Impact of gold on Victoria essays

Impact of gold on Victoria essays The gold rush was the catalyst for the unprecedented development of Victoria. The first discoveries of Gold made at Clunes, 90 miles north of Melbourne, functioned as a magnet to thousands of prospectors in the hope of striking it rich. Consequently, the influx of foreigners and the displacement of population from the Australian colonies to the Victorian gold fields, as emphasized by the Bathurst Free Press, A complete mental madness appears to have seized almost every member of the community. There has been a universal rush to the diggings; the phenomenal impact of migration was evident in the subsequent years of Gold discovery in Victoria. The economy was injected with thousands more consumers and the need for increased services was heightened with the news of additional gold findings. Thousands of children in the colony required education, which at the time was gravely inadequate to cater for the large numbers of children flooding into the colony as their families migrated for n ew opportunities. Furthermore, the diverse inhabitants of the goldfields were the ingredients of a sweltering pot of culture, creating a cosmopolitan feel to the goldfields. The need for communications were obvious by the mid 1850s as electric telegraphing wires formed an intricate system of communications across the Victorian countryside and the development of roads and railway lines reflected the need for effective transportation. Another consequence of the gold rushes was the Eureka Stockade that effectively ignited a campaign for equal rights and fair treatment, which lead to the emergence of a democracy in Victoria and Australia. In ten years gold had transformed Victoria from a minor pastoral settlement to the most celebrated British colony and consequently transformed Melbourne into a thriving metropolis, many historians look back at this period as the defining moment in Australias history, this view was shar...