Week 1: What lead to the discovery of gold in Australia?

Edward Hargraves discovered gold in Australia in 1851. He had come from California in The United States, after working through the gold rush over there. He believed that the countryside was very similar to California. He set off to an area around Ballarat and discovered enough gold to make others believe that there was a lot more to be found. He told a lot of people about it before it had been officially acknowledged by the government and this created hysteria as people travelled from all over the world in the hope of striking it lucky.