Who found gold in Australia?

Answer 1

The indigenous people of Australia, known as the Aborigines, were the first to find gold, but they had no use for it.

There is much conjecture about who was the first European to find gold in Australia. It would be fair to say that perhaps we will never actually know who was the first person to find gold. However, there are some records of notable people finding gold. Surveyor James McBrien reported finding gold near Bathurst, NSW in 1823. Polish explorer Paul Strzelecki found gold near Hartley Vale in 1839. All these discoveries were kept secret, for fear of sparking off unrest among the convicts. When Reverend WB Clark found gold near Lithgow in 1941, he was requested by Governor Gipps to keep quiet about it. Gipps is reported to have said, "Put it away, Mr Clarke, or we will all have our throats cut!" In addition, land owners did not want their workers leaving in droves to find gold.

Gold was first officially discovered in Australia in 1851, not far from Bathurst, New South Wales. This was after transportation of convicts to New South Wales had ceased. Edward Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He enlisted the assistance of John Lister, a man who had already found gold in the region. Lister led Hargraves directly to where gold was found, at Summerhill Creek, at a site which Hargraves named "Ophir". Hargraves has been credited with the discovery ever since, even though, by rights, credit should go to Lister. An enquiry in 1887 proved that John Hardmann Lister and James Tom were the first ones to find payable gold in Australia.