Author(s): David Waldron

Ballarat History

Generations of Australians have grown up with the legend of Eureka and the familiar images of the gold rush in central Victoria. However, underneath these commonly known stories lies a stranger and darker past. As well as colonists, pioneers, soldiers and rebel miners, the colonial goldfields were home to spiritualists, secret societies, ghost-hoaxers, bunyip legends and murderers. There are also the stories of those often forgotten in the goldfield histories, including Indigenous peoples, the mentally ill, homosexuals and immigrant communities. 'Goldfields and the Gothic' is an anthology by local historians of the long buried legends, histories and folklore of the Victorian goldfields and their legacy today. Every historian has a collection of strange, buried pieces of history; this work begins the task of bringing them into the light.