Edward Hargraves
Edward Hammond Hargraves (1816–1891) was a gold prospector who found gold in Australia in 1851, starting the Australian gold rush.
Hargraves was born in New South Wales. He had travelled to California during the California Gold Rush. His prospecting in California was not successful, however the geological similarities of the California goldfields to the Macquarie Valley in New South Wales, inspired him to return home to prospect. On February 12, 1851, Hargraves found gold near Bathurst, at Summer Hills Creek, he called the goldfield Ophir, and the Ophir Township was later established there. He was accompanied on his prospecting expedition by John Hardman Lister and James Tom, but Hargraves announced the find at a meeting in Bathurst, going against a prior agreement with the two other men.
Hargraves was awarded by the New South Wales Government for his find, he was paid £10 000 and was appointed Commissioner for Crown Land, the Victorian Government paid him £5 000. He only claimed £2 381 before the funds were frozen after James Tom protested. An enquiry was held in 1853 which upheld that Hargraves was the first to discover a goldfield. He travelled to England in 1854 to meet Queen Victoria. In 1877 he was granted a pension of £250 per year by the Government of New South Wales, which he received until his death. Shortly before his death in 1891 a second enquiry found that John Lister and James Tom had discovered the first goldfield.
Hargraves wrote a book about his discovery Australia and its goldfields: a historical sketch of the Australian colonies from the earliest times to the present day with a particular account of the recent gold discoveries, published in 1855.
References
- Evans, J. 1988. The first payable goldfield found in Australia, Gold Gem and Treasure
- Hodge, B. Hargraves, Edward Hammond (1816-1891), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004