Zane+F

The Gold Rush On the 12th of February 1848 Edward Hargreaves a gold fanatic discovered the first bit of gold in Australia. This happened after the California gold rush. He had found out while over in the U.S that the soil was similar to the soil back home. First the gold was just specs but then they came in nuggets. The gold rush attracted tons of people especially from the UK. It also attracted crime and brawls. In the 1850s they instated the first police for the diggers. After all the diggers had settled only 29% of Australia's population were born in Australia. 60% were from the UK and 11% from other countries. The Eureka stockade happened in 1854.On the first of December they planned they storm but didn’t actually charge until the 3rd. At 3am the police and soldiers stormed the stockade. After battling for 3 days 35 miners were killed and 6 soldiers lost their lives. The stockade was completely destroyed. On February 5 1869 the biggest gold nugget ever found was discovered in Moliagul in Victoria. It was found by John Deason and Richard Oates. They called it the welcome stranger. It was worth over £5000. After the gold rush over lots of people stayed in Australia. Australia was scared for life seeing that 250000 ounces had been dug up by 1851. Mostly the Chinese stayed but quite a few British people stayed in Australia. Now people still search for gold in Australia but with nowhere near as much luck. But a good thing is that all big nuggets are still here in Australia in Sovereign Hill.