Abstract 150 years ago, the carefully-planned Presbyterian settlement of Dunedin was torn apart by the discovery that nearly every stream in Otago was laden with gold. The population exploded, adding the accents of Greece, Tipperary, Victoria, California, Guangdong and the King Country to the Scots burr which had been predominant. Almost immediately a myth of identity emerged, typified by goldfields balladeer Charles Thatcher’s ‘Old Identity and New Iniquity’ and boosted by the histrionics of a press enamoured of the romanticised machinations of the Otago goldfields ‘digger’. This popular mythology conflates the imagery of California, Victoria and early Gabriel’s Gully to perpetuate stories of desperate, gold-mad miners swarming across the province fighting, drinking and whoring away sparse winnings in a vast and lawless land, where bodies float down the Clutha, diggers battle corrupt police and vast fortunes are won and lost. This thesis seeks to construct a de-mythologised account of the rush for Central Otago gold, examining the engineering processes, social dynamics and communal relationships implicit in the development of claims, the construction of goldfields structures, the growth of towns and the emergence of financial networks. This explains and reveals the social, technological and economic developments of the gold rush that wrought a profound change on the Otago landscape and to New Zealand’s history. Focussing on the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s historic reserve at Bendigo as an exemplary site, this thesis focuses on the people of the goldfields who left traces of themselves in archives, letters, newspapers, court records and in the heritage landscape to explain their mining, commercial and family lives, and concludes by exploring the remnants of their existence in the relic-strewn ghost-town. By elucidating the depth and breadth of relationships, processes and lives of the residents, miners and merchants, I refute the pervasive myth of innocent simplicity around the era to replace it with a surprisingly complex reality. This complexity is revealed in the new conclusions I draw around the myriad processes behind identity formation, rush events, water race construction, quartz mine development and labour relations, merchant finances and heritage remnants.

No abstract is provided. See content pages in the section 00front for short overviews for each chapter H 55/th / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Jurisprudence / unrestricted

"This thesis examines the paths by which four Celtic ethnic identities, Cornish, Welsh, Scottish and Irish, responded to the specific society and culture of the Victorian goldfields between 1850-1901. The individual Celtic groups intersected, harmonised and contested with each other in a process through which they retained their identities and yet managed to move towards becoming part of a larger, more-encompassing unity." / Doctor of Philosophy

The vegetation of greenstone hills in the Kalgoorlie area of the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia was studied to identify the key environmental influences on community and species distribution. This information was needed to determine if plant communities of the hills could provide analogues for the rehabilitation of waste rock dumps that are produced as a consequence of open cut mining. The ridges, slopes and flats adjacent to the main slope were examined and the floristic data sorted into communities. Two structurally and floristically distinct alliances were identified, one dominated by eucalypt species and the other by Acacia quadrimarginea. The eucalypt woodland displayed a taller upper stratum and few groundlayer species and was the dominant vegetation of the flats at the base of the hills. The acacia community was a low woodland and is the dominant vegetation of the hill slopes. Both communities were dominant at an equal number of sites on the ridges of the hills. An investigation of the environmental variables found that edaphic, rather than topographic, factors were responsible for the community distribution on the hills. The eucalypt woodland showed a strong affinity to soils derived from calcrete, which had higher levels of electrical conductivity and lower exchangeable sodium percentages than the soils of the acacia low woodland. Under such conditions, the clay fraction of the soil remains in a more flocculated state allowing higher rates of water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity compared to the acacia soils. Soil nutrients were found to have a secondary influence on community distribution and had a greater effect on species distribution within alliances. A study of the seasonal variation in water content of the soils showed that more moisture is retained in the upper soil horizons in the acacia community than in the eucalypt community during the wetter part of the year, indicating the acacia soils had poorer infiltration properties than the eucalypt soils. The distribution of drought tolerant species such as A. quadrimarginea and Prostanthera incurvata was found to be correlated to soil moisture content of the dry season whilst no correlation was found for the eucalypts at any time of the year. Seasonal comparisons of leaf moisture content and xylem pressure potential showed that the eucalypts maintained their total leaf moisture content throughout the year whereas species such as A. quadrimarginea and Allocasuarina campestris recorded high levels of desiccation of their leaf tissue over the summer. The eucalypts also maintained a more consistent pre-dawn xylem pressure potential throughout the year than either A. quadrimarginea or the shrub species Dodonaea microzyga, indicating a greater degree of stomatal control and access to a more consistent soil water supply. The eucalypts require access to a greater soil volume than the acacias or shrubs in order to ensure sufficient water supplies for the maintenance of tissue moisture levels throughout the year. In this way, the eucalypts are able to effectively avoid the summer drought, whereas the acacias and shrubs are able to tolerate desiccation of their leaf tissues over this period. Investigations of the germination requirements and early seedling survival of prominent species from the greenstone hills indicated that fire may be a factor in the regeneration of most hills species. All studied species were either tolerant of or responded positively to the application of dry heat. In relation to seedling establishment on waste dumps, increasing the soil moisture content of waste dump soils increased the germination rate of most species but did not result in greater seedling survival at the end of the first summer. The provision of microsites which encouraged root development and provided protection for the young seedlings was found to be more important in reducing mortality rates in the first year than increasing the total germination. The study emphasized the importance of physical soil factors and the soil moisture regime in the distribution of eucalypt and acacia communities on the greenstone hills. A species’ response to drought stress strongly influences its ability to compete for soil water on different soil types. The eucalypts studied in this project dominated on soils where there is better recharge of subsoil water reserves which can be accessed over the summer period to maintain tissue water levels. Acacias are tolerant of tissue desiccation and will compete successfully on shallower soils and where hydraulic conductivity is poor. Although the project was valuable in identifying water relations as the main control on community distribution on the hills, waste dumps are not strictly analogues of intact greenstone hills due to the differences in rock type and profile formation. Electrical conductivity levels are also higher due to extraction processes. However, the environmental relationships of the different species show that the more drought tolerant species such as Allocasuarina campestris, Acacia quadrimarginea and understorey species associated with them, may be suitable species to form the basis of vegetation reinstatement on waste dumps in the Kalgoorlie region.

In 1946 a rich gold reef was discovered on the farm Geduld in the vicinity of Odendaalsrus and approximately 3 miles (4, 8 km) from the town. At that stage it was recognised as the richest gold reef in the world. The discovery led to further and progressive explorations in the Goldfields and finally resulted in the coming of many people to settle in the area. As the mining sector developed, the need for certain infrastructure on socio-economic and the social precinct had deepened. The proceeding development of the mining sector had led to the establishment of Welkom, because Odendaalsrus could not comply with the expectations of mining magnates like Ernest Oppenheimer. Consequently, the establishment and layout of Welkom made provision for such requirements like infrastructure, etc. Likewise, with the surrounding mining industry of Anglo-American, Welkom had become the metropolis in the Goldfields. Thereby equal to the mining industry, secondary industry developed on an increasing scale in the Goldfields. Odendaalsrus played on the other hand an important role in the emergence and developing processes of the Dutch Reformed Churches, since the Volksraad of the O.F.S. gave distinct consent on the 26 April 1899 for the layout of the town on the farm of Kalkkuil. Inclusively, the founding and development of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika), also started with their church activities during the early years of the gold discovery near Odendaalsrus. None the less, the Reformed Church of South Africa (Ned. Hervormde Kerk van Suid-Afrika) also had been founded and church activities escalated during the same time in the Goldfields, and more specifically in St. Helena, a well-known established suburb of Welkom. In the same way, it is necessary to emphasise the Evangelical Reformed Church of South Africa (Evangelies-Gereformeerde Kerk van Suid-Afrika) which founded on May 1960 in Welkom, although the members of the church were active with church activities in Welkom long before their congregation was finally established. The culminating factor of the economic power regarding the mining industry may not be overlooked in its influence on the emergence of the various church congregations in the Goldfields. The constant influx of mineworkers to the Goldfields made the existence of the church inevitable for its member’s spiritual well-being. Naturally, the church had to overcome major obstacles, namely: the expansion to new residential areas, the availability of finances, planning schemes for church amenities, the purchase of church estates, the need of ministers, knowledgeable church councillors and general encompassing assistance, etc. Furthermore, the church encountered during the pioneering years all sorts of social disorders, while the minister at times had the working load of approximately two congregations to handle at the same time. Accordingly, it was virtually impossible for the minister to cope with such a strenuous working load effectively, and consequently some issues were at times inevitably neglected in the congregation. The demands of the time and difficult circumstances without proper roads, communication networks like direct telephone systems, the lack of church buildings, manses, the long distances between the central point of worship and some visiting areas within the confinements of the congregation had necessarily complicated the task of the minister. Nevertheless, the church continued and gave concrete stature to its calling by virtue of the founding congregations for meaningful and efficacious spiritual care to its members. Herein, the church was successful because the focus of faith remained on God. All the praise and glory is due to Him. / Thesis (DPhil (Church History and Church Polity))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Church History and Church Polity / unrestricted

[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] The formation of world-class Archean orogenic gold deposits in the Eastern Goldfields Province of Western Australia was the result of a critical combination of physical and chemical processes that modified a single and widespread ore-fluid along fluid pathways and at the sites of gold deposition. Increased gold endowment in these deposits is associated with efficient regional-scale fluid focusing mechanisms and the influence of multiple ore-depositional processes at the deposit-scale. Measurement of the complexity of geologic features, as displayed in high-quality geologic maps of uniform data density, can be used to highlight areas that influence regional-scale hydrothermal fluid flow. Useful measurements of geological complexity include fractal dimensions of map patterns, density and orientation of faults and lithologic contacts, and proportions of rock types. Fractal dimensions of map patterns of lithologic contacts and faults highlight complexity gradients. Steep complexity gradients, between domains of high and low fractal dimensions within a greenstone belt, correspond to district-scale regions that have the potential to focus the flow of large volumes of hydrothermal fluid, which is critical for the formation of significant orogenic gold mineralization. Steep complexity gradients commonly occur in greenstone belts where thick sedimentary units overly more complex patterns of lithologic contacts, associated with mafic intrusive and mafic volcanic units. The sedimentary units in these areas potentially acted as seals to the hydrothermal Mineral Systems, which resulted in fluid-pressure gradients and increased fluid flow. The largest gold deposits in the Kalgoorlie Terrane and the Laverton Tectonic Zone occur at steep complexity gradients adjacent to thick sedimentary units, indicating the significance of these structural settings to gold endowment. Complexity gradients, as displayed in surface map patterns, are an indication of three-dimensional connectivity along fluid pathways, between fluid source areas and deposit locations. Systematic changes in the orientation of crustal-scale shear zones are also significant and measurable map features. The largest gold deposits along the Bardoc Tectonic Zone and Boulder-Lefroy Shear Zone, in the Eastern Goldfields Province, occur where there are counter-clockwise changes in shear zone orientation, compared to the average orientation of the shear zone along its entire length. Sinistral movement along these shear zones resulted in the formation of district-scale dilational jogs and focused hydrothermal fluid-flow at the Golden Mile, New Celebration and Victory-Defiance deposits. Faults and lithologic contacts are the dominant fluid pathways in orogenic gold Mineral Systems, and measurements of the density of faults and contacts are also a method of quantifying the complexity of geologic map patterns on high-quality maps. Significantly higher densities of pathways in areas surrounding larger gold deposits are measurable within 20- and 5-kilometer search radii around them. Large variations in the sulfur isotopic composition of ore-related pyrites in orogenic gold deposits in the Eastern Goldfields Province are the result of different golddepositional mechanisms and the in-situ oxidation of a primary ore fluid in specific structural settings. Phase separation and wall-rock carbonation are potentially the most common mechanisms of ore-fluid oxidation and gold precipitation. The influence of multiple gold-depositional mechanisms increases the potential for significant ore-fluid oxidation, and more importantly, provides an effective means of increasing gold endowment. This explains the occurrence of negative δ34S values in ore-related pyrites in some world-class orogenic gold deposits. Sulfur isotopic compositions alone cannot uniquely define potential gold endowment. However, in combination with structural, hydrothermal alteration and fluid inclusion studies that also seek to identify multiple ore-forming processes, they can be a useful indicator. The structural setting of a deposit is also a potentially important factor controlling ore-fluid oxidation and the distribution of δ34S values in ore-related pyrites. At Victory-Defiance, the occurrence of negative δ34S(py) values in gently-dipping dilational structures, compared to more positive δ34S(py) values in steeply-dipping compressional structures, is potentially associated with different gold-depositional mechanisms that developed as a result of fluid-pressure fluctuations during different stages of the fault-valve cycle. During the pre-failure stage, when fluids are discharging from faults, fluid-rock interaction is the dominant gold-depositional mechanism. Phase separation and back-mixing of modified ore-fluid components are dominant during and immediately after faulting. Under appropriate conditions, any, or all, of these three mechanisms can oxidize orogenic gold fluids and cause gold deposition. The influence of multiple gold-depositional mechanisms during fault-valve cycles at dilational jogs, where fluid pressure fluctuations are interpreted to be most severe, can potentially explain both the large gold endowment of the giant to world-class Golden Mile, New Celebration and Victory-Defiance deposits along the Boulder-Lefroy Shear Zone, and the presence of gold-related pyrites with negative δ34S values in these deposits. This study highlights the interplay that exists between physical and chemical processes in orogenic gold Mineral Systems, during the transport of ore fluids in pathways from original fluid reservoirs to deposit sites. Potentially, a single and widespread orogenic ore-fluid could become oxidized, and lead to the formation of ore-related sulfides with variable sulfur isotopic compositions, depending on the nature and orientation of major fluid pathways, the nature of wall-rocks through which it circulates, and the precise ore-depositional processes that develop during fault-valve cycles.

This thesis examines the Ballarat Female Refuge, the first such institution on the Australian goldfields, as a case study of the interrelationship between charity and power. Established in 1867 by a group of twenty-six Protestant women with the intention of reforming prostitutes, the Refuge became a shelter for single mothers. An analysis of its history over the period 1867 to 1921 highlights attitudes towards female sexuality, and demonstrates how moral authority was exercised through this highly-gendered institution. The thesis locates the Ballarat Female Refuge within both an international history of female refuges and the network of voluntary charities which developed in nineteenth-century Ballarat. It argues that such charities were influential in the consolidation of class barriers in the goldfields city. While they were founded as a result of both evangelical religious fervour and humanitarian concern, they sought to impose middleclass moral values on their inmates, simultaneously conferring status and prestige on their committee members The thesis analyses the Protestant Ballarat Female Refuge through an examination of its committee, staff and residents in order to identify aspects of both power and mutuality in the charity relationship. It also looks at the symbolic systems operating at the Refuge, in particular the meanings of the wall and the laundry in the processes of exclusion and reformation. Drawing on narrative, biographical, statistical and genealogical sources, it details the ways in which moral authority was exercised through the Ballarat Female Refuge.

During the 19th century, defence was a major issue in Victoria as indeed it was in other British colonies and the United Kingdom. To help defend themselves, self governing colonies throughout the Empire enlisted local citizens to serve as part time soldiers on a voluntary basis. The Victorian government in 1859 - 60 took a calculated risk in adopting a Volunteer Force to underpin the whole colonial defence scheme, particularly as the military effectiveness of the citizen soldiers was questionable due to the lack of any real discipline within the Force and the part time nature of the military service. Whilst the savings which resulted (from using Volunteers rather than expensive Imperial troops) were spent on building forts and purchasing ordnance to protect Port Phillip Bay, there were other advantages to be gained from the government decision. It harnessed the considerable groundswell of public patriotism and pride in the Empire to ensure the development of a colonial society with strong links to Britain. The Government also linked Volunteering, stability and patriotism together as part of a less obvious agenda for the goldfields. In a period of lingering unrest only a few short years after Eureka, the Volunteers provided a clear indication of government power and yet another sign (along with the judicial system, education, language) of the importance and expanse of British society. Should there be any civil unrest on the goldfields, the local Corps were ideally suited to the role of civil control. On a number of occasions, the Volunteer Corps were called out to maintain law and order. The thesis studies a major group of over 5,100 men on the goldfields over two decades, particularly with regard to their motives for joining the Volunteers and their demographics such as ages, occupations, addresses, activities and the networks between members. By addressing the Corps demographics it is possible to understand the role played by the Volunteers in the development of goldfields society.