Where was gold first spotted in Australia?

Answer 1

Gold was discovered in Australia as early as the 1820s, but it was not in payable amounts. Surveyor James McBrien reported finding gold at the Fish River near Bathurst, NSW in 1823, while 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 told by Governor Gipps to keep quiet about it "Or we will all have our throats cut!"

When the Californian gold rushes started, and Australians began leaving the country in the hopes of striking gold in America, the colonial government began to encourage gold finds, offering a reward for the discovery of payable gold. Gold was first officially discovered in Australia in 1851, not far from Bathurst, New South Wales. After carefully studying the geology of the area and, Edward Hargraves was convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned. With the assistance of John Lister, a man who had already found gold in the region, Hargraves went prospecting. 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.