Australian gold rushes been found on his station at Clunes in March 1850. Bruhn also explored the countryside and found quartz reefs in the vicinity. "This information he promulgated through the country in the course of his journey." One of the people to whom Bruhn communicated this information was James Esmond who was at that time engaged in erecting a building on James Hodgkinson's station "Woodstock" at Lexton about 16 miles (25 km) to the west of Clunes. This then indirectly led to the first gold rush in Victoria from Esmond's subsequent discovery of payable gold at Clunes in July 1851. Bruhn also
Victorian gold rush Vern, and £200 each for Black and Lalor. Australia's population changed dramatically as a result of the rushes. In 1851 the Australian population was 437,655, of which 77,345, or just under 18%, were Victorians. A decade later the Australian population had grown to 1,151,947 and the Victorian population had increased to 538,628; just under 47% of the Australian total and a seven-fold increase. In some small country towns where gold was found abundantly, the population could grow by over 1000% in a decade (e.g. Rutherglen had a population of about 2,000. Ten years later, it had approximately 60,000 which is