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Listed under:  Economics and business  >  Industries  >  Primary industry  >  Mining  >  Gold rushes
Video

Gold rush

Walk through the streets of 1850s Ballarat at Sovereign Hill and learn about how the discovery of gold shaped the development of this region. What were the three distinct but overlapping eras of gold mining in Ballarat? How do staff at Sovereign Hill know what life was like for people during this time? Find out how the ...

Text

The Australian Colonies: Gold

This inquiry-based unit presents students with a range of visual primary sources to spark curiosity about life in the 1800s. Each activity introduces a new concept related to the Australian Gold Rushes.

Video

The Perth Mint Starts Making Currency: The gold rush era

The gold rush of the 1890s, which started in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, prompted a rush of hopeful prospectors to Western Australia. Perth Mint exhibition supervisor Greg Cooke talks about the reality of life in the harsh outback with little water and no roads. Would you have risked your life to try to find your fortune ...

Video

Outback House: Life for the station workers

Imagine leaving your home to travel back to a time over 150 years ago, to live and work on an outback farm. Sixteen Australians take part in a reality TV show about life on Oxley Downs, a sheep station built to look and work as a real station would have in the 1860s.Observe the morning routine for the station hands. Discover ...

Audio

Radio National: Peter Lalor's Bakery Hill speech

What events led to the attack on the Eureka Stockade (Eureka rebellion) on the Ballarat goldfield in 1854? This audio clip examines the famous Bakery Hill speech by activist Peter Lalor. Listen to Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter discuss the effect that the speech had on the assembled miners. Find out why this is considered a key event ...

Assessment

Year 5 history assessment - Investigating the colonial period in Australia: Shaping the Australian colonies

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 5 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do in relation to the topic 'The Australian Colonies'. Students develop and deliver a multimodal presentation ...

Online

History in place

This is a website about the History in Place program which aims to use digital technology to connect teachers and students with their local history or heritage. The resource has three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are 16 Story Objects, all videos that were produced ...

Online

New Gold Mountain. Chinese on the goldfields

This resource provides teaching and learning activities exploring the history and contribution of the Chinese on the Australian goldfields in 19th century Australia. The PDF booklet provides teacher's notes, historical background and reproducible student activities which focus on the gold rushes and the Victorian goldfields. ...

Video

BTN: Eureka Stockade

The Battle of the Eureka Stockade was fought in Ballarat, Victoria between gold miners and Colonial forces in 1854. What were the miners rebelling against? Why is this event a significant point in Australia's history?

Online

Eureka stories

This is a website about the Eureka Stockade uprising and trials of 1854 to 1855. It uses primary and secondary source materials to explore some of the causes and actions that fueled the uprising. The resource is presented in three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are ...

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Colonial Australia: defining moments, 1788–1900

This module provides resources and interactive classroom activities for studying colonial Australia in the nineteenth century. Students engage with texts, images, and objects to learn about the significant events and people that shaped the Australian colonies, and the effects of colonisation on the environment. The resource ...

Text

Eureka: Protest, riot, rebellion or revolution?

This unit of work consists of four activities that examine the causes and consequences of the 1854 Eureka Rebellion. The activities include a decision-making exercise through which students consider the rebellion from the point of view of the diggers and the realities of life on the goldfields. A short video provides background ...

Audio

Hey History Episode 4: Gold fever

What were the Gold Rushes? Why did people from all over the world get ‘gold fever’? What was life like on the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, on Wada Wurrung Country? With so many different groups of people, how did everyone get along? Did First Nations people mine gold too? What was the Eureka Stockade? How did the Gold ...

Image

'Cradling, Forrest Creek', 1853

This is an 1853 hand-coloured lithographic print, entitled 'Cradling. Forrest Creek'. It was made by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80) from a sketch done on the spot as he watched gold miners cradle for gold at Forest Creek (as it was more commonly spelled), in Victoria. One miner scoops water into the cradle, while the other ...

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Sheet music cover for 'Australia draws her maiden sword', 1885

This is the damaged front cover of a three-page score for the song 'Australia Draws her Maiden Sword'. It depicts Australia as a maiden drawing her long sword and preparing for imminent conflict. Behind her, troops are shown marching out of their encampment. On the bottom of the cover in copperplate are the words 'WRITTEN ...

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Horsedrawn whim on a gold field at Gympie, 1870-80

This is a black-and-white photograph of the minehead area at a Queensland goldmine. It shows the mine's headframe and a horsedrawn 'whim'. The whim consists of a wooden derrick construction with two large vertically mounted drums at its centre, one with a rope wound around it. The rope is connected at one end to the swivel ...

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Outside gold miners' huts, Mount Dromedary, 1890s

This is a photograph, taken by William Henry Corkhill (1846-1936) in the late 1890s, showing four gold miners standing outside a simple slab hut on the Mount Dromedary diggings in southern New South Wales. The hut stands on a narrow terrace cut into the hillside amid the bush. Firewood and housekeeping utensils lie on the ...

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'The claim disputed', c1852

This is a watercolour, measuring 19.4 cm x 25.4 cm, by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80), a famous colonial artist. It shows a well-dressed man - presumably the Gold Commissioner - arbitrating a dispute over a claim involving three diggers, probably on the Victorian gold fields. Two of the diggers are in animated discussion ...

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'Arrival of the mail, Myers Flat diggings', probably 1850s

This is a black-and-white print, measuring 17.7 cm x 21.6 cm, created from a wood engraving. It shows two men seated on a horse-drawn, two-wheeled buggy. Nine miners are gathered by the buggy, awaiting the delivery of letters, reading letters or newspapers and exchanging news. Although not visible on this image, the title ...

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'Gold digging in Australia 1852: bad results'

This is the first of a pair of oval watercolours, measuring 20.2 cm x 26.4 cm, painted by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80), a famous colonial artist. It shows two gold miners sitting dejectedly beside their mine, probably on the Victorian gold fields. Behind the men is a windlass, as well as their wheelbarrow, pick and spade. ...