francene--blog. Year 2013
  • Home
  • Blog

June 11th

6/11/2013

 
Pictureblogs.telegraph.co.uk
The age-old wrangle between immigrant gold miners and the government rises in Ghana again.

Ghana's police have arrested at least 55 West Africans suspected of illegal gold mining, an immigration spokesman has told the BBC. The authorities plan to deport the suspects. More than 200 Chinese workers would be repatriated after their arrest last week.

Ghanaian law prevents foreigners from working in small-scale gold mines. Ghana is Africa's biggest gold producer after South Africa.
The raids are popular with many poor Ghanaians who feel that foreigners are taking jobs from them.

At least one of these companies is at loggerheads with the government over the deportations. The company insists that all its workers have valid permits, and alleges that members of the security forces have stolen goal during raids on its property this year.


Picturewww.goldnuggetsales.com
People have fought over the world's most precious metal since recorded history. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.

The gold rush in Australia attracted adventurers from all around the world. The majority of these new arrivals were British but also included Americans, French, Italian, German, Polish and Hungarian exiles. The largest foreign contingent on the goldfields was the 40,000 Chinese who made their way to Australia.


Picturecommons.wikimedia.org
In 1861, Chinese immigrants made up 3.3 per cent of the Australian population, the greatest it has ever been. These Chinese were nearly all men (38,337 men and only eleven women!) and most were under contract to Chinese and foreign businessmen. In exchange for their passage money, they worked on the goldfields until their debt was paid off. Most then returned to China.

Many years ago, I lived in Robe, South Australia. The house my family and I lived in was built mainly to cater to the Chinese migrants, who landed in the safe harbor there before they made the trek into Victoria to find gold, thus avoiding taxes. These poor workers bought biltong (dried meat) to carry with them. Back in the 1850's, the front room of the cottage served as a butcher shop. The living quarters at the rear consisted of a main room with a fireplace at one end and a kitchen. They used the 6ft round tank outside to tan hides.

I'm connected to those gold rush days. My great-grandmother worked in the kitchen at the local Robe Hotel at that time. Fate took my family back to the beautiful lobster-fishing town. Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world. I guess it could also be applied to events in history.

Do you have any stories about gold rush days?


Don Purdum link
6/11/2013 04:01:48 am

I agree about six degrees of separation! Both in terms of the people we want to meet and how far we are removed from many past events. Great post!!!!

Francene Stanley link
6/11/2013 07:00:25 pm

Thanks, Don. By our connection on the internet, we prove how close people are nowadays.

Hemal link
6/11/2013 04:55:43 am

Although I don't have stories about the gold rush days, in reminding me of six degrees of separation, and in that I was originally born in Central Africa, I would think it's likely I wouldn't need all six degrees to find stories of a gold rush : )

Francene Stanley link
6/11/2013 07:02:18 pm

I went to your site to check out your blog, but couldn't find anywhere to comment. Thanks for your input. If you ever find the time, it might be interesting look into the lives of your ancestors.

Amy link
6/11/2013 07:39:14 am

Francene,
I don't have any gold rush stories, though I wouldn't be surprised if some of my American ancestors weren't involved with the gold rush days of early settling here. I really enjoyed reading your post, though! The hopes of finding gold makes people a little crazy, doesn't it?

Francene Stanley link
6/11/2013 07:03:37 pm

I guess it's human nature to want wealth we come upon without working for.

Alana link
6/11/2013 11:10:47 am

I have no gold rush ancestors - at least, in the United States. Both sides of my family came to the United States in the very early 1900's. But in Europe? Who knows. I loved this story; a piece of history I did not know about.

Francene Stanley link
6/11/2013 07:05:18 pm

Perhaps you could research your family history. I find great comfort in knowing mine, especially as early settlers in Australia were often prisoners.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Catastrophe
    Creativity
    Family
    Life Experiences
    Mother
    News
    Novel Writing
    Novel-writing
    Retirement
    World

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.