The Main Road to a better life in gold digging era

A sociologist has recorded details of residents from what was “one of the most famous pieces of real estate on the planet”.

This month, John Smyth released a series of books identifying those who lived along Main Road, Ballarat between 1859 and 1900.

“It was the most vibrant, boisterous, wealthiest, seediest street in the world,” he said.

He said in his Main Road Historical Directory series, he had “captured 20,000 years of people’s lives” during Ballarat’s goldrush.

Smyth took 10 years researching official records such as parish maps and rate books to compile his list.

Main Road, Smyth explained, ran through the heart of the city’s gold-digging activity.

He had recorded that there were up to 500 establishments along the road.

It was an area, Smyth said, where people came from across the world seeking wealth to fund a better life.

“This was an inverter of what they called the social pyramid,” he said. “This was the liberator of the feudal system that had existed in England and Ireland and Scotland prior to that, so that was the allure of gold.”

Smyth said this work would appeal to those who appreciated identifying their ancestry.

“Family history is the second most popular hobby in the world to gardening, that’s how big it is,” he said.

He hoped the series could also be used in schools.

About 50 people attended the official book launch at the Xin Jin Shan Chinese Library on Sturt and Lydiard streets.

Volume 1 of the series costs $30, with its Chinese supplement $10. Volume 2 costs $50.

A fourth volume, on the hotels on Main Road, is expected to be released later this year.

To order, email [email protected].