at 0.4536 kg per pound (computed).
  • Value recovered then (1900)25,000,000,000 US dollars, modern equivalent6Mother Lode and Klamath fields together, "modern-day equivalent of more than $25 billion" by the turn of the century
  • News reached san francisco1848-037Rumours reached San Francisco in March 1848
  • Population after 50 years (1900)1,485,053 people7California census 1900

Klondike gold rush

  • Discovery1896-08-168Parks Canada; staking on 17 August per its history text
  • News to outside world1897-079SS Portland reached Seattle with over a ton of gold
  • People who set out (1900)100,000 people9Set out for the Klondike 1897 to 1900 ("more than")
  • People who came (1900)40,000 people9"No more than 40,000" reached Dawson City
  • Canada gold value before (1897)1,240,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1Canada national gold yield, ABS table; Klondike share not separated
  • Canada gold value peak (1900)5,742,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1Canada national gold yield, ABS table
  • World gold value (1900)52,086,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1World gold yield 1900, ABS table
  • Canada share of world gold (1900)11 percent1Computed from the two ABS values (5.742 / 52.086)

Witwatersrand gold rush

  • Discovery1886-0710Harrison, Langlaagte; his affidavit date is not on the opened page
  • Camp population (1886)3,000 people10About 3,000 inhabitants by August 1886, mostly White
  • Public diggings proclaimed (1886)9 farms10Proclaimed 8 September 1886
  • Towns founded (1886)1 town10Johannesburg named 3 October and declared 4 October 1886
  • Transvaal gold value (1897)11,654,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal gold value war low (1900)1,481,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1Output collapsed during the South African War
  • Transvaal gold value later (1909)30,988,000 pounds sterling (assumed)1ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal share of world gold (1909)33.7 percent1Computed: 30.988 / 91.91

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Paddy Hannan born

    Paddy Hannan born (date from Wikidata).11

  2. Bathurst and Ophir gold rush

    It was the first publicised Australian gold rush and prompted the Victorian discoveries.2,12

  3. Alfred Beit born

    Alfred Beit born (date from Wikidata).13

  4. Eureka Rebellion

    Eureka Rebellion.14

  5. Welcome Nugget found at Ballarat

    It shows how rich the Victorian deep leads were.2,3

  6. Otago gold rush

    It financed the early growth of Dunedin and the colony.15,16

  7. General Mining Law of 1872

    The law remains the basis for claims to locatable minerals on US federal land.17,18

  8. Black Hills gold rush

    The expedition went ahead although the 1868 treaty had made the Black Hills part of a Sioux reservation. Homestake became a long-lived mine that closed in 2001.19,20

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Financed byLowe Kong MengHe supplied Chinese miners from Penang-born trading networks.21Financed byLouis Ah MouyHe arrived in Victoria in 1851 speaking English from Singapore.21

Mines

Located inBallarat goldfieldBallarat's gold was found in July to August 1851, and it held about 50,000 people by 1871.22Located inBendigo goldfieldBendigo's gold, found in October 1851, ran at about 400,000 oz a year in the 1850s.23

Events

Led toEureka StockadeBallarat miners fought the gold licence system. On 3 December 1854 troops attacked the stockade.4Came out ofBathurst and Ophir gold rushVictoria's gold was notified on 5 July 1851, soon after Hargraves found gold near Bathurst.1Led toWelcome Nugget found at BallaratTwenty-two Cornish miners found the 68.98 kg Welcome Nugget about 55 metres down.2

Places

Located inBallaratSee the place where this happened: Ballarat.1

Trade routes

Shipped throughVictorian gold to London (gold ships)In 1852-55 Victoria produced most of the world's gold, and escorts took it to Melbourne.24

Sources

  1. Year Book Australia 1911, gold chapter Australian Bureau of Statistics
  2. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  3. Ballarat (item Q17856), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Eureka Stockade (Golden Victoria, ErgoSlv) State Library Victoria
  5. The California Gold Rush (California National Historic Trail) US National Park Service
  6. Gold Rush Overview California State Parks
  7. History and the Census: The 1848 California Gold Rush (Jan 2018) US Census Bureau
  8. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada
  9. Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike (Teaching with Historic Places) US National Park Service
  10. Discovery of the Gold in 1884 South African History Online
  11. Wikidata item Q2057649 (Paddy Hannan)
  12. Ophir (item Q7097979), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. Wikidata item Q77802 (Alfred Beit)
  14. Wikidata item Q2164870 (Eureka Rebellion)
  15. History of Gabriels Gully NZ Department of Conservation
  16. Gabriel's Gully (item Q5515501), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  17. Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands (PDF) US Bureau of Land Management
  18. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  19. Mining in South Dakota: Education Kit (PDF) South Dakota State Historical Society
  20. Black Hills gold rush (item Q3453700), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  21. Lowe Kong Meng and Chinese engagement (Provenance 2012) Public Record Office Victoria
  22. Ballarat Victorian Places
  23. Bendigo Victorian Places
  24. Richest discoveries (Golden Victoria) State Library Victoria (Ergo)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.