The History of Ballarat

 

William Bramwell Withers (1823–1913) was a journalist, historian, and long-time Ballarat resident who became one of the first chroniclers of Victoria’s gold rush. His book, The History of Ballarat, From the First Pastoral Settlement to the Present Time, was first serialized in the Ballarat Star in 1870 and later expanded into book form, with a revised edition published in 1887. The work remains a foundational text for understanding Ballarat’s transformation from pastoral outpost to thriving gold city. Withers’ research is built from first-hand interviews, local records, and personal recollections of pioneers. The result is both a historical record and a living portrait of the gold era as it was remembered by those who shaped it.

The book traces Ballarat’s evolution from its early European settlement through to the explosive discovery of gold in 1851, the social upheavals that followed, and the city’s eventual growth into a symbol of Victorian prosperity. Withers combines documented fact with local oral history, giving the reader a vivid sense of what life was like in Ballarat’s formative decades. His writing reflects the style of the 19th century—richly descriptive, moral in tone, and unapologetically focused on the settler experience.