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Mr. E.H. Hargraves, the gold discoverer of Australia, Feb 12th, 1851, returning the salute of the gold miners, 1851, by T.T. Balcombe, oil on canvas, State Library of New South Wales ML 532. Photo by
Thomas Tyrwitt Balcombe, a digital copy of a painting by JJ Harrison –

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Edward Hargraves

Edward Hammond Hargraves was one of the most famed and colorful explorers of gold during the gold rush era. This biography profiles his childhood, life, achievements, and timeline.

On 12 February 1851, a prospector discovered small fragments of gold in a waterhole near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. This discovery opened the floodgates to migration and enterprise which soon spread across the continent, from Victoria and News South Wales to Tasmania, Queensland, and beyond.

‘Gold fever’ seemed to have infected the world and brought prospectors from Europe, America, and Asia to Australia. Alongside gold, what many of them found was a new sense of identity that challenged British colonial society and changed the course of Australian history.

1. Edward Hargraves was hailed as the ‘Gold Discoverer of Australia’

EDWARD HARGREAVES. Photo by Samuel Sidney –

Hargraves had left Britain aged 14 to make a life for himself in Australia. A jack of all trades, he worked as a farmer, storekeeper, pearl- and tortoise-sheller, and sailor.

In July 1849, Hargraves ventured to America to take part in the Californian gold rush where he gained valuable knowledge on how to prospect.

 Although he did not make his fortune in California, Hargraves returned to Bathurst in January 1851 determined to put his new skills to good use.

2. The first gold discovery was made on 12 February 1851

Edward Hammond Hargraves. Der erste Entdecker australischer Goldfelder de:Edward Hammond Hargraves (1815-1891), Bild aus der Sammlung der australischen Nationalbibliothek. Photo by Angas, George French, 1822-1886 –

Hargraves was working along Lewis Pond Creek near Bathurst in February 1851 when his instincts told him gold was close by. He filled a pan with gravelly soil and drained it into the water when he saw a glimmer.

Within the dirt lay small flecks of gold. Hargraves sped to Sydney in March 1851 to present soil samples to the government who confirmed he had indeed struck gold.

He was rewarded with £10,000 which he refused to split with his companions John Lister and the Tom Brothers.

3. He was a shrewd gold promoter

Beatrix of Portugal, Countess of Arundel and Huntingdon (1840) – Edward Hargrave.
Portrait engraving of Beatrix of Portugal, Countess of Arundel, by Edward Hargrave. It is inscribed: “An authentic portrait engraved exclusively for the Court Magazine, N.º 91 of the series of ancient portraits.” Edward Hargrave (1837-1841). Photo unattributed –

Edward Hammond Hargraves was a shrewd gold promoter, credited with discovering the first payable goldfields near Bathurst, New South Wales.

Returning unsuccessfully from the Californian goldfields, Hargraves decided to travel west to Wellington in search of Australian gold during the summer of 1851. Visiting an inn at Guyong owned by the Lister family, he changed his travel plans and relied upon local knowledge of the area.

4. Hargraves started panning for gold at Lewis Ponds Creek

A pond creek. Photo by Cristofer Maximilian on

With the son of the innkeeper, John Lister, and the Tom brothers, William and James, he started panning for gold at Lewis Ponds Creek. Hargraves taught the young men how to make a Californian cradle which he had seen on the Californian goldfields.

This wooden contraption could be rocked from side to side so that the heavy gold particles were retained when the lighter gravel was sifted through.

On February 12, 1851, Hargraves, along with his assistants, discovered flecks of gold in the Lewis Ponds Creek.

5. He wrote to William Northwood, announcing his gold discovery

Picture of pure Gold. Photo by Jingming Pan on

Hargraves wrote to William Northwood, a Sydney businessman, announcing his gold discovery. His letters are cross-hatched, a common method of conserving paper at the time.

This impressive composite photograph even today still tends then to eclipse the fame of Edward Hargraves (1816-1891). Novocastrians might remember being taught at school about Hargraves as the official discoverer of gold in NSW, rather than Holtermann.

Edward Hammond Hargraves found payable gold at Ophir, near Bathurst, in 1851, but it was rather paltry compared to later finds.

6. Hargraves is best described as a gold rush publicist

Coins made out of gold.Photo by Zlaťáky.cz on

These days Hargraves is best described as a gold rush publicist, as other people were involved in his find, sparking an inland gold stampede.

Ocean beacon: Norah Head lighthouse, a project that once had the earnest support of landowner Edward Hargraves. Picture: Mike Scanlon

People flocking to goldfields resulted in the discovery of another huge nugget, “The Welcome Stranger”, weighing 65kg, found north-west of Melbourne in 1869.

7. He remains a notable figure in Australian colonial history

Natural History Museum. Photo by Patxi Olaeta on

Hargraves remains a notable figure in Australian colonial history and received reward money and a pension for his trouble. The legend persists of his fame to this day.

8. Hargraves thought digging for the precious yellow metal was a mug’s game

Noup Head viewed from the nor’west. Photo by Des Colhoun – Wikimedia Commons

Hargraves, however, must have thought digging for the precious yellow metal was a mug’s game and retired for a second, more unlikely, sort of fame years later at Norah Head, near Toukley.

For we have him to thank, in part, for the campaign to erect the 28-meter tall Norah Head lighthouse on a rugged spear of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean.

The Central Coast’s famous beacon has operated as an ocean landmark protecting mariners since opening in November 1903. Electrified in 1961 (replacing a kerosene burner), it was finally automated in 1994.

9. Hargraves erected a fine, single-storey house of cedar after receiving his gold reward

A charming house in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. Photo by Abbilyn Zavgorodniaia on

With his gold reward, Hargraves erected a fine, single-storey house of cedar with a veranda on three sides down there with sweeping views of the Pacific. Built between 1856-59, the homestead was named Norahville.

Today’s Central Coast suburb of Noraville is named after it.

10. Edward Hargrave’s wife was reportedly the first white woman to settle in the remote locality

A white woman. Photo by Henri Pham on Unsplash

Mrs. Elizabeth Hargraves, the wife of the gold discoverer, was reportedly the first white woman to settle in the remote locality. Elizabeth Drive is named after her.

Interviewed in 1931 (at age 83), she said: “The blacks were wonderful fishermen with their long spears, pointed with a cluster of hardwood spikes, secured at the end with vines and a gum named Tuggerah obtained from the grass tree.”

The natives were adept at gathering wild honey, large quantities of which they bartered with Hargraves.

He regularly supplied more than a ton of honey a year to a Sydney customer, she said.