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Story: Gold and gold mining

Ballarat, Australia, 1855

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Ballarat, Australia, 1855

Many miners came to New Zealand from Australia following the gold rushes in Victoria in the 1850s. Australian place names in New Zealand are the legacy of these miners, who perhaps hoped that they would bestow similar riches. On the West Coast there is a Ballarat Creek and Ballarat Terrace, and in Otago is Ballarat Hut and two Ballarat Creeks.

Using this item

National Library of Australia

Reference: nla.pic-an6016195

by Samuel Thomas Gill

Permission of the National Library of Australia must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Gold and gold mining – Miners, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/8641/ballarat-australia-1855 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2009.