The First License Regulations
Were issued without delay in a document, which, as a relic of the primitive goldfields' administration, is worthy of extraction, viz.:— Colonial Secretary's Office, Melbourne, 18th August, 1851.
Licenses to Dig and Search for Gold.
With reference to the Proclamation issued on the 16th inst., declaring the rights of the Crown in respect to gold found in its natural places of deposit within the colony of Victoria, His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to establish the following Provisional Regulations under which licenses may be obtained to dig, search for, and remove the same:— 1. From and after the first day of September next no person will be permitted to dig, search for, or remove gold on or from any land, whether public or private, without first taking out and paying for a license in the form annexed. 2. For the present, and pending further proof of the extent of the gold deposits, the license fee has been fixed at one pound ten shillings per month, to be paid in advance; but it is to be understood that the rate is subject to future adjustment as circumstances may render expedient. 3. The licenses can be obtained on the spot from the Commissioner who has been appointed by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to carry these Regulations into effect, and who is authorized to receive the fee payable thereon. 4. No person will be eligible to obtain a license, or the renewal of a license, unless he shall produce a certificate of discharge from his last service, or prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he is not a person improperly absent from hired service. 5. Rules adjusting the extent and position of land to be covered by each licence for the prevention of confusion and the interference of one license with another, will be regulated by the Commissioner of Crown Lands who may be appointed to each locality. 6. With reference to lands alienated by the Crown in fee-simple, the Commissioner will not be authorized for the present to issue licenses under these Regulations, to any person but the proprietor or persons authorized by them in writing to apply for the same.
By His Excellency's command, W. LONSDALE.
On the 20th August it was reported that there were between one hundred and fifty and two hundred persons at Anderson's Creek, digging, smashing and washing. The ground was about three miles in extent, and in almost every instance something was found; one Tom Fletcher cleared £8 in a week. A quicksilver cradle was turned into two common cradles, and so answered better than before. Good order prevailed, and the diggers were so God-fearing that they religiously struck work on the Sunday. Persons going there were strongly advised to carry with them iron wedges and hammers, the more effectually to cut into the quartz. The public peace there was looked after by four policemen.
The First Gold Exhibits.
Gold now began to make its appearance as an object of admiration in the shop windows, and the first regular display of this kind was on view on the 20th August, at the drapery establishment of Mr. Charles Williamson, Collins Street, afterwards the well known "Block" mart of Alston and Brown. It was an assortment weighing 21 ounces, received from Clunes. It was of a darkish colour, and had been transmitted to Melbourne for analysis and valuation. The charging of a license fee occasioned much dissatisfaction, for it was believed to be both premature and excessive in amount; and furthermore, the wet weather had set in, and the gold-searching could not be prosecuted by reason of the floods. Public indignation was so unmistakably expressed through the Press, and an open demonstration being threatened, that the Government stayed its hand so far as to sanction some modification of the published Regulations. After about a week's consideration the Colonial Secretary wrote, under date 26th August, to Mr. F. C. Doveton, who had been appointed a Goldfields Commissioner, intimating that although gold is still being found, and though the number of people is still increasing in the several localities where gold is being obtained, it is doubtful whether the quantity procured is sufficient to remunerate the persons so employed. He is to act with great circumspection, in carrying out the Regulations
