From late-July 1858 newspaper reports began to be published regarding the discovery of a "rich gold-field" on the Fitzroy River near Canoona, 31 miles (50 km) north-west of Rockhampton (at that time within the Northern District of New South Wales).Examples include: Discovery of a Rich Gold-Field in the Northern District, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 July 1858, page 5; Our Gold-Fields: The Canoona Gold-Fields, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 August 1858, page 5. In late 1858 Griffin was appointed to Rockhampton as an Acting Sergeant.Dr. Lorna McDonald (1981), Rockhampton: A History of City and District, University of Queensland Press (). In February 1859 he was appointed Chief Constable at Rockhampton, with the additional responsibilities of Inspector of Slaughter Houses, Inspector of Weights and Measures and Bailiff of the Court of Requests.Rockhampton. Court of Petty Sessions, New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 22 February 1859 (Issue No. 30), page 427. In March 1859 Griffin was appointed as the Inspector of Distilleries for the District of Rockhampton.Notice is hereby given, ..., New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 15 March 1859 (Issue No. 44), page 632. In December 1859 the Letters Patent formally proclaiming the separation of the colony of Queensland from New South Wales were published. By this process the employment of all colonial officers, both civil and military, within the territory of the colony of Queensland, were transferred to the new colony.Proclamation, New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 1 December 1859 (Issue No. 244), page 2639.
