The Golden Colony
Introduction
The “Gold Rush” was a defining period in the life of the Colony of Victoria. And yet, despite the multitude of books, articles, TV shows, and the rest about the period, the Government administration of the Gold Fields is generally not well documented.
This project began with personal research into my great great great grandfather. Known in Australia as “Jim Taker,” he was originally from Amoy in China and was on the Victorian Gold Fields by 1857. He appeared in court in August of that year. A contemporary news report says:
“Nim Taw (a Chinese) was placed at the bar, charged with assaulting another Chinese named Jim Taker, on the 15th instant. The prosecutor [Taker] stated that he was Chief among the Chinese at Little Bendigo. About two months ago the prisoner came to the prosecutor on his ordering some tents to be removed by direction of Mr Foster, the Chinese Protector. The prisoner then struck him in the face, injured his tongue, and hurt his arm. Although the assault had taken place so long ago, the prisoner had only been recently arrested. The prosecutor called a Chinese witness who corroborated his evidence.”
Several questions came out of this report: Where was Little Bendigo? What was “Chief among the Chinese?” What was a Chinese Protector and who was Mr Foster? Where can I learn more about these? Where can I find a list of Chinese Protectors and their assignments? How can I confirm Jim Taker’s claim to be “Chief among the Chinese?”
Many more questions had arisen after a bit more digging (no pun intended), not least of which was “who were the Wardens of the Gold Fields?”
This web site presents the results of this work. You can learn more about Jim Taker and his family here: Jim Taker: If you can’t be good, be colourful .
The name of this website is taken from a 1854 book by George Henry Wathen, The Golden Colony: or Victoria in 1854.
The project is in three stages: Blue Book, Biographical Dictionary, and the Administration of the Victorian Gold Fields.
1. Blue Book, 1836-1951
Stage 1 of this project is the compilation of a list of the men who held the office or duties of Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields, Warden of the Gold Fields, Chinese Protector, Police (Stipendiary) Magistrate, and/or Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, the Colony of Victoria, and the State of Victoria between 1836 and 1951.
The term “Blue Book” is taken from the documents prepared for government and “home” (meaning the UK Government) use. They were annual lists of government officers, with information such as department, title, date of employment, salary, and so on. They were initially handwritten in a book bound with a blue cover – literally a “Blue Book.” For Victoria from 1851 to 1855, they were handwritten. From 1856, they were printed by the Government Printer. The term “Civil Establishment” was also used.
In the case of the Port Phillip District, they were part of the New South Wales Blue Books from 1836 to 1850. From Separation in 1851, they were prepared and published by the Victorian Government.
The initial timeframe was from 1851 – the official discovery of gold in Victoria – to 1878. 1878 was originally chosen as the end point for this study as by this time the longer-term administrative structures had been in place for several years. The “Black Wednesday” mass sackings of wardens, magistrates, and others in January 1878 removed most of the remaining key figures of the earlier years. The alluvial mining population of Victoria had declined from a high of 107,361 to 23,315 and the overall mining population had declined from 119,238 (1859) to 36,636 (1878). It was 29,035 by Federation in 1901. Meanwhile the population of Victoria had grown dramatically. In 1859, diggers made up 22.5% of the total population of 530,262. At the end of 1878, they were 4.2% of the population of 879,442.
Half of the men removed on “Black Wednesday” were reinstated in April 1878, so for completeness the timeframe was extended to 1907. This is the year in which Joseph Anderson Panton retired. He was the last of the men who had initially been appointed as a Warden in the 1850s before becoming a Police Magistrate. Police Magistrates appointed prior to the discovery of gold are included, again for completeness.
The inclusion of Police Magistrates may seem to be out of scope. That role was not specifically a gold fields one, though Police Magistrates were on all of the gold fields and related towns. From 1858, some of the Wardens of the Gold Fields were also given the (unpaid) title and duties of Police Magistrate and vice versa. Police Magistrate had become the paid office by 1860 and nearly all Police Magistrates were also given the (unpaid) duties of Warden of the Gold Fields and, briefly, Chinese Protector. In later years it had become somewhat of a tradition to appoint a Police Magistrate with the unpaid duties of Warden of the Gold Fields and Coroner. This combination continued well into the 20th century. Because of the availability of information, I have taken the Police Magistrate lists to the 1951 centenary of separation of Victoria from New South Wales.
Similarly, the role of Commissioner of Crown Lands has also been included because of the close relationship of this role with the roles of Police Magistrate, Warden of the Gold Fields, and Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields.
2. Biographical Dictionary, 1836-1951
Stage 2 of this project is a biographical dictionary of the men identified in Stage 1. 343 men have been identified for the Biographical Dictionary. 37 of them have entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography .
3. Administration of the Victorian Gold Fields, 1836-1951
Stage 3 will be an analysis of the background, roles, duties, and assignments of The Golden Colony men.
Research Notes
I will occasionally post Research Notes describing my research activities, wins, losses, dilemmas, and so on. They are part of my thought process and some may find them of interest. They are not intended to replace later written biographies and other articles.
Updates
This site will be a work in progress over the next few years. I have plenty of information that has not yet been included and will be uncovering and including more, especially as I get into the individual profiles of the men of the biographical dictionary and later in the analysis of the administration of the Gold Fields.
The first priority for this project is to document the relevant Blue Book entries for 1836 to 1951 – including the relevant Victoria and NSW Government Gazette notices – as well as the related entries in each person’s career summary. Next will be the individual personal profiles that make up the Biographical Dictionary.
I am only listing the main source used for the Blue Book entries. This is the appropriate annual Blue Book (or Returns for the Colony, Civil Establishment, or Public Service lists). More detailed sources will be included in the Biographical Dictionary profiles.
Information, updates, corrections, and correspondence are sought – preferably fully sourced. You can contact me via the Contact form. I will endeavour to reply within 24-48 hours. Always remember to check your spam/junk folder, just in case my reply ends up there.
Use of Information
You are welcome to use information published on The Golden Colony with the appropriate credit: ©2022-2024 Mark Hillyer, The Golden Colony; Melbourne, Australia [https://www.thegoldencolony.com]. Where possible, include the page name and a link to the page being referenced. I am happy to provide fuller source information on request, where I have it.
If you find the information on this website helpful, send me a message via the Contact form.
Donations
This is a non-commercial web site. I am a retired researcher and am seeking donations to help with the cost of web hosting, software, and research. If the information on this site is of value to you, please consider donating. Message me through the Contact form.
Updates
| 2024-10-13 | Page formatting revised. |
| 2024-03-18 | Minor updates. |