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Related: About this forum177 ounce gold nugget found near Ballarat,10.30am January 16, 2013
http://now.msn.com/gold-nugget-weighing-12-pounds-found-using-metal-detector-in-ballarat-australia
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)It dropped out of my pocket when I was in Australia. he should return it.
talk about deep pockets....
left is right
(1,665 posts)you will pay me a facilitators fee of say 33%
csziggy
(34,120 posts)In 1853 he ran away from home in western New York state, and sailed from New York to Australia to make his fortune in the gold rush. He actually worked out of Ballarat for a while.
He never made much money as a gold hunter. He worked odd jobs for years, ended up managing a saw mill in New Zealand, and eventually made his way back to the family when they were on Vancouver Island running a saw mill. He's buried in Victoria, BC.
What is cool is that we have letters that he wrote on the voyage to Australia and intermittently while there and in New Zealand. When ships would pass, they would exchange packets of mail to go back the other way, so there are several letters detailing the trip outbound.
According to my genealogy program he was my 2nd great grand uncle.
Uncle Sid would have loved to have found that nugget!
Esra Star
(2,166 posts)That would be amazing if any of his letters referred to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion
csziggy
(34,120 posts)In his letter dated Nov. 27, 1854, he mentions the licenses required:
He gives a good amount of detail of the murder of a "digger named Scobie" near the Eureka Hotel and the charging of the landlord with the murder.
There is a bit more about how Australia would soon be independent from England.
I need to finish editing the transcripts, add to my research on his travels and write and article about his travels!
Esra Star
(2,166 posts)A fairly large tome has just been written on the events in Ballarat at that time.
There are still gaps in the story. Some of these will be filled over time as more personal accounts of events emerge.
Cheers
csziggy
(34,120 posts)That have written a history of the Americans who went to Australia for the goldrush. One of the men who traveled with Uncle Sid stayed in Australia and made some impact - I think he became quite wealthy.
They published their history on CD, which I purchased. The title is "American Fever Australian Gold: American and Canadian Involvement in Australia's Gold Rush" by Denise McMahon and Chris Wild (http://www.gould.com.au/American-Fever-Australian-Gold-p/wld001.htm).
It has an amazing amount of information about immigrants to Australia in the gold rush.
Response to Esra Star (Reply #7)
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