Melbourne, although still a relatively small pioneer settlement, had grown steadily since its foundation in 1835, and the city's leaders were so confident in the district's future that they had waged a 10-year campaign lobbying for its separation from New South Wales. It helps tell the story of the impact that gold had on Australia and Victoria. The National Museum of Australia purchased the nugget in 2011. Soon after being discovered most nuggets were melted down so that the gold could be weighed and sold.Ī few months after the Bealiba nugget was discovered it was purchased by the Australian Amateur Mineralogist, a magazine that 'advocated for the retention of more of Australia's magnificent specimens for the sake of future generations'. On 1 July, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that hundreds of people were fossicking around Bealiba with picks, shovels and pans.Īlthough the Victorian goldfields were famed for the gold nuggets that they yielded, including some of the largest ever discovered, very few of these survive in their original form.

The discovery caused a minor gold rush with people arriving from surrounding areas eager to find more gold. They called their syndicate 'Stewart's Surprise', took out miner's rights and pegged a claim around the spot where the nugget was found. The next day Mr Stewart formed a syndicate with mail contactor Gordon McDowell and a farmer and his son both named Tom Wright.

The golden nugget gold nugget