Portrait of Edward Hammond Hargraves

People/prospector, explorer

Edward Hammond Hargraves

Edward Hammond Hargraves (1816–1891), prospector, explorer, from Australia. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

Sailed to the California diggings in 1849 and noticed the geology matched the Blue Mountains. On 12 Feb 1851 two men he had taught cradle-washing, Lister and Toms, found gold at Lewis Ponds Creek near Bathurst.1,2

Legacy

Described by the DNB as the pioneer of gold-mining in Australia. The DNB also notes the idea was already 'in the air', since Strzelecki had found gold-bearing quartz in 1839 and Murchison had predicted such deposits.1,2

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1851Bathurst and Ophir gold rush4
  2. from July 1851Victorian gold rush5
Drag to turn the globe

Where next

People

An example ofPaul Edmund de StrzeleckiThe DNB notes Strzelecki had found gold-bearing quartz in 1839, before Hargraves.1

Events

DiscoveredBathurst and Ophir gold rushOn 12 February 1851 men he had taught cradle-washing found gold near Bathurst.4

Sources

  1. Hargraves, Edward Hammond Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement vol 2 (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by Thomas Seccombe
  2. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons
  3. Strzelecki, Paul Edmund de Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 vol 55 (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by Thomas Seccombe
  4. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  5. Year Book Australia 1911, gold chapter Australian Bureau of Statistics

Pictures on this page: Edward Hammond Hargraves.jpg, Angas, George French, 1822-1886 (Public domain); Paweł Edmund Strzelecki 1.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain).

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.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

The Super Pit gold mine at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, at sunsetMining historyGold rushes, then and nowGold and lithium · WorldwideGold drill-hole columns rising over the Yilgarn goldfields on a satellite map of Western AustraliaData storyUnder Western AustraliaDrill holes · Western AustraliaGold drill-hole columns over the Northern Territory on a satellite mapData storyUnder the Northern TerritoryDrill holes · Northern TerritoryGold drill-hole columns over central Victoria on a satellite mapData storyUnder VictoriaDrill holes · Victoria

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

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