The New South Wales government offered a reward for whoever found the first payable gold because too many people were leaving Australia for the Californian goldfields. The colony faced a huge loss of labour, and the government wanted to stem the tide of people leaving the country. Edward Hargraves was lucky enough to be the one who found the first payable gold so the government had to follow through with its promise.
In essence, Hargraves started the gold rush. Edward Hargraves was not the first to discover gold in Australia, but these early discoveries were kept suppressed, mainly for fear that they would cause unrest among the convicts. Hargraves was the first to find gold after the government started calling for experts to find gold, so that not so many people would leave Australia for the Californian goldfields. Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
high rewards
The gold rush in Australia began tentatively with the first strike of payable gold near Ophir in NSW.Less than three months after gold was "officially" discovered at Ophir in 1851, Victoria had its first gold strike at Sovereign Hill near Ballarat, in the same month it gained its independence from the NSW colony. While the Ballarat goldfields were rich and promising, the real goldrush began when gold was discovered at Mt Alexander, 60km northeast of Ballarat, and close to the town of Bendigo, in August 1851.
to reward wartime allies with land
There was no reward. The builders were not slaves, but there wasn't much reward. The most reward would be food. :)
summer hill
Edward Hargraves started the gold rush in Australia. Edward Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
Edward Hargraves became Crown Commissioner of the goldfields.He never gave any reward to Lister or the Tom Brothers.
Edward Hargraves did not specifically want to start a gold rush in Australia. He was merely responding to the government's invitation and incentives to find gold, to stem the tide of Australians leaving for the Californian goldrushes. Hargraves's reward for finding gold was to be appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. Also, there was the personal motivation. Hargraves had not had much success on the California goldfields, but he knew his chances on the untapped Australian goldfields would be greater. Edward Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
In essence, Hargraves started the gold rush. Edward Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
In some ways Hargraves was not honorable, as he did not give credit to the man who enabled him to make the first official discovery of gold in Australia. Gold was first officially discovered in Australia in 1851, not far from Bathurst, New South Wales. 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". After reporting his discovery, Hargraves was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851. Lister, however, was never given any credit or reward for his part in the discovery. In fact, Hargraves went to great lengths, including taking Lister and others to court, to suppress their claim as being the real discoverers of gold.
In essence, Hargraves started the gold rush. Edward Hargraves was not the first to discover gold in Australia, but these early discoveries were kept suppressed, mainly for fear that they would cause unrest among the convicts. Hargraves was the first to find gold after the government started calling for experts to find gold, so that not so many people would leave Australia for the Californian goldfields. Hargraves had carefully studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
Rightly or wrongly, Edward Hargraves is credited with starting the gold rush in Australia. Edward Hargraves had studied the geology of the Bathurst area and, convinced that it was similar to that of the California goldfields, from where he had just returned, went prospecting. He asked for assistance from 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". After reporting his discovery, he was appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. The New South Wales government made the official announcement of the discovery of gold on 22 May 1851.
The New South Wales government offered a reward of 10 000 pounds to anyone who found payable gold in the colony after so much manpower was lost to the Californian goldfields. Hargraves received this reward, plus an annual pension of 250 pounds from 1877. In addition, in 1851 he was made a commissioner of crown lands for the gold districts and a justice of the peace.
Edward Hargraves is officially credited with stating the Goldrush in Australia, but it was not he who did all the hard work. John Lister, William Tom and James Tom were the real labourers. However, they used the new "cradle" or "rocker" which Hargraves introduced from California, and it was Hargraves who used his knowledge of geology to suggest where to start digging.As to why Hargraves started the goldrush: he was responding to the government's invitation and incentives to find gold, to stem the tide of Australian men leaving for the Californian goldrushes. Hargraves's reward for finding gold was to be appointed a 'Commissioner of Land', receiving a reward of £10,000 plus a life pension. Also, there was the personal motivation. Hargraves had not had much success on the California goldfields, but he knew his chances on the untapped Australian goldfields would be greater.
I think that 1 main aspect on the gold rush was that Edward Hargraves was the first person to find gold in New South Wales and he got a grant/ reward for it from the government...
The government did not specifically instruct Edward Hargraves to find gold. It offered a reward to anyone who could find payable gold in New South Wales. The reason the NSW government resorted to this was that the goldrush in California was luring too many people away from Australia. Young, able-bodied men were downing their tools and walking away from their land, their trades, their businesses and their jobs in droves. The only way the government could stem the tide of lost manpower was by offering equal opportunities on rich goldfields in Australia. Thus, the reward was offered, and Hargraves just happened to be the one lucky enough to make the first strike.