Tag Archives: Gold Rush Era

The Chinese at Sovereign Hill

Posted on 25/06/2009 by

The Chinese Camp The Chinese community has been recreated in Sovereign Hill. Investing in a research project amounting to $1.8 million, this camp acknowledges the presence of the Chinese during the Gold Rush Era. An additional $500,000 investment was also … Continue reading →

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Gold Transformed a Nation

Posted on 24/06/2009 by
[caption id="attachment_238" align="aligncenter" width="440" caption="Ballarat is an open museum-- a city made of gold. "]Ballarat is an open museum of a city made up of gold. [/caption]

Gold! Gold! Gold!

”Victoria was made; here were prospects of wealth for all…”–Geoffrey Serle (1963,p. 10)

The quest for gold which is immortalised in various legends and myths depicts man’s indomitable spirit for adventure. Diggers sail from far away lands braving the raging seas, tragic tales of shipwrecks, and threats of beheading from the natives to bag that prize of gold.

Victoria, then known as Port Phillip District, was the metaphorical El Dorado which promised great riches to everyone. Its goldfields contained the richest and most tantalising alluvial deposits in the history of the world. (Bate 1978, p.7) The discovery of gold in 1851 lured droves of diggers and immigrants from far and wide, including those who made their fortunes from the earlier Californian Gold Rush dating back to 1848.

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