TIME CHART OF THE QUEENSLAND GOLD RUSHES
YEAR EVENT
1788 Arrival of the 1st Fleet in Australia
1813 The crossing of the Blue Mts. NSW
1823 Surveyor James McBrien records finding Gold near Bathurst, NSW
1824 Moreton Bay Settlement established
1830 Convict possesing Gold was flogged at Bathurst
1839 Count Paul Strezlecki found Gold near Wellington & Hartley, NSW
1841 Rev W.B. Clarke found Gold near Hartley
1845 to 1850, numerous small Gold discoveries in Central NSW & Vic.
1848 W.T. Smith found 6ozs at Ophir, NSW, but is ignored
1848 The Californian Goldrushes commenced
1851 May - William Tom, John Lister & E.H. Hargraves found Gold at Ophir
1851 Jul - first Goldrush in Vic. at Clunes
1851 Aug - Gold discovered at Ballarat
1851 Dec - Bendigo Goldrush commenced
1852 Traces of Gold found at Lucky Valley, Warwick & Kilkivan
1852 Oct - First Goldrush in N.Z.
1853 Numerous new Goldfields discovered in NSW & Vic.
1854 The Eureka Stockade
1858 First significant Goldrush in Qld. at Canoona near Rockhampton
1859 Separation of Qld. from NSW, Gov. offers a reward for Gold discovery
1859 Goldrush to Tooloom in Nth NSW by Ipswich and district settlers,
"Lady Bowen" 140oz nugget, named after the Qld Governors wife
1861 Clermont Goldfield discovered, nuggets to 48oz
1862 Calliope discovered, nuggets to 73ozs
1863 Warwick fields opened up, nuggets to 65ozs
1865 Gavial Ck, Bouldercombe, Goldrush, nuggets to 109oz
1866 Rosewood near Rockhampton, nuggets to 100ozs
1866 Peak of the 1860's depression in Qld.
1867 Cloncurry discovered, largest nugget 336ozs
1867 Cape River rush, first notable influx of 100 Chinese
1867 Nanango 7 Mile Goldfield discovered, Nash joined the rush
1867 Oct - James Nash announces Gold discovery at Gympie, the 2 largest
nuggets found in Qld. - 975ozs (The Curtis) & 804ozs in Sailors Gully
1867 Nov - 12,000 rush to Kilkivan, nuggets to 75ozs
1867 Diamond rush in the South African Kimberleys
1868 Mt Wheeler, 258ozs nugget found by a 13yr old boy on his fathers claim,
next day a 179oz nugget was found on an adjacent claim
1868 Ravenswood Goldfield discovered
1869 Gilbert River Goldrush
1870 Cania Gorge Field near Monto discovered
1871 Nuggets up to 1-2ozs discovered in Enoggera Creek, Brisbane
1872 Charters Towers "The World" discovered
1872 Gold discovered in the N.T.
1873 Palmer River Goldrush, over 20,000 Chinese, 100-300tons of Gold found
1873 First major Goldrush in South Africa
1876 Small rush to Coen Goldfield in Cape York
1881 Mt Britten near Nebo, large number of nuggets to 80ozs
1882 First payable Goldfield discovered in Tasmania
1882 Mt Morgan discovered, the purest Gold in the world, 99.8%
1885 Reef Gold found at Croydon
1885 Small Goldrush to the head of the Brisbane R. near Nanango
nuggets up to 13ozs found
1886 First Goldrush in W.A. to the Kimberleys
1887 Russell River Goldrush
1887 Eidsvold Goldrush
1893 The Golden Mile at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie discovered
1896 Green Hills near Georgetown, numerous nuggets to 180ozs
1896 The Klondike Goldrush commenced, many Australian diggers went
1903 Peter's Rush on the Dee R. above Mt Morgan, over 60 nuggets found
greater than 50ozs, the largest - 182ozs
1910 Batavia River (Wenlock) field discovered by an aboriginal named
Pluto, nuggets of 130ozs & 121ozs were found
1913 Mt. Coolon Goldfield discovered, 4 men shot dead in a claim jump
1931 During the Depression, the Cracow Goldfield was discovered
1980's Australia's present Goldrush commenced, mainly by large Companies
but many nuggets have been found in Qld. by Metal Detectors.
© Garry GATFIELD 1996
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