VICTORIA. — Gold was discovered in Australia as early as the 1830s, but discoveries were suppressed for fear of sparking off unrest among the convicts.
When gold was first officially discovered in Australia in 1851, it was at a time when the government in New South Wales sought to encourage gold finds, to limit the numbers leaving Australia for the Californian goldfields.
The first payable gold in Victoria was at Clunes and Warrandyte by James Esmond at Clunes on June 11, 1851.
At almost the same time, gold was also discovered at Anderson’s Creek, near Warrandyte, by Melbourne publican Louis Michel. Both Clunes and Warrandyte claim to be the first town in Victoria where gold was found.
While these strikes were significant, the real gold rush began when gold was discovered on July 20, 1851 at Mt Alexander, 60km northeast of Ballarat, and close to the town of Bendigo.
John Worley and Christopher Thomas Peters at Specimen Gully made the discovery.
This was a considerable boost for the colony, which had achieved independent government separate from New South Wales just that month.
Within a year, tens of thousands of prospectors had arrived at the Mt Alexander goldfields.
This was also the first Victorian goldfield to which Chinese miners came in large numbers.
