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Extract

Title
A census at the Clunes diggings, 1851
Description

The Mounted Police were seen yesterday taking a census of all the people present at the goldfields. Diggers reacted with much speculation and some fear that this might mean the imposition of licences and tolls.

Date
11 August 1851
Published Source
Australian National Dictionary Centre, The Gold Rushes and Australian English: a resource for researchers, teachers and students, Australian National University, 2005, http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aus_words/gold/index.php. Details
Rights
This material is provided by the Australian National Dictionary Centre, a joint project of the Australian National University and Oxford University Press Australia.

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Transcript

CLUNES GOLD DIGGINGS. To the great consternation of the diggers, Capt. Dana took yesterday a census of all persons on the field.... Some difficulty was experienced in this return, as the people supposed that it was done with the view of issuing licenses and imposing a toll. I can however state on an undoubted authority, that it is not the intention of the Government to adopt any such measure, at any rate for the present. Mr. Wright and Captain Dana have sent a joint report to head-quarters, in which they state that the diggers would not be able, under existing circumstances, to pay any tax; indeed the amount would be so trivial as scarcely to be worth collecting. Victoria Colonist, 11 August 1851

Created: 16 October 2006, Last modified: 13 February 2007