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James McBrien first officially finds gold in Australia. The information was suppressed.
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Geologists P E Strzeleki and Rev W B Clarke discover gold near Hartley.
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The arrivals of convicts in NSW stopped.
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Gold was discovered in California and was announced around December.
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The Californian gold rush starts. Many Australians sail for California.
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Governor Fitzroy approached the Colonial Office, advocating a policy for the exploitation of mineral resources. He requested a geologist, which led to the appointment of Samuel Stutchbury. This gave approval for the mining of mineral resources.
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Edward Hargraves returned from California and washed gold at Summer Hill Creek, Ophir. Although he wasn't very experienced, he received recognition and financial rewards. The early rush to the NSW fields led to a serious drop in the population in Victoria, so a reward was offered for the discovery of gold in that region. Several claimants came forward, and by the end of 1851 the incredibly rich Ballarat and Bendigo fields were in production. Licence fees of 30/- a month were requested.
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Prospectors started arriving from overseas. Approximately 100000 arrived in 1852. Ships' crews abandoned. Women were left while their husbands went in search of gold. Australia's population went from 404 276 to 1 097 305 between 1850 and 1860. Small gold deposits were discovered in New Zealand.
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The licence fee in NSW was reduced to 10/- a month after near riots at Turon. Victoria soon followed a few months later.
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Eureka Stockade
Discontent with the licensing system and lack of political rights came to a head in the Eureka Stockade. An inquiry followed. -
In Victoria, the licence was replaced with the `Miner's Right', costing 1/- per year and carrying the right to vote. An export duty of 2s 6d per ounce was placed on gold instead.
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NSW accepted similar changes in licensing and voting to Victoria.
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Gold discovered in British Columbia with 25000 prospectors.
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A small amount of gold was found north of Fitzroy River in north Queensland. The few acres were soon exhausted by the arrivals. 5000-6000 footsore and penniless diggers had to be helped to return to Victoria or to the inland NSW goldfields.
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Chinese on the Golfields
An influx of Chinese miners proved that by 1860, one fifth of all adult men in Victoria were Chinese. -
Lambing Flat riots, in which whites attacked Chinese miners.
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Workable gold discovered in New Zealand. Between 1861 and 1863, 64 000 people travelled to Otago from Australia, while only 8600 arrived from Britain.
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Gold discovered at Coolgardie, WA.
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A valuable gold field discovered in Gympie, Queensland.
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Valuable deposits of very deep gold discovered on the Rand, South Africa. It took money and machinery to extract this gold.
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Gold discovered at Kalgoorlie, WA.
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Gold discovered in Alaska.
