Portrait of Paul Edmund de Strzelecki

People/explorer, geologist

Paul Edmund de Strzelecki

Paul Edmund de Strzelecki (1796–1873), explorer, geologist, from Poland. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

While exploring the Great Dividing Range he found a large quantity of gold-bearing quartz in the Wellington district, during his 1840 journey from the Darling Range to Melbourne.1,2

The downfall

His party nearly starved cutting through scrub for 22 days to reach Melbourne in 1840.1,2

Legacy

Governor Gipps asked him not to publicise the gold for fear of unrest among convicts and labourers, so the find was kept quiet until the 1851 rush (DNB).1,2

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1851Bathurst and Ophir gold rush3
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Where next

People

ExamplesEdward Hammond HargravesThe DNB notes Strzelecki had found gold-bearing quartz in 1839, before Hargraves.4

Events

InspiredBathurst and Ophir gold rushHis 1839 gold find was kept quiet until the 1851 rush.1

Sources

  1. Strzelecki, Paul Edmund de Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 vol 55 (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. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  4. Hargraves, Edward Hammond Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement vol 2 (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by Thomas Seccombe

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

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