Evidence from various official sources, plus much anecdotal evidence, indicates that as many as 50 per cent evaded the licence fee at some time in their mining lives. But the money raised was not enough because many of the gold diggers were either not able or not willing to pay 30 shillings a month for a licence. Second, it was to stop the rush, control the labour force and get people back to their jobs in workshops and farms in time for the shearing and harvest. First, it was to raise the money needed to fund the cost of goldfields administration and infrastructure. The gold licence system had a two-fold purpose. Persons searching for gold in Victoria had to obtain a gold licence costing thirty shillings per month and also show proof that they were not “ a person improperly absent from hired service”. Following reports that gold had been found at Clunes and Buninyong and then at Ballarat, the Victorian Lieutenant Governor Charles La Trobe, issued new regulations.
In August 1851, six weeks after the Colony of Victoria was proclaimed the gold rush began. From Mount Alexander Mountain of Gold by Marjorie Theobald p6.
Map of Mount Alexander Goldfields: drawn by John Theobald.
0 kommentar(er)
