The australian gold rush was a large number of gold discoveries in australia. Barbara hutton viking ballarat national museum of australia. Nsw syllabus for the australian curriculum history the gold rush analysing sources stage 3 year 5 the australian colonies in the 1800s the founding of british colonies and the development of a colony. So the rush for australian gold, which so excited the world, has never ended. Many who came here intending to make their fortunes on the goldfields and then go back home found that working in the soil of australia among our uniqu flora and fauna and beside the new. A learning activity from the state library of new south wales. A venn diagram template designed to allow students to compare and contrast the pros and cons of indigenous peoples helping miners and the establishment of the native police force during the australian gold rush.
Just a couple of years after the great californian gold rush of 1848, a man named edward hargraves struck gold at a waterhole near bathurst, and so the australian gold rush began. A smallscale gold rush developed in 1871 when employees of the australian overland telegraph line encountered gold while digging holes for telegraph posts. Listening task australian gold rush esl worksheet by. Australia social life and customs 18511891 exhibitions. The discovery of gold in the 1850s started a series of rushes that transformed the australian colonies. How the australian gold rush changed australia essay sample. The first discoveries of payable gold were at ophir in new. Locating where gold was found on a map of australia completing a.
Students examine sources relating to the gold rushes and how this created massive social upheaval and led to the settlement of new areas. Australian gold rush activity pack my mum, the teacher. In 1882 edwin and thomas morgan made one of australia s most important gold strikes, at ironstone mountain. Life on the diggings national library of australia. Within the last three weeks the towns of melbourne and geelong and their large suburbs have been in appearance almost emptied of many classes of their male inhabitants. Historic tourism focussing on the gold rushes in australia is dominated by one. Teachers may choose to complete all activities or select those best suited to their course of study or time limitations. Gold mines and mining australia history exhibitions. Thousands of people came to australia in the hope of finding a lot of gold and becoming rich. Australian gold rush begins national geographic society. The rush started in 1851 when gold was found near bathurst, new south wales and ended with the last rush in 1893 to kalgoorlie, western australia.
They learn about what life was like for different groups of people in the colonial period. The history of australian slang australia unwrapped. News of gold spread quickly around the world and in 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived in australia. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in australia, new zealand, brazil, canada, south africa and the united states, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere. The gold rushes greatly expanded australia s population, boosted its economy, and led to the emergence of a new national identity. Government gold price has changed only four times from 1792 to the present. Some aboriginals, seeing the opportunity to profit from gold became miners themselves. Australian gold rush teaching resource pack teaching. At a time when australia was not yet a nation but still a number of separate british colonies, gold was discovered in a number of places, and the gold rush that followed changed our history.
Aboriginal people have been excised from australian gold history. In this assessment students use relevant sources to investigate a significant. This printable, noprep activity pack is a great 28page tool for students to learn about the gold rush era in australia. The population of australia tripled in just two decades, from 430,000 in 1851 to 1. In a letter to lord grey, secretary of the state, victorian governor hotham, announced. This activity pack aligns with the nsw hsie australian hass curriculum and includes different learning activities to encourage different styles of learners to participate and learn. Populations boomed and tiny towns grew overnight into major regional centers. While the gold rush had a detrimental effect on many aboriginal communities due to the further loss of their land and environment as well as the introduction of european diseases to their communities, aboriginal australians played a pivotal role during this era. How the australian gold rush changed australia the gold rushes in the second half of the 19th century would completely change the way australia would look at its self and how other nations and people would look at it. Panning is a simple technique that is still used today. The 1850s gold rushes altered the nature of australian society. A brief history of the canoona rush by lorna mcdonald canoona remains, perhaps unjustly, an infamous name in the history of australian gold mining because of the so called duffer rush in the last quarter of 1858. The klondike gold rush, often called the yukon gold rush, was a mass exodus of prospecting migrants from their hometowns to canadian yukon territory and alaska after gold was discovered there in 1896.
Australians and the gold rush oxford academic journals. A resource pack containing a range of posters, worksheets and activities to use in your classroom when teaching a unit of work on the australian gold rush. Australian gold rush timeline banner teaching resource. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to california from the rest of the united states and abroad.
The australian gold rushes transformed former convict colonies into modern cities with an influx of free emigrants in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold seekers, called fortyniners referring to 1849. What impact did the gold rush have on australias population. Tens of thousands travelled from south australia, western australia, new. During those gold rushes, significant numbers of workers both from other areas within australia and from overseas relocated to areas in which gold had been discovered. The only exception was during the napoleonic wars from 1797 to 1821.
In 1851 gold seekers from around the world began pouring into the colonies, changing the course of australian history. The location where gold was found was named ophir, and mining hopefuls flocked to the area and the state of nsw in the hope of being part of the great find themselves. The gold rush analysing sources ms fenatos classroom. The gympie gold rush brought about 25,000 people to the area. The gold rush worksheets live worksheets worksheets that listen. The first gold rush in australia began in may 1851 after prospector edward hargraves claimed to have discovered payable gold near orange, at a site he called ophir. Each activity introduces a concept relating to the australian gold rushes. Celebrating chinese australian history a timeline 1829.
Gold was such a valuable and desired material that for. Australian gold rush 18 pages comprehensive unit of work. The rush for gold lured ablebodied men away from city centres to the gold fields. Before 1851, australia s combined recorded white population was approximately 77,000. Australian gold rushes kids britannica kids homework. Hargraves was offered rewards by the colony of new south wales and the colony of. This was the first worthwhile discovery of gold in what was then the far north of new south wales. It was not necessary for people to have a visa to enter australia in the gold rush days. Australian gold rush another birth of the australian. At each place gold was easily found in rivers and creeks. The vocabulary of australia is an amalgamation of many other vocabs.
On 12 february 1851, edward hargraves found five grains of gold in mud washed from lewis ponds creek. The australian gold rushes the australian gold rushes i n 2001, australia celebrated the 150th anniversary of the official discovery of gold near bathurst in new south wales. On 8 august 1851 large deposits of gold bearing rock were discovered near ballarat in victoria, followed by another similar deposit nearby just two weeks later. Gold rush british colony adjacent coloni british authority. Australian gold the australian section of the exhibition explores how the discovery of gold in australia has had a profound effect on our development as a nation in a number of ways economically, politically and socially. Goldrush immigration push and pull factors sovereign. The rich vocabulary features words from different dialects of british english, gaelic languages, polynesian languages and indigenous australian languages.
Generally, most writers restrict their indigenous participation lenses to the latter part of the twentieth century and almost exclusively to the northern or arid gold producing regions of australia. In late 1871 an aboriginal boy named jupiter mosman found gold in a stream in northeast queensland. The gold rushes quickly transformed economic, social, and political life. Alluvial gold is specks or flakes of gold the is found in creek bed, shallow streams, and in shallow dirt. It introduces the key ideas, offers succinct content information and concludes with a task. The words like gold rushes and bush ranging say a lot about the history of australia. Students will explore the history of the discovery of.
The gold rushes and australian politics nauze 1967. The gold rush in australia history channel on foxtel. In this particular state, at this particular time, chinese workers were an absolute majority 674 out of 824 northern territory miners. A number of gold finds occurred in australia prior to 1851, but only the gold found from 1851 onwards created gold rushes. Australian gold rushes activities britannica digital. This essay deals with the gold rush in australia at the middle of the 19th century, which nowadays, according the public opinion, belongs to the nations folklore, and pursue the question how the history of australia has been influenced by this gold rush. Hundreds of thousands of diggers from other parts of australia, great britain, poland, germany, and even california sought their fortunes and redefined australia s national identity. Published in the early 1960s, geoffrey blaineys history of australian mining. Aboriginal people on the goldfields of victoria, 18501870 2 aboriginal people have been excised from australian gold history. Australian curriculum year 5 history sample assessment investigating the colonial period in australia. Pdf why is the victoria gold rush a significant part of. The town of charters towers was founded at the site, and miners flooded in. A gold rush or gold fever is a new discovery of gold sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rareearth mineralsthat brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Hargraves had been to the californian goldfields and had learned new gold prospecting techniques such as panning and cradling.