‘Ten thousand fathoms deep: Charles Joseph La Trobe’s decision to postpone gold exploitation until after Separation from New South Wales in 1851‘, La Trobeana, 14, 1, March 2015, pp. 6-14
The beginning of the Victorian gold rushes and the achievement of separation from New South Wales, in July 1851, was not a mere coincidence as Geoffrey Serle put it. Nor was it simply chance or accident as A. G. L. Shaw suggested. J.D. Lang thought it was Divine Providence; and Geoffrey Blainey looked to economic factors to explain what happened. It was more complex than any of these.
Examines the extent to which Port Phillip District Superintendent La Trobe’s handling of the discovery of gold in Victoria was driven by political considerations, essentially his desire to ensure that the District had successfully separated from New South Wales.
