1861 Gold discovered
In May 1861 Tasmanian geologist Gabriel Read discovered gold in Gabriel's Gully, just outside present-day Lawrence. This was not the first time such claims had been made – an earlier announcement had been delayed for fear it would bring rough miners to the town. Within a fortnight of confirmation of the discovery there were 500 men prospecting in Gabriel's Gully, a number that quadrupled in the following two weeks.
By the end of the year, Otago's population had grown from 13,000 to 30,000 - one-third of the colony's population - and over 200,000 ounces of gold (worth £750,000) had been extracted. The inland population boom, right through Central Otago, was reflected by that of Dunedin, which, by 1862, had trebled in size. After only a couple of years the Otago rush had largely subsided, and miners and other entrepreneurs surged on to new fields on the West Coast and Coromandel or overseas.
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