In the 1830’s and 40s, well before Lawrence Hargraves was acknowledged as the discoverer of
gold in Australia, at least three other men had also claimed this honour.
They were John Lhotsky, Count Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, and the Rev William Branwhite Clarke. Interestingly, although no information regarding any affiliation with Freemasonry has been found for
Strezelecki or Clark, it appears that Lhotsky may have been a member of Australian Lodge
number 820 meeting in Sydney New South Wales, as an 1833 subscription book contains a
record of a payment made by him on December 13 of that year.
Nevertheless, it is Hargraves who is accredited with the discovery after returning to Australia from California where he had been prospecting for gold.
Hargraves discovery in New South Wales was soon followed by other equally exciting discoveries elsewhere in Australia.
Title
2016 - TWO ENDURING TREASURES - WHY THEY ARE NOT ORNAMENTS - Peter Bindon.
