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Which nearby goldfields helped Melbourne grow rapidly in the 1850s?

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Melbourne: central business district — Melbourne Aerial view of Melbourne's central business district, with Princes Bridge and Flinders Street train station in the foreground.

Melbourne experienced a rapid surge in growth during the early 1850s, with its population increasing fourfold to 80,000 in just three years, largely due to the discovery of gold in the surrounding region.1

The most significant goldfields that fueled this expansion were located at Ballarat and Bendigo, both situated less than 100 miles (160 km) from the city. Other notable discoveries that contributed to the Victorian gold rush occurred at:12

Castlemaine
Daylesford
Creswick
Maryborough
McIvor
Clunes (the site of the first official discovery in June 1851)
Warrandyte32

The influx of miners and the resulting wealth transformed Melbourne into a boomtown and the largest city on the continent. This prosperity allowed the city to capitalize on its central position and port facilities to capture the majority of the region's trade, eventually leading to the construction of extensive infrastructure, including railways connecting Melbourne to these gold-producing areas.45