A Society transformed by GOLD!

By Harry Roberts

The year 1854, just three years after Victoria became an independent Colony, was one of growth. The gold rush brought prosperity to Melbourne and the rural towns of Bendigo and Ballarat. Geelong also benefited from the increased trade and travellers. It was the gateway to the goldfields and it thrived on the wealth that passed through the town. Many of Geelong’s male citizens had deserted their domestic trades and duties to try their hand at finding their personal ‘eldorado’.

While some sought their fortune in finding gold, others decided that their riches would be in supplying the diggers with food, clothes equipment and even books on how to find gold. Local farmers prospered with a market on their doorstep. Supply and demand factors meant the prices for flour, meat, eggs and poultry was very expensive. Farmers did suffer, however, by having insufficient labour to run their properties.

Population growth

Gold attracted people from all places round the globe and many decided to settle in Geelong and apply their trades. Census data for 1854 for Geelong is represented in the chart below.
Census Geelong and suburbs 1854 (Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer Tuesday 14 Aug 1855)

Buildings – Accommodation and Services

Hotels

Fortunes could be made in service industries. Accommodation was scarce and hotels provided lodging as well as ample supplies of alcoholic refreshments. Geelong was the shortest starting point (30 miles shorter than Melbourne) for the Goldfields and 438 ships arrived in 1854, with most passengers disembarking at Point Henry. (The sand bar at Point Henry divided Corio Bay into an inner and outer harbour. Only vessels with a shallow draft could cross the bar and dock near the town.) People who could not find accommodation in the Township were attracted to the ‘canvas town’ that sprang up at Point Henry.

Every year there was a Licensing Day in Geelong, usually at the end of April. It was not a ’fait accompli’ that hotel licences would be granted or renewed. Standards had to be met and magistrates in a Court of Petty Sessions had to approve applications. There were 118 applications for a Licence in 1854, of which 90 were granted, 15 were refused, 13 were postponed and 1 was withdrawn. Many hotels had their beginning in 1854, and some of those establishments still serve the thirty travellers and residents today.

New hotels were constructed in 1854. The Golden Age in Gheringhap Street and another with the ‘Midas touch’ was the Gold Diggers’ Arms in Skene Street, Newtown. The Fyansford Hotel, built for travellers, was constructed on the banks of the Moorabool River, in Fyansford. In anticipation of future residential development the Nugget Hotel opened its door at the corner of Melbourne Road and Victoria Street in North Geelong.

1854 was the age of the railway in Victoria and the Geelong to Melbourne was being constructed. The Terminus Hotel, near Geelong’s newly constructed railway station opened its doors for the first time. The Clarence Tavern Inn (nicknamed Jackson’s Folly after builder John Jackson) in Gheringhap Street began as a hotel in 1854, but then changed to become Geelong’s Council Chambers in 1855 and then a Sub-Treasury building in 1862.

Churches

Another building dealing in different ‘spirits’ began in 1854. Dominating Geelong’s Skyline has been the Catholic church, Saint Mary of the Angels. A large crowd gathered to witness the laying of the foundation stone. A sermon was delivered by the Bishop, Reverend, Dr Geoghegan, and reading of the Liturgy was performed. A bottle containing every coin of the realm of Great Britain and Ireland was placed in the prepared hole to accommodate the base stone. The benediction followed on the lowering of the foundation stone.

A larger population required more places of worship. Saint Peter’s bluestone Church of England was built in in Percy Street, Newtown. A synagogue was also constructed on the corner of McKillop and Yarra Streets that year.

A dominant church in Latrobe Terrace was also opened for worship in 1854. Saint Paul’s Church Reverend, Theodore Carlos Stretch, was the appointed minister. After a brief time away on the goldfields he conducted his first service.

Residential

In response to the increase in population, many houses were constructed. Huge residential subdivisions were opened on the outskirts of existing town boundaries and satellite towns. The Milton estate in Geelong West had 300 allotments.

A number of Grand houses were also constructed, such as the current National Trust property in Newton called ‘The Heights’. The building was prefabricated in Hamburg, Germany. Many buildings in this period were imported and constructed from steel. Most have since been demolished and replaced by brick and timber. In the same year the prefabricated cottage Raith was being assembled in Newtown, opposite Elderslie Reserve.

Another steel building of that period which has survived is located at the City of Geelong’s main road entry at the corner of Mercer and Gin Streets. Known locally as “The Iron Store”, it was imported from Glasgow, Scotland for the Brown Brothers in 1853 and erected in 1854.
An important residence for the poor was also started in 1854. Society’s chaos often meant families, and children in particular, suffered. Geelong’s philanthropists raised funds to construct the Geelong Orphan Asylum to protect orphaned, abandoned and neglected children. A large donation was received from former mayor and pastoralist, Mr James Austin before he returned to live in England. That building still stands in McCurdy Road, Newtown, but it is no longer an orphanage.

Services

Construction of the Geelong to Melbourne railway line between 1853 and 1857, required considerable labour. Most strong, able-bodied men were seeking their fortunes on the goldfields. One solution to the problem was to enlist convict labour. In 1854 the prison hulk, Sacramento, was towed to Corio Quay (where the Spirit of Tasmania now operates) and 100 prisoners constructed the section from Cowie’s Creek to Lara. Those men were employed laying railway lines and constructing bridges along the route.

Victoria’s independent status as a colony meant it was responsible for its own defence. This resulted in the desire for Geelong to form the “Geelong Rifle Corp”. A public meeting was called by the Mayor on February 4th to form that organisation. Only 40 soldiers were allocated by the colony to defend Geelong, so the support of a citizen’s organisation would bolster that number to ‘protect the town and neighbourhood’.

Another voluntary citizens’ organisation was established in 1854 with the formation Geelong Volunteer Fire Brigade. It was formed on 3 March 1854 with 64 members enrolled – the majority of whom were merchants or traders of the town.

Relevant information regarding gold statistics became a regular feature of the Geelong Advertiser. A commentary in its regular column entitled Geelong Gold Circular dealt with common themes such as; the price of Gold, the quantity of gold escorted to Geelong, and places where gold was being found.

Social Change

Recreation

Geelong Sea Bathing Company was formed after a public meeting in 1853 and subscription was £5. The company wrote to Lieutenant Governor Charles Joeseph Latrobe seeking permission to use the waterfront for bathing. Permission was granted and in 1854 the Men’s and Ladies’ bathing jetties and enclosures were constructed on the eastern side of Swanston Street extending 230 metres into Corio Bay. Women were permitted to use the facilities between 10 am and and 4 pm and men at all other times.

Schools

More residents meant more families and more children. Today’s Matthew Flinders Girls’ School, between Fenwick Street and Latrobe Terrace, began with the laying of the foundation stone in December 1856. Originally it was named Flinders National Grammar School. Work to develop a secular education for children began in 1854 when a group of prominent citizens formed to achieve that goal. The Grammar school was the result of their efforts.

A Catholic Denominational School was opened south of Thompsons Road near Cowie’s Creek. Another denominational school was the mud brick Lutheran school, established in German Town, now called Grovedale. In the same year Geelong’s Gaelic Speaking Scottish citizens in the Free Presbyterian Church constructed a Gaelic Church/School House in Latrobe Terrace The former Gaelic church and schoolhouse was built in 1854 by a Free Presbyterian Church congregation established in Geelong for the Gaelic-speaking immigrants from the Scottish Highlands.

It wasn’t until 1872 that free secular education for children, aged 6 to 15, was made compulsory in the colony of Victoria.

Crime

A larger population in the town, with many returning men from the goldfields with no success, resulted in an increase in crime. The columns of the Geelong Advertiser in 1854 recorded many court cases. One incident and punishment, above all others, stood out in 1854: the first and only public execution of two criminals outside the gaol walls in Geelong. The Gallows, aptly named Gallows Flat, were only 200 metres from the Geelong Gaol entrance,. The public hanging was a macabre scene witnessed by 2000 residents. Legislation was subsequently passed requiring the execution of criminals to take place behind Gaol walls.

Leadership

Unpopular Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph Latrobe left the colony in May, 1854. (Latrobe was appointed to the position of Superintendent to the Port Phillip District. When Colonial Status was bestowed on Victoria in 1851, Latrobe became Lieutenant Governor). Latrobe was very unpopular on the gold fields because of his in introduction of licence fees in 1851 at the start of the Victorian Goldrush.

Latrobe’s replacement was the First Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, who arrive on June 22nd 1854. There was a great celebration on his arrival, but his popularity faded because in September he doubled the goldfield mining licence hunts from monthly to twice weekly. Failing to satisfy miners’ grievances, his non-compromising stance resulting in the Rebellion at Eureka in Ballarat. It was on Sunday, December 3rd, 1854 at Ballarat the battle shook the infant colony. The battle was over issues greater than a mining licence. Governor Hotham’s troops stormed the miners’ stockage, by dawn’s early light on that day. There is a connection with Geelong associated with that event. Injured rebel leader and future member of Victorian Parliament, Peter Lalor, sought refuge at a house in Corio Street when authorities were searching to arrest him. Another link was with the telegraph.

Business

Geelong’s rapid growth was able to support many new business ventures. John Donnely bought a large acreage at Fisherman’s Gully (known as Rippleside from 1881) and constructed a slaughterhouse as well as a large mansion with views over Corio Bay. Wool was important for Geelong’s success and a Barwonside Wool Scouring Works was established.

Two local businesses had their origins in that year. Today’s Fagg Brothers (Mitre 10) store continues to supply timber, tools and supplies to the building industry and general public. It is reportedly the eighth oldest continuously operating family businesses in Australia. The Gorell Family arrived and set up business in Geelong in 1854. Gorell’s, have been in business continuously since that time and are now famous for their car empire with 18 makes of cars being sold to the Geelong community.

New Technology

Geelong’s first Telegraph Office (only temporary until the permanent building was completed) was Geelong’s small Custom’s House (Victoria’s oldest building now situated in Geelong’s Botanic Gardens). The first telegraph message between Geelong and Melbourne on December 6th was to advise Melbourne authorities of the conflict at the Eureka Stockade.

Newspaper Owner and Editor, James Harrison, (the founder of the still published Geelong Advertiser first printed in 1840), was more than just a communicator. James Harrison invented, built and patented the world’s first commercial ice-making machine and refrigerator in Geelong in 1854. His invention revolutionised trade and allowed meat exports to flourish. Harrison later became an Editor of the Melbourne Age newspaper and, after his returned to England in the 1870s, became their London Correspondent. The remarkable James Harrison was also a member of Victoria Legislative Assembly 1859 – 1860 and Legislative Council 1854 to 1856.

Rivalry

Geelong began as a settlement of squatters in 1836 when James Cowie and David Stead brought their sheep from Van Diemen’s Land. The settlement grew to officially become a town in 1838. Sixteen years of growth later in 1854, enhanced an advanced by the goldrush of 1851, Geelong was a prosperous town and the second largest settlement in the new colony of Victoria. In these early years there was competition between Melbourne and Geelong for dominance. That rivalry began in the late 1840s when the Geelong Advertiser claimed Geelong was the ‘Pivot’. It was a term that captured Geelong’s business dominance and it was a applied to business names and even the Geelong Football Club nicknamed the Pivotonians.

Tensions were high when in May, 1854 a false map was circulated to people in Europe who were intending to travel to the Victoria’s goldfields. That infamous chart epitomised the rivalry and skulduggery present in the Melbourne business community. The map showed Geelong to be farther than Melbourne from the goldfields, encouraging travellers to bypass Geelong and disembark in Melbourne.

The Geelong Advertiser’s Editor, when he examined the map, wrote on page 4, June 14th, 1854:
“A lie may be acted as well as spoken. A lie may be depicted as well as written. A lie may be lithographed, and disseminated far and wide, by surveyor’s lines. A wantonly distorted map is a typographical lie, and of such lie certain parties are guilty of publication … To obtain this object these malefactors have disrupted nature and made the mercantile community of Melbourne ‘propagandi’ of deceit and falsehood, and of the basest injuries to their fellow colonists.”

The year 1854 will always be remembered for the stand taken at Eureka and the democratic rights and liberties won by miners. We should view the goldrush not only as the catalyst for social change, but also the financial platform from which Melbourne and small towns throughout the colony were able to expand and develop. Geelong was an example of one of those places.

Photographs