Gold

by Matt Murphy

'Impostor ', 'greedy' and 'incompetent' - Edward Hammond Hargraves was beloved by few and reviled by many more.


Ask google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades (and decades) received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it?

What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned to Australia?

What about the guys who led him to where they'd heard gold had been found before?

What about the pioneers whose discoveries had been documented years earlier?

This is the story of an oversized layabout who received years of accolades and free lunches, despite lumbering from one embarrassment to the next, and of those who spent decades trying to expose him and seek their share of the glory.

PRAISE

'Put this book in schools' Jack Marx, The Australian

FOR MATT MURPHY'S RUM

'Fun, spirited popular history' Steven Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald/Age

Genres: Nonfiction

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2025

About the author

At school, Matt Murphy failed English and couldn't see the point of history. He became a firie and has been serving in Sydney's inner city for 38 years. He is now also a part time historian and teacher, tolerating the attitudes of kids towards history that he used to share.

He has written three books: Weight of Evidence which is about what was the longest civil court case in New South Wales; Rum, about the influence of alcohol in colonial Australia; and Gold, concerning the life of Edward Hargraves and his dubious claim to be Australia's gold discoverer.

Matt also can't believe they made him write his own bio.

Reviews

[James Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the insight and times of the gold rush in Australia and how gold has come to be found although maybe not by Hargraves. It’s interesting to read about the greed and unfairness people could show to reap all the rewards for gold discovery. Very well written book by Matt Murphy

[William Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good read.

[Matt Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than his last one.

[Deborah J · Rating 2 out of 5]

First half - Well written, entertaining & i interesting but far to long DNF

[Tim Allerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rollicking tale of a smart fraudster who leverages the work of others for his own enrichment - a common Australian theme