History

 ** Bend igo Hi** **story:**  **INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS ** Before European settlement the area covered by Bendigo was occuppied by the aboriginal clans of the Dja Dja Wrung tribe – their hunting grounds extended over a significant proportion of present Victoria and they were regarded by other tribes as a superior people. Today there is still some members of the Dja Dja tribe living in the area. When the explorer Major Mitchell came through the area in 1836 he opened the area up for squatters to move in and sheep stations to start up. The Ravenswood sheep run to the south of the present city was to be instrumental in the discovery of the region’s gold riches.

Bendigo's documented history dates back to 1836 when Major Thomas Mitchell, a Scottish army officer and explorer, passed through the region. But it was in 1851 when gold was discovered that Bendigo began a period of rapid growth. Originally known as Sandhurst Bendigo's vibrant provincial Victorian city with a history founded on the spectacular gold rush of the 1850's.  Today, much of that history remains, the buildings, streets and many period attractions offer visitors and insight into one of Victoria's most significant rural cities.

**__Gold Rush __** established, a post office opening on July 1, 1852.Official town planning commenced in 1854 and by1857, Sandhurst was connected by telegraph to Melbourne.The Grand Town Hall was commissioned in 1859 and ****the Melbourne to Sandhurst railway commenced operations in 1862. Less then a decade later, in 1871,Sandhurst was proclaimed a City. By the 1880s, the city was considered the richest in the world due ****to the size of the local goldfields, with a start made on the local tram network made in 1890. It was not untill 1891 that the city's name was changed to Bendigo, in honour of the bareknuckle boxer, William ****"Abednego" Thompson, whose name had been lent to the creek where gold was first discovered. In 1862 the railway reached bedigo and the local trams began in 1890 and were used for public transport. Bendigo quickly grew from a 'city of tents' and became the city it is today.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In 1854 Mrs Margret Kennedy was the first person to discover gold and quickly after that the township of Sandhurst was

Bendigo owes it beginning to the many who came in search of gold from all over the world. two of these groups who have a significant connection to Bendigo today are the Chinese and the Cornish.

__The Chinese Miners__** The gold rush of the 1850s saw many thousands of Chinese arrive in Bendigo. Within ten years the Chinese miners and merchants made up 20% of the Bendigo population. In the 1870s an imperial dragon known as Loong was sent from China. He is now the oldest Chinese dragon in the world and comes out each year at the Easter Fair. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><span style="font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> While most of the Chinese gold miners went home when the gold stated to run out, a small population remained to form the Bendigo Chinese community which has continued to influence the city today. The Chinese Joss House is a reminder of the Chinese heritage in Bendigo. It was constructed of timber and hand-made bricks during the 1860s by the local Chinese on goldfields around Bendigo. The Joss House was built to worship the god Kwan Gung. Kwan Gung and the miners worshipped him as a judge, guide and protector. The building was restored by the National Trust upon advice received from a Chinese historian and is the oldest Australian joss house still in use today

THE CORNISH MINERS <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> When gold was discovered in Bendigo, the Cornish miner were also one of the first, to join the rush. They came from the South Australian copper fields. These fields were predominantly populated by Cornish people. The migration to Victoria from South Australia. When they in Bendigo they soon revealed the secrets of the white hills, at the northern end of the valley, and started the White Hills rush. The ground here was very hard and many miners gave up but the Cornish persisted.After the easy gold started to disappear, those that remained began to work on the hard quartz.The ability of the Cornish in Bendigo and Victoria to mine in quartz became legendary to the extent that even cornishmen who had never beendown a mine were considered to have great powers. As a result Bendigo, became a big quarts mining area and unemployed miners left Cornwall in their hundreds.It has been estimated that in 1880, 48 % of the male adult population were miners and 80% were Cornish. They came with their families bringing their hopes and dreams of getting a job and starting a new life.Areas such as Long Gully were soon known as little Cornwall.

A reminder of the Cornish contribution to Bendgio is a statue of a Cornish miner situated in Lyttleton Terrace, Bendigo.