‘Race to the Gold Diggings’ board game

The ‘Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia’ board game was a nineteenth century game of chance relating to the Australian gold rushes. The discovery of gold in Australia in 1851 had a massive impact on the way Britain imagined the colonies. Gold shifted the perception of the colonies from a back-water to a land of promise and potential for the individual and society. The lure of gold spread widely and captured popular imagination across class, gender and age. Accounts and depictions of the gold rush became readily available to an Imperial audience. ‘Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia’ is an excellent example of this impact as it shows how the Gold Rush was brought into the lives of middle class children through play.