Discovering Victoria’s Gold Rush Region
Victoria’s goldfields region, north west of Melbourne, (Australia) between Bendigo and Ballarat, is easily explored in a one day road trip.
Victoria has a proud gold mining heritage with the first recorded find at Clunes in the heart of central Victoria in July 1851. The second was a few weeks later at Warrandyte, an outer Melbourne suburb and the third at Buninyong, in August 1851. This resulted in the birth and rapid growth of a new township named Ballarat.
The world’s gold output was dominated at the time by Victoria with Ballarat being the biggest producer, digging up over two tonnes a week, which was then transported to the Treasury Building in Melbourne.
Although never proven, it was estimated a similar amount was probably secretly sold but never recorded.
Prospectors continued to arrive in the area and by 1853 more than 20,000 miners of several nationalities were working the fields. Meanwhile, gold was also discovered in nearby Bendigo.
The gold rush also rapidly grew Australia’s population. In 1851 it was 437,655, with just under 18% Victorians. A later decade it had swelled to 1,151,947 with 47% being Victorians. In some towns where gold was found, the population exploded by over 1000% in a decade.
Australia’s most famous gold nugget, the ‘Welcome Stranger’, was found on 5th February 1869 by Cornish miner John Deason, who was working in Bulldog Gully in central Victoria. While searching around the roots of a tree he discovered, 3 cm below the surface, a gold nugget. Initially he thought he’d hit a tree root but dug a little deeper and made his discovery. He concealed his find until dark, then with his partner, Richard Oates, dug it out.
The 66 kilogram nugget, then the world’s largest, had to be broken on an anvil before it could fit on the bank’s scales.
It was worth 10,000 pounds — around $3–4 million in today’s money. Deason returned to the Bulldog Gully and his descendants still live in the area. Oates returned to Cornwall a very wealthy man.
A stone monument marks where it was found.
Rich in gold mining history, the region is now known for its fine wines, magnificent restaurants, cosy accommodation and a has worldwide reputation as a retreat for health and personal well-being. With those ingredients, it’s little wonder the region has become popular for day trips, weekend escapes and holidays.
His Worlds partner Her World likes to share her stories too.
