Australian History 📜

Gold Rush Australia

This photo was captured over 150 years ago, featuring a Chinese gold miner sitting outside his wattle and daub hut in Queensland, Australia.

Huts made from wattle and daub were commonly used during the gold rush era of the mid-19th century. Settlers often construct these huts using materials readily available in the surrounding environment, such as branches, twigs, mud, and clay. The houses were usually tiny but straightforward, with a thatched roof from local vegetation. It was adequate for people living in those days in providing some shelter from the rain and was inexpensive to make (and maintain).

The Australian gold rush between the early 1850s and late 1860 transformed the Australian colonies economically, socially, and politically, as people from all over the world migrated to Australia in search of wealth and opportunities. Chinese migration to Australia surged during the 1850s gold rush, with tens of thousands of Chinese miners arriving in search of economic opportunities.

Photo taken ca. 1870 by Richard Daintree.
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