Queer Goldfields: Uncovering the hidden LGBTIQA+ histories on the Victorian goldfields
In the first known project of its kind worldwide, a digital platform is uncovering the lives and stories of LGBTQIA+ bushrangers, gold miners, farmers, performers and everyday folk who lived in the Victorian Goldfields during the 19th century has been launched by Federation University in partnership with the City of Ballarat.
The Queer Goldfields digital project was created through as part of a Federation University student research project, bringing together industry and community partners through co-operative learning.
The Queer Goldfields digital platform features over 200 articles from 19th-century Victorian newspapers - meticulously collected by Federation Arts’ students - all highlighting the life and times of historical figures through an LGBTQIA+ lens.
These figures include the infamous bushranger, Captain Moonlite, whose love for James Nesbitt was expressed in emotional prison letters; Edward De Lacy Evans, a trans man who lived and worked in Bendigo; and Lola Montez, a fierce and flamboyant queer icon. The project also uncovers stories of lesser-known individuals such as Lesbia Harford, a poet and activist who explored bisexuality and free love; Fredrick Wilson, who lived and performed as “Miss Frankie”; and Joseph "Joey" Hanslow, who lived for decades as a woman despite being assigned male at birth.
At the heart of this project are the Federation University students who have been researching these figures by sifting through Trove, Australia’s newspaper archive, to uncover long-forgotten stories. Their work is bringing these individuals back into the historical conversation, highlighting the diverse and complex lives of people who defied gender and sexual norms in the 1800s.
Currently, no comparable database exists globally that applies a queer lens to regional 19th-century goldfields history at this scale. As the project grows, students will continue to unearth new stories and expand the archive.
Queer Goldfields uncover the diverse and important roles LGBTIQA+ people played in shaping the Victorian Goldfields, offering a valuable resource for educators, researchers, and anyone interested in inclusive historical storytelling.
Queer Goldfields is a collaboration between City of Ballarat and Federation University For more information visit: queergoldfields.au
Quote attributable to Head of Social Science, Humanities, and Criminal Justice, Associate Professor of History, David Waldron
“The Queer Goldfields project is deeply integrated into the coursework of the Bachelor of Arts capstone project. In their final year, students can undertake self-directed research projects designed to foster authentic assessment practices and cooperative learning by closely collaborating with industry and community partners.”
“Through this approach, students actively contribute to historical inquiry, community engagement, and cultural preservation, creating meaningful connections between academic learning and real-world impact. In this case their learn the skill of writing for commercial audiences, searching archival records, and creating synthesized synopsis of key sources for publication online.”
Quote attributed to Federation University student, Daniel Turner-Chapman
“There's a lot of hidden history under the surface, once you start looking for it. LGBTQIA+ people have always been part of Australia's, and Ballarat's, community and culture - sometimes persecuted and sometimes celebrated, sometimes fighting to be seen and heard and sometimes trying to stay secret and safe. They were here, they were queer, and they have not disappeared.”
Quote attributed to Federation University student, Meghan Aponte
“I’m a storyteller by trade. So, for me, it is the stories I’m uncovering that truly unveil the human at the heart of century old history. This dive into the Queer history of the goldfields is an important opportunity to contextualise the experiences of those who came before us, and to tell stories from those who never had a voice to tell them. And by uncovering stories from such a pivotal time in Australian history, it might better inform our present and future selves.”
Explore more stories featured on the Queer Goldfields website, www.queergoldfields.au, including:
- Two men found in bed together on a Ballarat farm in 1874, one wearing the other’s trousers, a humorous case for the newspaper but an early record of queer intimacy in rural Victoria.
- A man in Maryborough publicly dressed and lived as a woman for over 20 years, passing successfully until his death, revealing a trans history hidden in plain sight.
- A passionate relationship between a teacher and her student in a women’s college, explored through poetic letters that survived attempts at censorship.
- A queer bush ballad lamenting a lost male lover, published anonymously in a Bendigo paper, suggesting a broader literary culture of hidden longing.
- Police court records showing men arrested for cross-dressing and sharing beds, often defended humorously or dismissed when clear relationships were evident, showing subtle forms of community acceptance.