78-494: Gold Escorts were common across Australian goldfields, transporting mined and processed material from mines to banks and mints across the country. They were important in safely transporting gold, and were in most cases carried out by police assisted units. During the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s, a special armed detachment from South Australia provided a 'Gold Escort' for the secure transportation of gold overland from
156-654: A Land Convention in Melbourne during 1857 recorded demands for land reform. By 1854, Chinese people were contributing to the gold rushes. Their presence on the goldfields of Bendigo, Beechworth and the Bright district resulted in riots , entry taxes, killings, and segregation in the short term, and became the foundations of the White Australia policy . In short, the gold rush was a revolutionary event and reshaped Victoria, its society and politics. There were rumours abroad about
234-537: A daily newspaper in Melbourne, described the growing Chinese population within Victoria as an "invading army" whose presence will "subject the community to the demoralizing influence of their ideas". In June 1855, the Victorian government passed 'an act to make provision for certain immigrants'. The act sought to limit the number of Chinese immigrants that a vessel could carry to one for every ten tons of shipping and required
312-559: A downturn in Victoria's mining population. The increasing presence of Chinese miners on Victorian goldfields eventually resulted in anti-Chinese riots taking place on several Victorian goldfields. On 8 July 1854, an estimated 1500 European miners meeting at a hotel in Bendigo planned a riot to drive the Chinese out of Bendigo. This riot was however brought to a stop by the arrival of police. The worst attack on Victoria's Chinese miners occurred at
390-622: A gold rush town—as well as the Gold Museum. Bendigo has a large operating gold mine system which also functions as a tourist attraction. The rushes left Victorian architecture in towns in the Goldfields region such as Maldon , Beechworth , Clunes , Heathcote , Maryborough , Daylesford , Stawell , Beaufort , Creswick , St Arnaud , Dunolly , Inglewood , Wedderburn and Buninyong whose economy has differing emphases on home working, tourism, farming, modern industrial and retired sectors. With
468-674: A hobby in Victoria for decades mainly because of the depth and cost of pumping. The First World War also drained Australia of the labour needed to work the mines. More significantly, the prohibition on the export of gold from Australia in 1915 and the abolition of the gold standard, winding down stockpiling of gold and production of sovereigns throughout the Empire saw Australian gold towns shrink, in some cases, being totally abandoned. The slump in gold production never recovered. Gold mining ceased in Stawell in 1920, but recommenced in 1982 and continued into
546-435: A horse shod with solid gold horseshoes. The extravagance of this event is still commemorated as the logo for Beechworth is a golden horseshoe. At the time, Beechworth was far removed from the centre of colonial administration in Melbourne both in distance and time taken to travel. The local debates around the potential railway into Beechworth encompassed a broad gauge ( 5 ft 3 in / 1,600 mm ) option or
624-522: A narrow gauge ( 2 ft 6 in / 762 mm ) system, between Wangaratta and Beechworth and these debates and options appeared in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser newspaper. Ironically, in the 1890s a narrow gauge system did eventuate nearby, running from Wangaratta to Whitfield. Finally a broad gauge railway arrived at Beechworth in September 1876, but by that stage the town and its gold production
702-735: A powder magazine. In its golden days, men and women arrived from the United States, United Kingdom and China. At its peak, Beechworth town had over 3,100 residents. Surrounding areas and mining camps sprang up as thousands of miners rushed into areas such as Spring Creek, Reedy Creek, Silver Creek, the Nine Mile Creek and the Woolshed increasing the population on the Ovens to around 22,000. The Chinese were not allowed to live in Beechworth town and resided on
780-668: A range of reforms gave miners a greater say in resolving disputes via Mining Courts, and extended electoral franchise to them. As gold-rush immigrants flooded into Victoria in 1852, a tent city, known as Canvas Town , was established at South Melbourne . The area soon became a massive slum, home to tens of thousands of migrants from around the world who arrived to seek their fortunes in the goldfields. Significant Chinatowns became established in Melbourne , Bendigo and Castlemaine. At Walhalla alone, Cohens Reef produced over 50 tonnes (1.6 million tr oz) of gold in 40 years of mining. News of
858-478: A rush to the Mount Alexander or Forest Creek diggings, centred on present-day Castlemaine , claimed as the richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world. These discoveries were soon surpassed by Ballarat and Bendigo . Further discoveries including Beechworth in 1852, Bright, Omeo , Chiltern (1858–59) and Walhalla followed. The population of Melbourne grew swiftly as the gold fever took hold, as did
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#1732837570352936-416: A well-educated Englishman, as prominent members. A deputation of three men waited on Governor Hotham to demand the release of the prisoners, but he refused and had already sent additional troops to Ballarat, which gave considerable offence by marching through the town with fixed bayonets and by other exasperating conduct. On 29 November, Black, Humffray, and Kennedy reported to a mass meeting held at Bakery Hill
1014-639: A while were daily issues. The papers circulated far and wide throughout the district and the colony of Victoria.(O'Brien) Both papers represented the views of their respective readerships sometimes to the exclusion of all others.(O'Brien) Even today, these old papers are an important historical research tool as most editions from the early 1850 survive and are micro-filmed and are available at the Burke Museum and most state and national libraries throughout Australia. These two local papers provide rich primary sources for many historians of Beechworth and its surrounds, plus
1092-612: Is about 25 metres long. It has five lanes and it is not very deep. It has an electric barbecue and also has a canteen with cold drinks and snacks. The Beechworth Wanderers Cricket Club currently play in the Wangaratta & District Cricket Association and have teams in A., A Reserve, B & C Grade, plus Under 16's, 14's and 12's. Considering the present nature of the town, a surprising range and variety of books exist on Beechworth town, its adjoining goldfield camps, its surrounds and its heady goldfield days. These include numerous histories,
1170-424: Is likely due to a decrease in the number of new gold discoveries in Victoria during this period. Like European gold diggers, the majority of Chinese miners in Victoria worked either independently or with a partner upon arrival. As gold however became harder to find in Victoria's goldfields the Chinese population of Victoria began to form their own mining cooperatives and companies. An unofficial 1868 census on
1248-485: Is thus more reminiscent of that in central Victoria. As one of the higher towns in the state, snowfall can be expected most years, sometimes falling in moderate to heavy amounts. Rainfall records are found as early as 1858, but temperature readings did not commence until 1908. In its golden heyday Beechworth boasted two influential newspapers: The Ovens and Murray Advertiser and The Constitution and Mining Intelligencer . These papers engaged in fierce competition and for
1326-689: The Beechworth Bakery , Beechworth Honey , brewery, the lolly shop and night tours, restaurants and wineries. The town is one end point of the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail . The music video for famous singer/actor Jason Donovan 's 1989 hit " Too Many Broken Hearts " was filmed in Beechworth. The town has an Australian Rules football team ( Beechworth Football Club ) competing in the Tallangatta & District Football League . Golfers play at
1404-570: The Buckland Riot . The conditions which led up to the Eureka Stockade arose mainly from the actions taken by the Government in supervising the various goldfields. To meet the expense of securing order and to restrain unauthorised mining on Crown land, a local Act of January 1852 imposed on all diggers a licence fee of 30 shillings per month, the penalty for mining without a licence being £6 for
1482-521: The California Gold Rush . At its peak, some two tonnes of gold per week flowed into the Treasury Building in Melbourne . The gold exported to Britain in the 1850s paid off all of Britain's foreign debts and helped lay the foundation of her enormous commercial expansion in the latter half of the century. Melbourne was a major boomtown during the gold rush. The city became the centre of
1560-475: The 21st century. However, as of 2005 the recent increase in the gold price has seen a resurgence in commercial mining activity with mining resuming in both of the major fields of Bendigo and Ballarat. Exploration also proceeds elsewhere, for example, in Glen Wills , an isolated mountain area near Mitta Mitta in north-eastern Victoria. Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in
1638-670: The Beechworth Golf Club on Balaclava Road. A dedicated cross-country and downhill mountain biking track, the Beechworth Mountain Bike Park, is maintained by the Beechworth Chain Gang Mountain Bike Club. Beechworth skate park is located close to the Beechworth pool. It has three bowls: one big, one medium and one small. Beechworth also has a swimming complex consisting of three pools of varying sizes for babies, kids and adults. The adult pool
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#17328375703521716-518: The Chinese population in Victorian gold districts suggests that 660 out of the 765 Chinese miners in Daylesford and half of the 4000 Chinese miners in the Oven District had "form[ed] themselves into small companies" by 1868. A minority of Chinese miners in Victoria were also employed by European mining companies. The 1868 census on the Chinese population in Victoria suggests that 700 Chinese miners in
1794-455: The Commissioner of the situation and about 4.30 a.m. on Sunday morning (3 December) a troop of 276 men was marched silently to the stockade. Inside the stockade only 50 diggers had rifles; there was also a troop of Californian diggers armed with revolvers and another of Irishmen with pikes. Many of them were asleep when the signal gun was fired and a storming party of 64 'rushed' the stockade. In
1872-593: The Kelly Gang historians.(See: Woods (1985); McMahon (2000); Lane (1978); McQuilton (1979); Jones (1995); McWaters (2002); O'Brien (2005); and Wild & McMahon (2006)) The Ovens and Murray Advertiser still survives as a local paper. Beechworth is a popular tourist destination. Attractions include Ned Kelly-themed displays at the old court house and the Ned Kelly Weekend, a recreation of the Kelly legend. It commemorates
1950-526: The Oven District were working for European companies which were paying their employees £1 to £2 per week. Smaller numbers of Chinese miners were also reported to be working for European companies in Maryborough , Ballarat and Daylesford . The rapid influx of Chinese migrants into the Colony of Victoria aroused large amounts of anxiety within Victoria's European population. On April the 14th 1855, The Argus ,
2028-461: The Southern Cross the assembled diggers swore 'to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties.' An area of about an acre on the present Eureka site was hastily enclosed with a pallisade and a deputation was sent to the military camp demanding the release of the morning's prisoners and the cessation of licence-hunting. The Commissioner flatly refused the request, saying that
2106-489: The Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of worldwide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of an age, and made its impulses felt in the most distant regions of
2184-612: The Victorian government passed 'an act to regulate the residence of the Chinese Population in Victoria'. This act required all Chinese residing in Victoria to obtain a £1 license which had to be renewed every two months for an additional £1 in order to remain in the Colony of Victoria. The residence tax was however reduced in February 1859 and repealed in 1862 due to Chinese protests against the legislation, increasing levels of tax evasion, and
2262-400: The agitation was 'only a cloak to cover a democratic revolution.' On 1 December the occupants of the stockade were hard at work by 5 a.m. drilling and improving the barrier, and a German blacksmith was fashioning pike-heads. But neither food nor ammunition was available within the stockade, so that by the evening of the 2nd after a very hot day, not more than 200 remained within. Spies informed
2340-539: The anniversary of the outlaw's committal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from August 6 to 11, 1880. Other popular draws to the area are its many annual festivals, including the famous Golden Horseshoes Festival Easter Parade through the centre of town, the Burke Museum, Forests Commission museum, waterfalls, Gun Powder Magazine, Newtown Bridge (Stone Bridge), Tail Race (Mining Race), Spring Creek Water Falls, Spring Creek Gorge, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum ghost tours, lakes, historic buildings, goldfields, walks,
2418-511: The apprehension of Vern, and £200 each for Black and Lalor. Australia's population changed dramatically as a result of the rushes. In 1851 the Australian population was 437,655, of which 77,345, or just under 18%, were Victorians. A decade later the Australian population had grown to 1,151,947 and the Victorian population had increased to 538,628; just under 47% of the Australian total and a seven-fold increase. In some small country towns where gold
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2496-468: The coast to Adelaide. Gold escorts were targets of bushrangers . On Sunday, 15 June 1862, a group of bushrangers, led by Frank Gardiner ambushed the gold escort near Eugowra , 23 miles east of Forbes, and robbed the coach of gold and bank-notes of an estimated value of £14,000. The bushranger Ben Hall and his gang made a surprise attack on the Araluen gold escort on 13 March 1865, as it travelled up
2574-553: The colony with rail networks radiating to the regional towns and ports. Politically, Victoria's gold miners sped up the introduction of greater parliamentary democracy in Victoria, based on British Chartist principles adopted to some extent by the miners' activist bodies such as Bendigo's Anti-Gold Licence Association and the Ballarat Reform League . As the alluvial gold dwindled, pressures for land reform, protectionism and political reform generated social struggles, and
2652-502: The colony's total population: from 1851 to 1861, it grew from 75,000 to 500,000. Surface alluvial gold was the first to be exploited. It is reported that in 1851, when the first miners arrived on the Mount Alexander goldfield, near Castlemaine , nuggets could be picked up without digging. Then followed the exploitation of alluvial gold in creeks and rivers, or deposited in silt on river banks and flats. The gold-seekers used pans , sluice boxes and cradles to separate this gold from
2730-401: The dirt. As surface alluvial gold ran out, gold seekers were forced to look further underground. Miners discovered so-called deep leads, which were gold-bearing watercourses that had been buried at various depths by centuries of silting and, in some Victorian goldfields such as Ballarat, volcanic action . They also began to exploit the underground gold reefs which were the original sources of
2808-572: The district and displays dating back to the gold discoveries, early Chinese miners and workings of the 1850s. Isaac Isaacs was Australia's first native-born Governor-General , appointed in 1931. The Isaacs family moved from Yackandandah to Beechworth in 1867 to help their son to gain a better quality education, first enrolling him in the Common school then in the Beechworth Grammar School. He became dux in his first year. In his second year he
2886-421: The early goldfields, Beechworth had its share of colourful characters and villains. Among the infamous during the 1870s was the one-time Livery Stable owner, later the 'Dog Officer', at some other time the 'Pound Officer' and another time shire revenue officer, John Phelan. Phelan was a continual litigant, correspondent to the newspapers and advertiser. His official and officious escapades were mockingly reported in
2964-516: The earth. With the exception of the more extensive fields of California, for a number of years the gold output from Victoria was greater than in any other country in the world. Victoria's greatest yield for one year was in 1856, when 3,053,744 troy ounces (94,982 kg) of gold were extracted from the diggings. From 1851 to 1896 the Victorian Mines Department reported that a total of 61,034,682 oz (1,898,391 kg) of gold
3042-445: The exception of Ballarat and Bendigo, many of these towns were substantially larger than they are today. Most populations moved to other districts when gold played out in a given locality. At the other end of the spectrum ghost towns, such as Walhalla , Mafeking and Steiglitz exist. The last major gold rush in Victoria was at Berringa , south of Ballarat, in the first decade of the 20th century. Gold mining became nothing more than
3120-429: The family estate near Liverpool in 1828, then again near Launceston, Tasmania , in 1838. Originally used for grazing by the settler David Reid, the area was also sometimes known as Mayday Hills until 1853. The Post Office opened on 1 May 1853 as Spring Creek and was renamed Beechworth on 1 January 1854. One Indigenous name for the area of unknown origin and language is Baarmutha. Between 1852 and 1857, Beechworth
3198-452: The first offence and afterwards imprisonment for terms up to six months. Clause 7 of this Act also appropriated half the fine to the use of the informer or prosecutor, a provocative and irritating provision. In December, 1853, an amending Act reduced the fee to £1 per month, but did not alter the diggers' greatest grievance, that they could be imprisoned for not having the actual licence on them, though their possession of one could be proved from
Gold Escort - Misplaced Pages Continue
3276-569: The first volleys several men fell on both sides, but the line of advancing bayonets, flanked on both sides by cavalry and mounted police, was too much for the diggers. They turned to seek shelter and all was over. Of the military force Captain Wise and four private soldiers were killed, and about a dozen injured. Sixteen miners were killed, and at least eight others died of their wounds, 114 prisoners were taken, and Lalor, badly wounded, managed to escape; so did Black and Vern. The Government then offered £500 for
3354-670: The gold discoveries in the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria in 1851 quickly arrived in the provinces of Southern China. By the end of 1855, more than 19,000 Chinese immigrants , particularly from the Guangdong province of China, were estimated to be working on the Victorian goldfields of Ararat , Ballarat , Ovens , Bendigo , Castlemaine and Maryborough . By 1858 this number increased to roughly 33,000 and Chinese miners were estimated to have made up approximately one fifth of Victoria's miner population. Figures suggest that Victoria's Chinese population began to dwindle after 1858. This
3432-544: The gold. Deep mining was more difficult and dangerous. Places such as Bendigo and Ballarat saw great concentrations of miners, who were forming partnerships and syndicates to enable them to sink ever-deeper shafts. Coupled with erratic and vexatious policing and licence checks, tensions flared around Beechworth, Bendigo and Ballarat. These frictions culminated in the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat in 1854. Following that uprising,
3510-537: The goldfields of Buckland River on 4 July 1857. Following a group meeting at the Buckland Hotel, an estimated 100 European miners sought to expel all 2500 Chinese miners that occupied the goldfields of the Buckland River through the use of tent and store burning, robbery and beatings. Drowning and severe beatings are believed to have resulted in the death of several Chinese miners. This event has come to be known as
3588-723: The gully of the Buninyong ranges now bearing his name, on 8 August 1851, and he communicated the fact, with its precise locality, to the editor of the Geelong Advertiser on the 10th of that month. Dr. George H. Bruhn, a German physician, in the month of January, 1851, (i.e. before Mr. Hargraves' discovery at Summerhill) started from Melbourne to explore "the mineral resources of this colony'. During his lengthened tour, he found, in April, indications of gold in quartz about two miles from Mr. Barker's station, and on arriving at Mr. Cameron's station
3666-613: The local paper. Robert O'Hara Burke , leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition was stationed in Beechworth as Senior Inspector of Police from 1854 to 1857. Policeman John Sadleir, one of the Kelly Gang pursuers, was also stationed in Beechworth during its early days.(Harvey) The Burke Museum is located in Loch Street and holds primary materials on Beechworth and the surrounding district's past. Source materials include newspapers, photos, artefacts, clothing, paintings, exhibitions, published local histories and unpublished theses on
3744-484: The most domestic of the goldfields, was renowned for its peaceful progressiveness and quietness. On the night of 6 October, however, a Scottish miner named James Scobie was killed at the Eureka Hotel, near Ballarat, and the murdered man's associate blamed the murder on the proprietor, Bentley, a Tasmanian ex-convict. Bentley was brought up before a magistrate, who was alleged to be financially under Bentleys' thumb, and he
3822-464: The north-east of Victoria, Australia , famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the 2021 census , Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well preserved and the town has re-invented itself and evolved into a popular tourist destination and growing wine-producing centre. Beechworth Parish and Township plans were prepared, named and certified by George D. Smythe after he had left
3900-558: The official record. They were also unrepresented in Parliament, and in 1854 the population on the Ballarat goldfields was estimated at 20,000. Charles Hotham , who arrived in Victoria in June 1854, was alarmed at the depleted state of the Treasury and the growing expense of goldfields administration. He ordered the police to redouble their exertions in collecting the fees. To miners just scraping by,
3978-489: The old mountain road, just outside Majors Creek . Although one constable was seriously wounded, the police escorting the gold resisted, and the bushrangers fled empty-handed. The wagonette that was carrying the gold is preserved in the Braidwood Museum . This article related to the history of Australia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush
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#17328375703524056-552: The outskirts. Numerous controls, regulations and licence checks were enforced on the Chinese miners (see: Woods; also McWaters; also O'Brien; and Cronin). Beechworth Cemetery has a large preserved section of early Chinese miners/pioneers. The presence of the Chinese goldminers around Beechworth and throughout Victoria's north-eastern region created social unrest and these are recorded in O'Brien's; Woods'; and Cronin's works below. The Beechworth Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. Like many Australian country towns associated with
4134-405: The payment of £12 per annum was impossible, and there is no doubt that hundreds did endeavour to evade payment, but the innocent suffered with the guilty. The police, too, had been largely recruited from Tasmania, and many were ex-convicts. These grievances were common to all the Victorian fields, and had under Latrobe's administration produced riots at Beechworth and Castlemaine, but Ballarat, always
4212-620: The presence of gold in Australia, but Government officials kept all findings secret for fear of disorganising the young colony. However the Colonial Secretary, Edward Deas Thomson , saw a great future for the country when Edward Hargraves proved his theory that Australia was a vast storehouse of gold. Hargraves had been in the California gold rush and knew gold country, when he first saw it, round Bathurst. The news spread like wildfire, and soon
4290-405: The race was on from coast to gold fields. Flocks were left untended, drovers deserted their teams, merchants and lawyers rushed from their desks and entire ships' crews, captains included, marched off to seek their fortunes. In March 1850, William Campbell of Strath Loddon, found on the station of his brother-in-law, Donald Cameron, of Clunes several minute pieces of native gold in quartz. This
4368-512: The result of their deputation to the Governor, and Vern proposed a burning of the hated licences, which was then carried out. Next day the police carried out a specially vicious and vigorous licence-hunt, and when the troops marched back to camp, the diggers hastened to a conference with the leaders of the Reform League. Peter Lalor was elected leader, and under a blue flag adorned with the stars of
4446-466: The riot, and they were sentenced to three, four, and six months' imprisonment. At an indignation meeting held on 11 November on Bakery Hill, the Ballarat Reform League was formed, with John Basson Humffray (a Welshman) as its first secretary, and Peter Lalor , Frederic Vern (a Hanoverian), Raffaello Carboni (an Italian teacher, of languages), Timothy Hayes (an Irishman), and George Black,
4524-440: The ship's master to pay a £10 poll tax for each Chinese passenger it carried. The act however failed to reduce the number of Chinese arriving on Victorian Gold Fields. By landing at the port of Robe in the colony of South Australia and travelling more than 400 km across country to the Victorian goldfields, Chinese gold seekers were able to successfully evade the restrictions of Victoria's immigration act. In November 1857,
4602-563: The spot to Dr. Webb Richmond, on behalf of the Gold Discovery Committee on 5 July. The third discovery was by Mr. Thomas Hiscock , a resident at Buninyong ; induced by the writings of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, and by the discovery of Brentani's nugget in the Pyrenees district two years before, he had kept a constant lookout for gold in his neighbourhood. He discovered an auriferous deposit in
4680-504: The substantial discoverer of the Ballarat deposits; £1000 to Campbell as the original discoverer of Clunes; £1000 to Esmond as the first active producer of alluvial gold for the market and £500 to Dr. Bruhn. On 20 July 1851 Thomas Peters, a hut-keeper on William Barker's Mount Alexander station, found specks of gold at what is now known as Specimen Gully. This find was published in the Melbourne Argus on 8 September 1851, leading to
4758-586: The western Victorian gold fields to Adelaide . The first gold escort led by Alexander Tolmer (a 'colourful' character who later became the South Australian Police Commissioner) departed Victoria on 5 March 1852 carrying 5,199 ounces (150 kg) of gold and arrived in Adelaide two weeks later. Eventually, eighteen trips were made between 1852 and 1853 transporting 328,502 ounces (9,310 kg) of gold. The Victorian-goldfields to Adelaide route
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#17328375703524836-602: The witnesses to the Kelly hanging (p. viii). Castieau was an early member of Melbourne's Garrick Club . Born in 1897, died in 1983. Sportsman, businessman and sports administrator. Born in 1886, died in 1962. Judge. At the southernmost end of the South West Slopes , Beechworth has a cool climate much of the year. On account of its western longitude, summer warmth is inconsistent, often punctuated by cold fronts and cool changes (unlike in north-eastern Victoria proper where summers are relatively stable). Beechworth's climate
4914-445: Was a gold-producing region and centre of government; however, its power, wealth and influence were short-lived. According to Carole Woods, an early party of prospectors retrieved a pan of gold from the area weighing 14 pounds (6.4 kg). Another lucky party cleared some 50 pounds (23 kg) of gold in a week. And so began a rush into this remote region. During the first election campaign in 1855, one candidate, Daniel Cameron , rode
4992-402: Was a period in the history of Victoria , Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capital for Melbourne , which was dubbed " Marvellous Melbourne " as a result of the procurement of wealth. The Victorian Gold Discovery Committee wrote in 1854: The discovery of
5070-511: Was also a lawyer and represented Ovens , the local electorate, from 1894 to 1902, but died insolvent and embroiled in matrimonial problems. The outlaw Ned Kelly had many links to Beechworth – he spent time in HM Prison Beechworth and fought a famous boxing bout with Isaiah "Wild" Wright in the back of a local hotel. Aaron Sherritt and Joe Byrne of the Kelly Gang came from the Woolshed goldmining camp, outside of Beechworth town. It
5148-556: Was born here and she went on to run Melbourne's largest bookshop and haven for the literati in Bourke Street in the 1930s. George B. Kerferd (1836–1889), a longtime resident of Beechworth, became a Premier of Victoria and was a major participant in ensuring Beechworth had a railway connection to Melbourne. Castieau (1831–1885) was the Prison Governor at Beechworth from 1856 to 1869. The prison, famous for its huge granite walls
5226-458: Was concealed at the time but on 10 January 1851, Campbell disclosed it. Others had found indications of gold. Dr. George H. Bruhn, a German physician, whose services as an analyst were in great demand, had been shown specimens of gold from what afterwards became the Clunes diggings. In spite of these and other discoveries, however, it was impracticable to market the gold, and James Esmond 's "find" which
5304-498: Was discharged. The miners were indignant; a meeting was called and a demand made for a fresh prosecution. The meeting itself was orderly, but towards the end of proceedings a cry was raised that the police (who had been ordered to protect the hotel) were trying to disperse the meeting, and the miners, becoming furious, swept aside the police, smashed the windows and furniture, and burned the building. The police arrested three men- who could not be proved to have been ringleaders or active in
5382-551: Was employed part-time as an assistant teacher at the school, and took up after school tutoring of fellow students. In September 1870, when Isaacs was just 15 years old, he passed his examination as a pupil teacher and taught at the school from then until 1873. Isaacs was next employed as an assistant teacher at the Beechworth State School, the successor to the Common school. From 1875 Isaacs moved to Melbourne for work and to undertake law studies. His connection to Beechworth
5460-480: Was found abundantly, the population could grow by over 1000% in a decade (e.g. Rutherglen had a population of about 2,000. Ten years later, it had approximately 60,000 which is a 3000% increase). The rapid growth was predominantly a result of the gold rushes. The gold rush is reflected in the architecture of Victorian gold-boom cities like Melbourne, Castlemaine , Ballarat , Bendigo and Ararat . Ballarat today has Sovereign Hill —a 60-acre (24 ha) recreation of
5538-611: Was in Beechworth gaol that twenty-one men, suspected Kelly Gang supporters, relatives and other sympathisers were held without trial or evidence for over three months, by the Chief Commissioner of Police Captain Standish, under the Outlawry Act . James William Ingram and his father ran a sizable book business in Beechworth trading as James Ingram & Son. It was founded in 1855 and continued until 1898. Henrietta Ingram (became Bird)
5616-462: Was known as "Castieau's castle". As the Governor of the Melbourne gaol in 1880 he was an official witness to the hanging of Ned Kelly. His diaries were later published (2004) as The Difficulties of My Position . In this book a drawing from the Australian Sketcher , 14 August 1880 shows Castieau sitting with Ned Kelly during his remand (p. 278) and also a photo of his signature as one of
5694-540: Was made on Creswick's Creek, a tributary of the Loddon River , at Clunes on 1 July 1851, was the first marketable gold field. A party formed by Mr. Louis John Michel, consisting of himself, Mr. William Haberlin, James Furnival, James Melville, James Headon, and B. Groenig, discovered the existence of gold in the quartz rocks of the Yarra ranges, at Andersons Creek , near Warrandyte , in the latter part of June, and showed it on
5772-536: Was mined in Victoria. Gold was first discovered in Australia on 15 February 1823, by assistant surveyor James McBrien, at Fish River, between Rydal and Bathurst (in New South Wales). The find was considered unimportant at the time and was not pursued for policy reasons. In the 1850s gold discoveries in Victoria, in Beechworth , Castlemaine , Daylesford , Ballarat and Bendigo sparked gold rushes similar to
5850-565: Was notable for the distance and amount of gold carried, almost a quarter of all gold, 1,520,578 ounces (43,110 kg), transported within Victoria during the gold rush (1851-1865). The Gold Escort route started in the Bendigo area and then went west across the Pyrenees to the small settlement of Horsham . From Horsham, the route passed north-west through the Little Desert region into South Australian territory and then ran roughly parallel with
5928-550: Was re-established when he was elected as the member for Bogong in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from May 1892 until May 1893 and between June 1893 and May 1901. Isaacs further represented Beechworth and surrounding areas when he was elected to the first Federal Parliament in 1901 to the seat of Indi . He served until 1906 when he was appointed to the High Court . His little-known brother John Alfred Isaacs
6006-485: Was shown by that gentleman specimens of gold at what are now called the Clunes diggings. This information he made widely known through the country in the course of his journey, and communicated to Mr. James Esmond, at that time engaged in erecting a building at Mr. James Hodgkinson's station. Dr. Bruhn forwarded specimens, which were received by the Gold Discovery Committee on 30 June 1851. The Gold Discovery Committee awarded £1000 to Michel and his party; £1000 to Hiscock, as
6084-409: Was waning. The rail line was closed in 1977 and dismantled, after 101 years of service. During its boom times, Beechworth town boasted a range of industries including, a tannery, jewellers, boot makers, a brewery, blacksmiths, livestock sale yards. It had schools, a convent, hotels, a prison with imposing stone walls, a hospital, a mental hospital, court house, police barracks, stage coach companies and
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