Crime on the Gold Fields
There are lots of different opinions about how much crime there really was on the gold fields.
Some writers who lived or visited there wrote about "the lawless condition of the place, and the deeds of rapine and bloodshed that disgrace it".
Other people, like the future Lord Cecil, were pleasantly surprised, finding "less crime than in a large English town, and more order and civility than I have witnessed in my own native village of Hatfield".
But there were several factors that made crime more likely on the goldfields than in the towns:
The diggings may have been relatively law-abiding places, however there are many stories of crimes occurring there. Here are a few stories.
Claim Jumping
If claims were not guarded they could be "jumped" or taken over by others.
Arguments about claim-jumping were often settled by fist fights. One digger wrote: "On returning from my mid-day meal one afternoon, I found the claim jumped, and I emerged from the melee which ensued minus a frontal tooth".
According to one miner:
"Where the diggings are poor no one bothers much if the claims are a few feet over the regulations. But on a rich lode, not feet, but even inches can be the occasion for arguments, fights and sometimes murder... When I was working a claim at the Alma diggings my claim was jumped by a Tipperary boy. I assured him my iron pick was very sharp and that I never look where I use it once I am in the shaft. A little encouragement from my neighbours convinced him to move out."
A different type of claim-jumping was the practice of "undermining". This happened when miners dug into the claim next to theirs. Some diggers started sleeping in their workings to guard against unwanted fossickers.
Some writers who lived or visited there wrote about "the lawless condition of the place, and the deeds of rapine and bloodshed that disgrace it".
Other people, like the future Lord Cecil, were pleasantly surprised, finding "less crime than in a large English town, and more order and civility than I have witnessed in my own native village of Hatfield".
But there were several factors that made crime more likely on the goldfields than in the towns:
- the lack of police and the remoteness of the diggings;
- the density and restlessness of the population;
- the mining country which was, as Governor La Trobe noted, "full of secluded hollows, honeycombed with hundreds or thousands of ready-made graves... "
The diggings may have been relatively law-abiding places, however there are many stories of crimes occurring there. Here are a few stories.
Claim Jumping
If claims were not guarded they could be "jumped" or taken over by others.
Arguments about claim-jumping were often settled by fist fights. One digger wrote: "On returning from my mid-day meal one afternoon, I found the claim jumped, and I emerged from the melee which ensued minus a frontal tooth".
According to one miner:
"Where the diggings are poor no one bothers much if the claims are a few feet over the regulations. But on a rich lode, not feet, but even inches can be the occasion for arguments, fights and sometimes murder... When I was working a claim at the Alma diggings my claim was jumped by a Tipperary boy. I assured him my iron pick was very sharp and that I never look where I use it once I am in the shaft. A little encouragement from my neighbours convinced him to move out."
A different type of claim-jumping was the practice of "undermining". This happened when miners dug into the claim next to theirs. Some diggers started sleeping in their workings to guard against unwanted fossickers.
Night Fossicking
Night fossickers were men who slept or did nothing during the day and then went round at night to where they knew claims to be rich and stole gold by candle light. This was a very common practice but most night fossickers managed to escape detection.
Theft And Robbery
Thieves stole both gold and equipment from claims, cut tents and stole goods from stores and from travellers on the road. Horse stealing was also very common.
Some gangs pretended to be miners while others used diversionary tactics.
One party of "light-fingered gentry" at Moonlight Flat gave a music concert every night. The diggers were tired from working hard all day and, when they had been lulled to sleep by the music, the thieves stole their gold and other possessions.
Another group would organise a fight late at night in the area around the shop tent. When the shopkeeper came out to see the fighting, accomplices would cut the canvas wall at the back of the tent and grab what they could.
One storekeeper kept a severed hand on the counter of his store. He had chopped the hand off as it appeared one night at the bottom of his tent. In the diggers' code, nothing was worse than stealing from a mate and it was an act which incited strong feeling everywhere.
Accidental Homicide
Most men kept dogs chained to their tents and armed themselves, firing their guns to warn intruders off. But many of the diggers have had little experience with guns and there were many cases of accidental shootings or "justifiable homicide" on the gold fields.
Here is the story of one accidental shooting:
"Two miners sleeping heard the discomposing sound of a pair of scissors slitting the canvas. A pistol was fired in the direction of the supposed thief and, when the two miners went out to see the result, they found a well-dressed young man lying dead with a bullet in his chest. He did not look like one of the lawless class and it was not at all clear that he had intended robbery. He was buried next day without any information having being obtained in regard to him. This is one of the many ways in which people mysteriously disappeared on the diggings, to be afterwards advertised for by their friends in vain."
Murder
Acts of wilful murder were not common at the diggings and the perpetrators often escaped detection.
Two violent murders did occur at the gold fields on the same day in 1852. Although there were several suspects, no-one was ever caught.
In the long term, brutal murders like these helped to undermine the digger's confidence in gold fields administration and their sense of injustice about license fees.
Night fossickers were men who slept or did nothing during the day and then went round at night to where they knew claims to be rich and stole gold by candle light. This was a very common practice but most night fossickers managed to escape detection.
Theft And Robbery
Thieves stole both gold and equipment from claims, cut tents and stole goods from stores and from travellers on the road. Horse stealing was also very common.
Some gangs pretended to be miners while others used diversionary tactics.
One party of "light-fingered gentry" at Moonlight Flat gave a music concert every night. The diggers were tired from working hard all day and, when they had been lulled to sleep by the music, the thieves stole their gold and other possessions.
Another group would organise a fight late at night in the area around the shop tent. When the shopkeeper came out to see the fighting, accomplices would cut the canvas wall at the back of the tent and grab what they could.
One storekeeper kept a severed hand on the counter of his store. He had chopped the hand off as it appeared one night at the bottom of his tent. In the diggers' code, nothing was worse than stealing from a mate and it was an act which incited strong feeling everywhere.
Accidental Homicide
Most men kept dogs chained to their tents and armed themselves, firing their guns to warn intruders off. But many of the diggers have had little experience with guns and there were many cases of accidental shootings or "justifiable homicide" on the gold fields.
Here is the story of one accidental shooting:
"Two miners sleeping heard the discomposing sound of a pair of scissors slitting the canvas. A pistol was fired in the direction of the supposed thief and, when the two miners went out to see the result, they found a well-dressed young man lying dead with a bullet in his chest. He did not look like one of the lawless class and it was not at all clear that he had intended robbery. He was buried next day without any information having being obtained in regard to him. This is one of the many ways in which people mysteriously disappeared on the diggings, to be afterwards advertised for by their friends in vain."
Murder
Acts of wilful murder were not common at the diggings and the perpetrators often escaped detection.
Two violent murders did occur at the gold fields on the same day in 1852. Although there were several suspects, no-one was ever caught.
In the long term, brutal murders like these helped to undermine the digger's confidence in gold fields administration and their sense of injustice about license fees.