Edward Hammond Hargraves (7 October 1816 – 29 October 1891) was a gold prospector who claimed to have found gold in Australia in 1851, starting an Australian gold rush.
Early life
Edward Hammond Hargraves was born on 7 October 1816 in Gosport, Hampshire, England, the son of Elizabeth (née Whitcombe) and John Edward Hargraves. He was educated in Brighton and Lewes, but left school at the age of 14 to go to sea. He arrived in Sydney in 1832.[1]
After his arrival in the colony of New South Wales, Hargraves worked on a property at Bathurst for a period and then went north to the Torres Strait, working in the bêche-de-mer and tortoiseshell industries. In 1834, he took up 100 acres (40 ha) of land near Wollongong. He married Elizabeth Mackay in Sydney in 1836, and in 1839 they moved to East Gosford. Hargraves was an agent for the General Steam Navigation Company and also established the Fox Under The Hill Hotel. In 1843, he took up another property on the Manning River, leaving his wife behind to look after the hotel.[1]
In July 1849, Hargraves left for the United States to participate in the California Gold Rush. He was unsuccessful but returned to Australia in January 1851 with knowledge of prospecting techniques and hopeful of discovering gold closer to home.[1]
Great gold discovery
On 12 February 1851 John Lister, William Tom and James Tom, with Edward Hargraves, found five specks of gold in Lewis Ponds Creek in New South Wales, Australia. Enlisting the help of others to continue the search, Hargraves returned to Sydney in March to interview the Colonial Secretary, and, encouraged by his friends at Bathurst, wrote to The Sydney Morning Herald describing the rich fields. Hargraves made no mention of Lister, or the Tom brothers when making the discovery public and therefore was credited as the sole discoverer of gold. Leaving his team furious after claiming the £10,000 to himself.[1]
Hargraves wrote a book about his discovery titled 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.[2]
Hargraves was rewarded by the New South Wales Government for his find – he was paid £10,000 and was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands. The Victorian Government paid him £5,000. He only claimed £2,381 before the funds were frozen after John Lister protested. An enquiry was held in 1853 which upheld that Hargraves was the first to discover the goldfield. The goldfield, located at Ophir, New South Wales, was named in honour of Ophir.[1]
In 1856, Hargraves purchased a 640-acre (260 ha) landing at Budgewoi on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He went on to build "Norahville" (also called Hargraves House) at Noraville. Wollombi Aboriginal Tribe members are known to have worked on the property. Some sources state that Hargraves had "befriended" the Aboriginal tribe members. In 1877, Hargraves was granted a pension of £250 per year by the Government of New South Wales, which he received until his death.
1890 - Vindication of John Lister and James Tom
A year before Hargraves death in Sydney on 29 October 1891, a second enquiry found that John Lister and James Tom had discovered the first goldfield.[16][12] Lister is buried in the cemetery at Millthorpe and Tom at Byng, both within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of Ophir.
^Scott Earnest (3 October 2012). "Strzelecki, who first found gold in the continent". Institute of Australian Culture. Retrieved 3 June 2023. In a debate in the Legislative Council of New South Wales in 1853, on a proposal to award a gratuity to Edward Hargreaves on account of his discovery of gold at Bathurst, James Macarthur said that to his knowledge Strzelecki in 1839 had exhibited specimens of gold to different gentlemen in Sydney, and "repeatedly told me in private conversation that an extensive goldfield existed in the Bathurst district."
^"Gold rushes". Australian National Museum. Retrieved 11 February 2019. In 1841 Reverend William Branwhite Clarke, one of the earliest geologists in the colony, came across particles of gold near Hartley in the Blue Mountains. In 1844 he mentioned it to Governor Gipps who reportedly said: 'Put it away Mr Clarke or we shall all have our throats cut'.
^Silver Lynette (26 December 2011). "A Fool's Gold? - William Tipple Smith's challenge to the Hargraves myth". Retrieved 3 June 2023. In 1847, mineralogist William Tipple Smith ventured into the rugged hill country near Bathurst, New South Wales and discovered payable gold. After additional successful exploration, he informed the government of his discovery. The apathy, lies and cover-up which followed form the basis of an intriguing tale of mismanagement, buck-passing and official ineptitude. Smith's discovery resulted for him, not in fame and fortune, but in defamation, ruin and untimely death. The government and Edward Hammond Hargraves, were so effective in the systematic destruction of Smith that the true story has remained untold for almost one hundred and forty years. Persistent detective work by the author, whose belief that an innocent man was the tragic victim of political expediency, enabled her too succeed where others have failed, resulting in a totally new interpretation of a fascinating aspect of Australian history. The story of William Tipple Smith is the story of one man's fight for justice and recognition long overdue. The large number of illustrations and a comprehensive document appendix make A Fool's Gold? a valuable reference work on the history of early gold discoveries in New South Wales.
^Power Julie (3 September 2022). "History stands corrected: Smith, not Hargraves, first to discover gold in NSW". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2023. An anonymous grave, previously known only as number 4929, section four, Rookwood Cemetery, was marked for the first time. It now reads: "William Tipple Smith, 1803-1852, Mineralogist, discoverer of Australia's first payable gold and co-founder of Australia's iron and steel industry."
^Watson Janine. "Rudder, Enoch William". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 June 2023. In 1827 he invented a gold washing machine - in search of gold he travelled to California - It was there that Enoch met Edward Hargraves and they travelled huge distances visiting gold fields across the country and they noticed how similar the geological formations in the gold-bearing part of California were to those of NSW. So it was in 1851 when Edward Hargraves was credited with the discovery of gold in NSW Enoch was deeply hurt as he believed he should have received recognition for the part he played.
^Rudder Enoch (1861). "Incidents connected with the discovery of gold in NSW". Fredrick White Printers. p. vi. Retrieved 4 June 2023. (Rudder wrote), had Mr Hargreaves generously admitted the assistance he received from others, and endeavoured to promote their interests, or acted towards them with a sense of justice he would have been spared much vexation and enjoyed unrivaled approbation and gratitude of his country. Forgetful of these principles, he has made enemies when he might have secured lasting friends.
^Aplin Dr Graeme (10 April 2013). "History and Exploration - Gold Rush". Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2023. The first widely known and officially acknowledged gold find was made by John Lister and William Tom at Ophir in April 1851. Edward Hargraves, who had instigated the search and trained the prospectors, returned to Ophir to inspect the find of 120 grams of gold. Hargraves, who excelled as a publicist, practically forced the Government into officially recognising 'his' find and thus ensured his own fame and fortune.
^ abMitchell Bruce (2006). "Hargraves, Edward Hammond (1816–1891)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. From 1870 Lister and Tom brothers bombarded parliament with petitions and campaigned in pamphlets and press. Their persistence was rewarded in 1890 when a Legislative Assembly select committee found that although Hargraves had taught the others how to use the dish and cradle, 'Messrs Tom and Lister were undoubtedly the first discoverers of gold obtained in Australia in payable quantity', but the legend of Hargraves, 'the discoverer of gold' persists.
^"The Gold Rush". 5 January 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2023. In 1891 a Committee recognised these men (Lister and James Tom) and not Hargraves as the first people to discover payable gold in Australia.
^"Ophir". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2023. Hargraves was recognised by the NSW government as 'the first discoverer of gold in Australia'. This is patently false. Many had done so before him. The Ophir find was the first PAYABLE gold strike but that must be credited to Lister and the Tom brothers.
^Long Gavin (2006). "Tom, William (1791–1883)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 7 June 2023. There in 1851 came Edward Hargraves who explained to the Toms how to make a cradle; after he left William Tom built a cradle and with his brothers James and Henry worked along the creek, eventually washing sixteen grains of gold in one day. Soon afterwards William Tom and J. H. A. Lister found nuggets totalling four ounces and wrote to Hargraves who hastened back to the field, which was named Ophir. The gold rush followed.
^Rule John. "The Cradle of a Nation". Retrieved 4 June 2023. On December 17th 1890, the following verdict was handed down: Although Mr Hargraves is entitled to credit for teaching the Tom brothers and Lister how to use a dish and cradle and the proper methods of searching for gold; the Petitioners were undoubtedly the first discoverers of payable gold in Australia.
