Nomads of the 19th Century Queensland Goldfields

Book excerpt: From Gympie in the south, through Mount Morgan and Canoona on the central coast, to Palmer River and Hodgkinson in the tropical north, the 19th century Queensland goldfields were a magnet for tumultuous swarms of nomadic fossickers. They were also a breeding ground for true leaders of men. ‘Dr Jack’ Hamilton he was one of those natural leaders. He healed the sick and the wounded he was a prodigious bare-knuckle puglist and he fearlessly defended the underdog. Subsequently in 1878 he became a Queensland politician and for the miners rights.