Ballarat. Wealthy gold mining city. Impressive commercial building in Greek revivial style built in 1881. In Lydiard Street. : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Ballarat. Wealthy gold mining city. Impressive commercial building in Greek revivial style built in 1881. In Lydiard Street. / denisbin
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-改変禁止 2.1 |
|---|---|
| 説明 | In August 1851 John Dunlop and James Regan discovered alluvial gold at what is now called Poverty Point. Gold had been discovered a few months earlier near Bathurst in NSW. Victoria suddenly had its own gold rush with Melbourne and Geelong almost deserted of labourers. The diggings attracted 20,000 people who were prepared to take risks for the lure of gold and as one historian said they were “men of brawn”. Diggers worked six days a week, living in primitive tents, doing rough and sometimes dangerous work. Beards became the norm as diggers did not have time to shave. Most worked in groups of four to six men. Enough found good sized gold nuggets which kept the gold fever alive. The second largest nugget ever found in Australia, the “Welcome Nugget” was found at Bakery Hill in 1858. By October 1851 the Victorian government put commissioner in charge of the gold fields who was responsible for diggers becoming more and more aggrieved by the high licence fees they had to pay. Most earned good wages but few made fortunes. Diggers from California and England began to arrive in 1852. By the end of 1853 the alluvial gold was fast disappearing. Diggers were making less and less. The diggers had no political rights and the inspectors of licences acted in high handed ways. The murder of a digger, James Scobie at the Eureka Hotel on 6th October 1854 set off a series of meetings demanding justice and better conditions for diggers. On November 29th diggers burnt their mining licences. The inept gold commissioner chose the next day to conduct a licence search. This precipitated a riot, partially provoked by disgruntled Irishmen, and the armed resistance against the government at the Eureka Stockade. This has been Australia’s only armed resistance to government. After surrendering on December 2nd, the diggers led by Irishman Peter Lalor, were attacked by the armed officers and 22 were killed along with 6 officers on December 3rd 1854. Eureka was over but its story was not to be forgotten. Lalor eventually went on to become a locally elected member of the Victorian parliament. Gold continued to play a major role in Ballarat’s history but mainly through large gold mining companies as the alluvial gold petered out. The Chinese started arriving on the goldfields in 1855/56 and by 1857 there were 24,000 Chinese on the Victorian goldfields. In that year many landed at Robe and walked overland to the fields in Ararat and Ballarat and elsewhere. The first deep shaft or open cut gold mining began in 1855 and by 1860 thirty companies had open cut mines. The last Ballarat gold mine closed in 1918. The effects of the gold rush on Ballarat were immense. The small town of Ballarat was proclaimed in 1852. It was surveyed by W.S. Urquhart in 1854 and one of the main streets are named after him. His town covered 1,000 acres but it avoided the diggings areas where Sovereign Hill now exists. The miners needed housing and supplies so the commercial side of Ballarat grew quickly. By 1854 there were 22 hotels in Ballarat and 477 by 1869! Lydiard Street became the main commercial street. After the Eureka Stockade gold production in Ballarat doubled as mining companies took over. Deep shaft mining began along Sturt Street (the main highway) near Lydiard Street. Most of the freehold town blocks were sold in 1856 and 1857. The city prospered especially once a railway line from Geelong in 1862 linked the city with Melbourne. As the railway was extended westwards towards the Wimmera and South Australia Ballarat became a supply centre for the outlying districts. The city specialised in agricultural equipment as well as deep shaft mining equipment because of its many foundries. By 1870 Ballarat had 40,000 residents and 56 churches, 11 banks, 13 breweries, 8 iron foundries, 3 flour mills etc. In the 1870s and 1880s Ballarat entered a boom period ad many fine and impressive buildings in central Ballarat were erected then. Lydiard Street was built with three and four storey structures consistent with the image of a successful gold mining city. In 1871 the town was declared a city. This was also the year in which the impressive Town Hall was built. The most impressive city buildings were usually banks and hotels. The riches of Ballarat gold meant such structures were also built in later decades. The last gold mine closed in 1918 when the city was already established as a major regional city with a diverse industrial and employment base. The hinterland of Ballarat was the major meat producing region of Victoria and this contributed to the city’s wealth. There were ten foundries in Ballarat by 1861, several breweries, brick works, tanneries and soap and candle works from the tallow of the cattle and sheep slaughtered there. The first woollen mill opened in Ballarat in 1872. Socially the nineteenth century set the scene for years to come. The divide between Ballarat West (the surveyed grid pattern city) and Ballarat East the ramshackle area of the diggings and later development around those areas was marked. Nearly all Chinese and industrial workers in Ballarat lived in the East where there were few trees or open spaces. By contest the West had grand mansions, tree lined avenues and Lake Wendouree and parks. One of the social highlights for the city was the visit of The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Alfred in December 1867. He stayed at Craig’s Hotel in Lydiard Street. Others travellers and business houses in the 1870s moved from Main Street (Sturt Street) to Lydiard Street too as this was close to the railway station. Around 1890 Lydiard Street also got an art gallery thanks to a local benefactor James Oddie. |
| 撮影日 | 2021-01-03 16:46:12 |
| 撮影者 | denisbin |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | |
| カメラ | DSC-HX90V , SONY |
| 露出 | 0.001 sec (1/2000) |
| 開放F値 | f/3.5 |