Biographical entry
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Unlocking Regional Memory
Biographical entry
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Hargraves, Edward Hammond (1816 - 1891) |
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| Born: 7 October 1816 Gosport, Hampshire, England. Died: 29 October 1891 Sydney, New South Wales. | |||
Edward Hargraves alleged to be the first to discover gold in Australia when, on 12 February 1851, he found grains of gold in Summer Hill Creek outside Bathurst, New South Wales. |
Career Highlights | ||
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Born in England, Hargraves arrived in Sydney in 1832 and worked in Australia for about 15 years before going to the California goldfields in 1849. In 1836 he had married Elizabeth Mackay and settled at Gosford, where they built and ran a hotel. In 1851 he returned to Australia and began prospecting in Bathurst, believing he would find gold because the landscape was similar to that of California. He was inspired by the government's offer of a large reward for payable gold discoveries. Hargraves discovered a small amount of gold at a spot he named Ophir and trained his companions, John Lister and the Tom brothers, in Californian panning techniques. He travelled to Sydney and when he was sure of the reward, announced the discovering. This began Australia's gold rushes and Hargraves received the reward as well as a life pension and other honours. In 1851 he became a commissioner of Crown Lands for the gold districts and a justice of the peace. It was his companions, however, who actually discovered the payable gold, although this was not recognised until 1890 by a select committee of the Legislative Assembly. [Brief Biography compiled by Robin Hammond, January/February 2004] | ||
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Published by The Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 5 April 2004 Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 23 February 2010 http://www.nswera.net.au/biogs/UNE0201b.htm |