[Silver tea and coffee service] Presented to Edward H. Hargraves Esq. the discoverer of the Gold fields of Australia, by the inhabitants of Bathurst ... 18531851

Edward Hargraves (1816-1891) was a gold promoter credited with discovering the first payable goldfields in Bathurst, leading to Australia's first gold rush. Although he received all the public recognition and reward, it was in fact his companions, John Lister and brothers William, James and Henry Tom, who found the payable gold - a fact that was belatedly recognised by a select committee of the Legislative Assembly in 1890. 
Reference: Australian Dictionary of Biography. Carlton, Vic : Melbourne University Press, 1967.

Presented by Mrs V. A. Stendrup, great grand-daughter of Edward Hargraves, 1976.