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Episode details

World Service,19 Sep 2016,9 mins

The West Australian Gold Rush

Witness History

Available for over a year

On 17 September 1892 gold was discovered in Coolgardie in Western Australia. It was not the first find but it was the biggest, and the one which began a gold rush that changed the fortunes of the colony which had just become independent from Britain. Claire Bowes presents an archive interview with Frank Gerald, who as a young man, witnessed the discovery. His account was recorded in 1937. (Photo: Gold prospectors in Australia panning water and silt in search of small nuggets. Credit: Three Lions/Getty Images)

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