WThe Black Thursday bushfires were a devastating series of fires that swept the state of Victoria, Australia, on 6 February 1851, burning up 5 million hectares, or about a quarter of the state's area. Twelve human lives were lost, along with one million sheep, thousands of cattle and countless native animals.
WThe Eureka Rebellion occurred in 1854, involving gold miners in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, who revolted against the colonial authority of the United Kingdom. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which was fought between the rebels and the colonial forces of Australia on 3 December 1854 at Eureka Lead and named after a stockade structure built by miners in the lead-up to the conflict. The rebellion resulted in at least 27 deaths and many injuries, the majority of casualties being rebels.
WGold Escorts were common across Australian goldfields, transporting mined and processed material from mines to banks and mints across the country.
WHalf-Caste Act was the common name given to Acts of Parliament passed in Victoria and Western Australia in 1886. They became the model for legislation to control Aboriginal people throughout Australia, such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 in Queensland.
WWilliam Beauclerc Otway was a mid-nineteenth-century dragoon, overland emigrant, merchant, mineralogist, gold-miner and quartz-crusher. He is credited with being the first person to crush quartz for gold at Ballarat and for an early attempt to mine and process silver ore at St Arnaud.
WThe Red Tuesday bushfires took place on 1 February 1898 in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The bushfires claimed 12 lives, destroyed over 2,000 buildings, and affected about 15,000 people, leaving 2,500 homeless. A total area of 260,000 hectares of bushland and farmland was destroyed by the fires.
WIn the years following the Victorian gold rush which began in 1851, St Kilda Road, a long track through the southern suburbs to St Kilda and on to Brighton, was the scene of frequent hold-ups by armed bandits, known in Australia as bushrangers.
WThe Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capital for Melbourne, which was dubbed "Marvellous Melbourne" as a result of the procurement of wealth.