Curio

State Library of New South Wales
New gold mine head, Gulgong area

New gold mine head, Gulgong area

1872
Glass photonegative

Much of the land around the richest veins on the Gulgong field was Crown land, meaning a miner had only to pay 10s for a miner’s right to own any gold from his claim. A rush was inevitable. In 1872, Gulgong sent 134,500 oz. [4.2 tonnes] gold to the Mint, while Tambaroora and Hill End sent only 75,000 oz [2.3 tonnes]. As the D61, 31 March 1873, commented:

It is a peculiarity of this field, that as soon as one ‘shallow rush’, where the gold can be picked out like potatoes subsides at a depth of from 30 to 50 feet, another is discovered.

From Anthony Trollope’s Australia and New Zealand, Vol 1.

“...some were miners working for wages, and some were shareholders, each probably with a large stake in the concern. I could not in the least tell which was which. They were all dressed alike, and there was nothing of the master and the man in the tone of their conversation... It must be understood that [the Australian miner’s] is not a submissive deportment, prone to the touching of hats and a silent reverence of his betters—but a manly bearing, which enables him to express himself freely, but which never verges on distasteful familiarity.” [Anthony Trollope’s Australia and New Zealand, Vol 1., p68-9]