We are excited to welcome Dr Douglas Wilkie for our June Talking History. In this talk, dive into the story of a long-forgotten gold rush. Find out about Colonial Victoria in the years before the well-known 1851 gold rushes, how, in the summer of 1849, one shepherd and three ex-convicts started a Gold Rush that was strongly discouraged until after Port Phillip’s separation from New South Wales to ensure the revenue would be expended solely for Victoria’s benefit.

Dr Douglas Wilkie is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne and has written and published widely on topics relating to early Colonial Victoria prior to 1851.

Attend Talking History in person at the Eureka Centre (no booking required).

Image: Edward Roper, ‘Gold diggings, Ararat’ [detail], c.1855. Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales.