by Peter Butters


After the discovery of gold in 1851 the tranquility of Ballarat gave way to excitement as hordes of new arrivals sought instant wealth, but for the majority it did not materialise. The pastoral paddocks became the scene of great industry but conditions were very basic without fundamental amenities.

The Ballarat 'Star' of Tuesday the 5th July 1859 carried an editorial under the banner of 'INEQUALITY OF THE SEXES ON THE GOLD FIELDS'.

The article drew on information taken from the census returns of March 1857, which had just been released and the paper informed its readers of such, in a rather long winded fashion.

'..... we shall proceed to lay before our readers such portions of its contents, as we think may prove both interesting and instructive. In doing so, we must again allude to the fact of these returns being for a period so far back as the early part of 1857, thus entirely destroying their freshness, and largely lessening their importance and their usefulness, whether for the purposes of the statesman or of the social reformer.'

The paper obviously had concerns about the overall accuracy of the media when it included 'As the matter now stands, the public of Victoria are left to receive from the too often inexperienced hands of metropolitan or provincial journalists such an analysis of this report...'

The editorial noted that there was a total population of 383,668 'exclusive of the residents in the Chinese encampments, and the roving aboriginals'. There were 237,743 males and a 145,925 females.

At that time the evenness of the number of new born males as to females was astounding. Under one year old there were 8,163 males and 7,991 females, between one and two, 6,237 males and 6,204 females, between two and three, 6,092 males and 6,050 females and between three and four, 4,711 males and 4,687 females. The paper noted, In all these figures it will be observed that the proportion of males and females is as nearly as possible equal, in accordance with the natural law which so equally and so mysteriously divides the births of the human race between the two sexes.'

However, between the ages of twenty four and twenty five on the goldfields there were 8,182 males and only 4,073 females, and between twenty five and six there were 9,206 males as opposed to only 3,750 females, and similar numbers in the next age bracket. It was explained 'our readers will not fail to observe the marked disproportion between the total of the sexes of the two periods. In the first mentioned period the males and females are nearly equal; in the second, the males are to the females nearly as three to one. The ratio continued to widen and at the age of thirty four there were 5,289 males and a mere 1,823 females. At the age of twenty however the difference was trifling.
On the goldfields, under the age of fifteen years there were 17,897 males and 17,155 females, and there were 4,365 males aged between fifteen and twenty thus making the number of males under twenty equal to 22,262.

The 'Star' continued, 'If we assume then that the females under fifteen and the males under twenty are to be deducted from the total number of the goldfields population, as not having arrived at the marriageable age, which perhaps, for general purposes, is as fair a division as is required, there will then remain only 26,988 females of a marriageable age, against 80,023 males who have arrived at the age of puberty.'

There were not many mature people on the goldfields as the report added, 'As the number of both sexes above the age of fifty is comparatively trifling, these figures may be assumed to fairly represent the proportion of marriageable males and females on the gold fields; in other words for every female at this stage of life, there are upwards of three males. Only 9.3 per cent of the females of the age of twenty and upwards are unmarried, while of the males in the same condition there are 61.20 per cent.'

The paper deduced that 'the numbers of the two sexes on the goldfields who, in March, 1857, had arrived at a marriageable age, but who were unmarried, stand thus in round numbers : males, 48,000; females, 2,700; or nearly eighteen males to one female. These figures at once bring before us, in a most startling form, the great sexual inequality of the goldfields' population.'

By contrast the seaport towns had 68,927 males and 59,777 females.

Early Ballarat historian William Bramwell Withers referred to the lack of females on the goldfields. 'There were no hospitals or asylums in that early day, and a woman was an absolute phenomenon. In those first days of digging life, when womanless crowds wrestled with the earth and the forest amid much weariness and solitude of heart, the arrival of a woman was the signal for a cry and a gathering. The shout, 'There's a woman!' emptied many a tent of besoiled and hardy diggers, for the strange sight evoked instant memories of far away homes, of mothers, wives, and sweethearts, and all the sweet affections and courtesies they represented, and never with such eloquent emphasis as then. There was no man, having the heart of a man, who did not bless the vision, while many an eye was moistened with the sudden tear as love, hope, disappointment, fear, struggled all at once in the homeless digger's bosom.'

Early Melbourne historian William Kelly was not impressed with Ballarat women or the conditions. 'The tents were of the most flimsy description, and side-glances into their interiors seldom discovered any traces of comfort, or seldom of decency, scarcely any had chimneys attached, so that all the cooking was done in the open air, but all of them were surrounded by hosts of mongrel dogs of the most noisy and snappish breed.' When referring to females he said, ' I was on the point of writing the softer sex, but that would be a misnomer, for the most callous specimens of the male creation I ever encountered were mere green pulp in comparison with some of the granite-grained viragoes I had the honour of meeting.'

The publication 'Australia Illustrated' merely noted, 'Fortunately, comparatively few women found their way to the goldfields in the early days. As a rule, those who did so were well qualified to encounter the hardships and difficulties of the life, but their experiences were by no means pleasant ones.'

A male perspective of one female on the goldfields was evident in a 'letter to the editor' of the 'Weekly Times' of December 25, 1857. 'What a Woman On Ballarat Can Do.' 'Sir - I removed to the Caledonian Lead a few months since, and located in the vicinity of the Brown Hill Hotel. In a few days after being installed in my new quarters, my attention was attracted by the strokes of an axe, plied incessantly from morning until night. On observation, much to my surprise, I perceived the indefatigable wood-chopper to be a woman.

At first, however, as the stately gums and other primitive monarchs of the forest, one by one, came down with a groan and a crash, I naturally supposed that the limbs of the fallen were merely designed to supply the wood yard of a provident neighbour, but not so. The boughs were indeed chopped off, cut into uniform lengths, and the larger split, but not for the purpose which I had at first supposed. After the completion of this work, the conqueror next appeared in the field armed with maul and wedge, and with the utmost apparent good-will and determination, attacked the knotted trunks of the fallen trees. In a few days the last of these had disappeared in a heap of posts and rails.

Immediately in front of her tent, or bark hut rather, is a low piece of ground which at the time was partly inundated by the early rains. Of this ground she staked off the area of an acre, more or less, and after having planted her posts and erected the fence (which, by the way, is a substantial one), as heretofore, unassisted by anyone, she very deliberately set about excavation of a drain several hundred feet in length.

After completion of this, the spade was again brought into requisition, and about two-thirds of the enclosure turned up and prepared for cultivation. This ground, owing to its watery propensity, required the greatest ingenuity, and most laborious pains, in its preparation. But in time, in spite of all, industry and perseverance conquered. The marsh soil was deprived of its moisture, the ground planted, and now in a high state of improvement, presents one of the most forward and beautiful vegetable gardens in this vicinity.

I may further add, that the time of this girl, (I have been told that she is single), is not undivided. With the assistance of another female, her partner, she keeps a milk dairy, a lot of poultry, and a herd of pigs. I am unable to give the name of either of the parties, but any enquiries made in reference to the above, in the vicinity of 70 or 80 Caledonian Lead, would be successful. Her reputation has become quite a prodigy in these parts and everyone in the neighbourhood should be able to point out the garden made and cultivated by a woman. I am Sir, Yours &c. A LOVER OF INDUSTRY.