Ophir gold diggings in 1851 - asset 5

Educational value

• This asset provides images of the first gold rush in Australia near Bathurst, New South Wales, at the junction of Summer Hill and Lewis Pond Creeks - this was where the Lister brothers, John and James, and Edmund Hargraves found payable gold in February 1851, for which Hargraves was awarded £10,500 ($1,125,434 in 2004 values) by the NSW Government.
• It shows the natural rock barrier across Summer Hill creek, named Fitzroy Bar after Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New South Wales from 1846 to 1853 - Fitzroy encouraged gold discoveries by offering the £10,500 reward and, in 1851, by reducing the gold licence fee.
• It refers to the name 'Ophir', which was given to the gold field in honour of the Old Testament mining region from which King Solomon received gold - by the end of 1851, the rush at Ophir was over, with diggers moving to Turon, or further south to the Braidwood district; however in the 1860s, Ophir provided gold from reef mining, and in the 1970s a 5.2-kilogram gold nugget was found there.
• It illustrates the use of gold-washing cradles, introduced to the Lister brothers from the Californian gold fields by Edmund Hargraves - cradles had a metal sieve at the top to separate larger rocks, and wooden strips called riffles at the bottom; as the cradle was rocked, water was poured in to wash away the dirt and particles of gold were left behind in the riffles.
• It illustrates the teamwork necessary to search for gold - this may have promoted the idea of mateship in Australia.
• It provides an example of the work of George French Angas - a member of the pioneer South Australian family, Angas was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in Britain, and studied drawing and lithography; he drew this sketch in his second period in Australia (1850-61), during which he worked as secretary to the Australian Museum in Sydney (1853-60.
• It shows clothing worn by mid-19th-century gold rush diggers - loose-fitting shirts and trousers with belts and wide-brimmed felt hats.

Year level

5

Topics Goldfields