GYMPIE, QLD. — James Nash sparked the Gympie gold rush when he found gold in a gully off the Mary River on October 16, 1867. The goldfield was originally called Nashville, but less than a year later, it was renamed Gympie after nearby Gympie Creek.
Nash panned 75 ounces (2.1kg) of gold in just six days. The find famously saved the young Queensland government from impending bankruptcy.
Not long after James Nash discovered gold in 1867, the Curtis nugget was unearthed in Gympie.
Within weeks of the Gympie Gold Rush of October 1867, many hotels were set up. They opened their doors to thousands of gold miners to socialise, drink and eat.
The Tattersalls Hotel was one of the first hotel businesses built in 1868, only six months after the town of Gympie – then still known as Nashville – was settled.
So big, bold and precious was this later discovery by prospectors George Curtis and Valentine Brigg, the word continued to spread across Australia and the world about the excellent quality and rare golden moments within the Gympie region.
James Nash was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1834. He migrated to Australia in 1858 and initially worked as a labourer, who spent his spare time prospecting.
He moved to Queensland in 1863 and initially tried prospecting in the Nanango and Calliope districts, without success.
