Blumbergville no longer exists by that name, but when the small village in the Scenic Rim Region of Queensland, was established in 1885, it was one of the very few Australian towns ever to be named for a Jewish family.
Possibly one of the most unique High Holiday services ever held in Australia took place in 1894 in Coolgardie WA for Rosh Hashana. The services were not held in a synagogue, nor in a home — in fact, not even in a building. The service, in which eleven men participated, just surpassing the bare minimum required, was held in a tent during the time of the WA’s gold rush period.
On May 31 1870 Galician born Solomon Schlossman and his Polish born son-in-law John Davis discovered what would be the 9th largest nugget on the Victorian Goldfields, They named it the Viscount Canterbury.
Theodore Krakouer arrived as Convict No 232 at the Swan River in West Australia. Together with his mate, Elias Lapidus, they were both sentenced to 15 years for stealing clothes and money. Their papers were stamped with “state of mind” as being hopeful.
When gold was discovered in New South Wales in 1851 by Edward Hargreaves, the area near Bathurst was actually given a Hebrew name – ‘’Ophir’’ – a name and place from the bible famous for its gold and wealth. Victoria’s gold rush began in 1851 and, over the next ten years, close to 600,000 people flowed into the region in search of their fortune. Many of these adventurers were Jewish.
The Jewish Ladies’ Benevolent Loan and Visiting Society formed a committee that eventually became the Jewish Emigration Society. Donations came in, and in June of 1853, an advertisement was printed announcing the Society’s intention of sending 20 single Jewish female emigrants to Australia. What happened next was quite unexpected!
