Australia - backgroud to family legend

[Stuman]

I am trying ti fill in some gaps and get some background to a family legend. The subject was James Manning (G grandfather) born 1848 in Gravesend, Kent. Appears on 1861 census on ship Sea Witch at Gravesend. Family legend has it that he was in Australia on a ship as mate when there was a local gold discovery. The crew all departed for the goldfields and the Captain said to James that he might as well go as well. He supposedly found gold, of which all that is left is a ring made from one of the nuggets - still in my possession.

I have doubts about the legend - but I have found that around 1871 a James Manning from Gravesend was sailing the Australian coast on the steamship "Blackbird" as an AB. That ship was wrecked on the coast. No indication that he was still on th crew when she went down.

My main question is which particular goldrush could have been the subject of this legend and would there be any records of claims which could be searched to support or disprove the story? I have found crew lists for ships in Australian ports - which is where I found James on the Blackbird but that was a coastin vessel not a long voyage ship so how did he get to Australia and why did he then come back to England to work as a stevadore in Bermondsey.

Any background information on late 1800 Australia would be useful.

[ChristineR]

Gold fever struck Australia from 1851 - when the first gold find was recognized. There was a massive problem with getting labour as labourers headed off to try their luck, and seaman deserted ships in droves. Some also went to California (America) and New Zealand, and back again.
In 1852 about 370,000 immigrants arrived to try their luck. The background history is covered in this web site.

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/

It would be easy enough to get a working passage to Australia since ships were so short handed. Australia is a huge place, and gold was found all over except for South Australia, which did not have its own 'rush'.

If he married or had family it might be possible to trace him through the BDM records. I am not sure if there are records of miner's licenses at all.

ChristineR

[Stuman]

Thanks Christine, that web site and its links will provide me with lots of posibilities for background. It is the Australian bits that I am interested in. I have plenty of information on my James back in the UK with details of his various addresses his family etc. It seems from that web site that it would be more likely that it would not be the NSW or Victoria goldfields that could be involved. Queensland seems a stronger possibilty as that would be later, around the time that he was working on that coast, even then he was only in his twenties.

[GeoffD]

1870s would fit the Palmer River goldfields in far north Queensland. Accessible from ports like Cooktown.