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Edward Hargraves is considered to be the one who first officially discovered gold in Australia, in 1851.

Gold was discovered in Australia as early as the 1830s, but discoveries were initially kept secret for a number of reasons, in particularm the fear that it would cause unrest among the convicts. Unfortunately, more and more people were leaving the Australian colonies to join the gold rush in California. The government could see it needed to do something to encourage people to remain in Australia, so it advertised for experts who could locate gold in Australian countrysides.

Edward Hargraves, with considerable assistance from the uncredited prospectors John Lister and William Tom, found gold at Summerhill Creek, at a site which Hargraves named "Ophir". This provided a tentative start to the Australian goldrush.

After this, the Victorian government also then offered incentives to find gold, which resulted in the discovery of gold in the Bendigo/Ballarat regions, and the subsequent major goldrush.

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16y ago

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