GOLD! with illustrator Annie White

GOLD! tells the story of the first of the large nuggets - ‘Blanche Barkly’ - to be unearthed during the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s. It’s a story that I was drawn to for several reasons.

I live in Victoria where the environmental damage caused by the gold rush is still evident, where the ground is still dangerously pitted with shafts.

My family, on my mother’s side had a store in the fields somewhere near Bendigo and I grew up on gold rush stories. I don’t know what their circumstances were to begin with but they did well for themselves. I have an ancient coffee grinder, that I’m told, was used by one of my store-keeper ancestors. It’s still in perfect condition.

For the Aboriginal people, on whose Country gold was embedded, the clearing of forests, redirection of waterways and the turning of earth inside out, must have been heart breaking and horrific. For the gold seekers, the opportunity to break free of class, to be independently able to create wealth without being answerable to a ‘master’, would have been enticing.

The fields were truly multi cultural places: Diggers would fly flags from their tents indicating their nationality. The array of flags included the Union Jack, a Scottish thistle, the Fleur-de-lys and the Texas Star. Hotels would fly the flags of the languages that were spoken within. [However] the mateship and egalitarian atmosphere felt amongst diggers did not extend to the Chinese diggers. (State Library NSW)

Although GOLD! is a story that reflects the multicultural aspect of the times, my story primarily takes place between Australia and England, where the ‘Blanche Barkly’ was taken, shown to Queen Victoria and then displayed in the Crystal Palace. The cast of the BB is held in the Museum of Natural History in London.

Annie White has created a remarkable set of water colour illustrations, referencing the works of artists who visited the goldfields who drew and painted what they saw before them. If you’re familiar of the works of S T Gill you’ll have fun exploring the images. Annie has captured the sense of thousands of people crowding onto the roads and pouring into the country to try their luck. She’s skillfully depicted both the optimism and frustration of the gold seekers and the devastation left in their wake. There is so much detail for a young reader to explore in her paintings: characters of all ages from many countries, women and children caught up in the dream, and the backbreaking methods of mining used at the time.

I’ve had a lot of fun with language in the telling of this tale. I’d been telling the story for years on my visits to primary schools and by the time it came to writing it down, much of it was on the tip of my tongue.

GOLD! is published by FORD STREET PUBLISHING and can be ordered from the website.

I’ve made a short video which will give you a taste of GOLD! and what lies between the pages.

GOLD! Teachers notes - click on FORD STREET