Miner's Licence
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The Miner's Licence was the colonial government's response to the Australian gold rushes and the need to provide infrastructure including policing. The Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles Fitzroy invoked a sixteenth-century lawsuit, R v Earl of Northumberland (‘Case of Mines’) which was decided in 1568, to proclaim the Crown's right to all gold found in New South Wales. No man could dig for gold unless he had bought a licence. The charge for the licence was set at 30 shillings a month, an amount believed to be high enough to discourage unlucky diggers but not so high as to encourage rebellion.[1]
Miner's did rebel, most notably at the Eureka Stockade, but there had been protests since its inception. As a result of the Eureka Stckade protest, the Miner's Right was introduced.
[edit] References
- ^ Blainey, Geoffrey (1963). The Rush That Never Ended. Melbourne University Press, pages 20-21.
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