HISTORICAL
‘The old order changeth, yielding place to the new, And God fulfils himself in many ways Lest one good custom should corrupt the world’ - Tennyson
SEAVic Lodge No. 8 By RWBro. Jim Mitchell PDGM
T
he discovery of gold in 1851 brought with it almost unbelievable outcomes in the settlement of Australia. The existence of alluvial gold, gold lying almost exposed in sands of creek beds, was known long before the 1851 discovery of gold in the Orange district of New South Wales but economic and social conditions in the colonies were such that it was considered unwise that such news be made public.
When it was finally announced, immigrants and settlers rushed in uncontrollable numbers to New South Wales. Melbourne was deserted of its population and ships lay at anchor, motionless in Port Phillip Bay, as crews deserted their ships and sought their fortune on the gold fields. Such was the serious decline in the population of Victoria that the Gold Discovery Committee was established in Melbourne and offered a reward of £200 ($400) to anyone finding payable gold within 200 miles (320km) of Melbourne. Many discoveries were quickly made, firstly at Clunes in mid-1851, but before the close of the year also at Buninyong, Ballarat, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Mount Alexander (Castlemaine) and McIvor. Gold opened rural Victoria to settlement and provided the main nucleus of rural towns and cities that maintain the State today. By December 1853 the estimated number of adult males on the gold fields was 15,000 in each of the towns of Ballarat and Castlemaine and 11,000 in Sandhurst, 41,000 in total. However,
within six months, estimates of population had been increased to 18,000, 34,000 and 21,000 respectively – 73,000 in all, an increase of nearly 80 per cent. This rush of able bodied men to the gold fields resulted in early Lodges of Freemasons being formed on many of the diggings and with various allegiances to the Grand Lodges of Ireland, Scotland, England and to the Grand Orient, however most of these Lodges ceased to exist once the alluvial or surface gold was exhausted.
Continued >> Spring 2014 Freemasonry Victoria 5