Historical information

Charles Fahey taught history at La Trobe University until his retirement in 2018. He has written on the history of Victorian gold mining, Victorian agriculture and working in Melbourne.

This document provides a demographic analysis of Bendigo, a Victorian provincial city, during the late nineteenth century.

Historical demographers have studied broad Australian population trends, but local studies like this one have been limited by inadequate records. Recent access to detailed manuscript birth, death, and marriage records allows for a more granular local demographic analysis.

The study combines these records with published statistics and traditional sources (e.g., diaries). The paper examines the origins and occupations of Bendigo's late nineteenth-century immigrants.It analyzes population fluctuations and migration patterns, especially out-migration during economic downturns.

Marriage patterns, birth and death rates, illegitimacy rates, bridal pregnancies, and de facto relationships are also explored.Population Bendigo experienced significant population growth from 28,577 in 1871 to 35,584 in 1881, driven by a mining boom and economic prosperity.

The late 1880s saw a decline in mining yields, leading to economic depression, unemployment, and a population decrease to 34,089 by 1891 as residents left the city. The city's development and demographic changes are closely tied to the fortunes of its mining industry, reflecting broader patterns of boom and bust in Australian provincial towns during this era.

These points collectively illustrate how economic cycles and migration shaped Bendigo's demographic landscape in the late nineteenth century.

Physical description

Fortuna - Bendigo 1881-1901 - A Demographic Portrait of A Victorian Provincial Town - extract from a book by Charles Fahey

This item contains the following:

11217.55a Pages 88 to 107 of his book - Contact BHS for details

Publication type

non-fiction