Gold: The Remarkable Story of Edward Hammond Hargraves – Charlatan, Imposter and Self-Proclaimed Discoverer of Gold in Australia

· Bolinda · Narrated by Kaya Byrne
Audiobook
8 hr 34 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned home to Australia? What about the guys who led him to where they'd heard gold had been found before? What about the pioneers whose discoveries had been documented years earlier? This is the story of an oversized layabout who received years of accolades and free lunches, despite lumbering from one embarrassment to another, and of those who spent decades trying to expose him and seek their share of the glory.
Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get 'Edward Hammond Hargraves'. Hargraves has for decades received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him whe...

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About the author

As a school student, Matt Murphy failed English and couldn't see the point of history. He then became a firie and has been serving in Sydney's inner city for 33 years. He also became a part-time history teacher, historian and author who has written a number of entertaining non-fiction books including: Weight of Evidence, about the longest civil court case in New South Wales; Rum, about the formative influence of grog on the country; and Gold, recounting the story of Edward Hammond Hargraves and the discovery of gold in Australia. Murphy's latest book is Straya Day: The Unofficial History of Australia's National Day (2026).

Kaya (he/him) is a graduate of The Victorian College of the Arts and has appeared in theatre productions across Australia including A Streetcar Named Desire, Groundhog Day and Come From Away. He is also a passionate instrumentalist and singer/songwriter. Kaya has narrated a diverse range of titles, such as Matt Murphy's Gold and Sally Rippin's Big Dog, Little Dog series.

As a school student, Matt Murphy failed English and couldn't see the point of history. He then became a firie and has been serving in Sydney's inner city for 33 years. He also became a part-time history teacher, historian and author who has written a number of entertaining non-fiction books inclu...

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