Description:
The discovery of gold at Ballarat in 1851 conferred incredible wealth on the community, the colony and the British Empire. Ballarat was literally a city 'built on gold'. However, the immigrants who made their fortunes from gold rarely indulged in conspicuous private displays of consumption. The exception was William Bailey. His Italianate mansion, completed in 1883, reflected his great success in speculative mining ventures in the Ballarat area.
Description:
This paper will explore the remarkable contribution of the Scots to education in the Ballarat area, particularly through the work of the Buninyong Presbyterian minister Rev. Thomas Hastie and his neighbours the Scott family, who were among our earliest white settlers in the pre-gold era, and whose legacy is still strong today.