BOOM AND BUST
The colonies experienced a major boost to their economies when gold was found, first in New South Wales in 1851 and then in prodigious quantities in Victoria. The ensuing gold rush had a dramatic effect, as men left the land and crews jumped ship to seek riches in the gold fields. Fortune-seekers arriving in overcrowded ships came from all corners of the globe.
At its peak during the year 1852, over 86,000 people arrived from England alone. Untamed shanty towns were populated by men who worked hard during the day and at night dreamed of great fortunes, as they sat around the campfires or huddled in pubs to discuss their day with the other diggers. During this period, colonial Australia's first "heroes" were born - bushrangers, who were admired for challenging authority.
The term was coined in 1805 to describe escaped convicts who had turned to robbery to survive in the bush. Many poor farmers and laborers also tried their hand at bushranging. Some with colorful sobriquets such as "Yankee" Jack Ellis, Captain Moon- light and "Mad Dog" Morgan became household names while songs celebrating their exploits became popular.
The best-known bushranger was Ned Kelly who, after his mother was wrongfully arrested, ambushed and killed three troopers. Outlawed in 1878, he and his gang held up banks and success- fully evaded the police for two years. Ned Kelly was finally trapped in Clenrowan in June, 1880, where he defied the police, protecting himself with home- made armor. Realizing that they could not penetrate his plough-share mask they shot at his feet, which were unprotected. Captured, Kelly was sentenced to death and hanged in Melbourne on November 11, 1880. His last words were: "Such is life." The prosperity that gold brought to Australia accelerated the country's development.
Roads and railway lines were laid down, linking the colonies and creating a new-found confidence around the nation. People began talking about an Australian identity that incorporated the ideas - born in the gold fields - of mateship and egalitarianism. A sense was developing that Australia, rather than Britain, was now home.
