Hargraves, EDMUND HAMMOND

Hargraves, EDMUND HAMMOND, the discoverer of the goldfields of Australia, was born at Gosport, in England, in 1815. When eighteen years of age he settled in Australia. Attracted to California in 1849, he there tried his luck as a gold-digger, and whilst so engaged was greatly struck by the similarity in the geological formation of California and Australia, and suspected that gold would be found in the latter. On his return home he proved the correctness of his surmise by discovering gold on the western slopes of the Blue Hills in New South Wales in 1851. He was appointed commissioner of crown-lands, and received from the government of New South Wales a reward of £10,000. In 1855, one year after his return to England, he published Australia and its Goldfields. He died in October 1891.