RE: Australian Gold Fields

[bruce carlyon <Bruce_Carlyon@syncsoft.com.au>]

Jenny,
I would suggest that you search the words "Eureka Stockade".  The Goldrush
towns of Ballarat, Bendigo, Rushworth and others.
The conditions were so oppressive in Ballarat Victoria, that the miners
licences were being checked by the troops to collect the high fees paid for
by the miners for having the privledge of scraping the earth to eek out a
living.  This brought an armed conflict between the colonists and the
troops.  The issues of liberty, and freedom from oppression were fought for,
but with dire consquences.
I have deleted the photo references to save space, I have tried to save a
copy of the Eureka flag, we Australians are passionate about this flag, and
that is why it is often used by all sides of politics and causes; it elicits
an emotional response, probably similar to th estars & stripes or the Union
Jack.  A symbol of the under-dog.
Regrads
Bruce Carlyon
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
THIS PAGE IS PART OF THE DEFENDING VICTORIA WEBSITE  <<...>>  <<...>> 

A government force consisting of detachments of British Regiments, the 12th
and 40th, plus mounted and foot police of the Victoria Police, attacked an
entrenchment of aggrieved gold miners at BALLARAT at daybreak on 3 December
1854. The resulting action, the attack on the Eureka Stockade, is today
among Australia's greatest legends. 
For two days earlier the gold-miners in revolt seemed to hold the future of
Victoria in their grasp. A well-armed group of 'Californians' and Canadians
were among parties of 'foreign anarchists' set upon achieving Parliamentary
democracy -- and nothing less. But the Irish seemed to predominate, and
English Chartists, Scots, Swedes, at least two Italians (one, Raffaello
Carboni, fresh from revolutionary Rome), a Jamaican, and an African-American
said to be from Baltimore, Maryland, were involved in the uprising. The
Ballarat Reform League gave some semblance of organisation to these strands
of indignation about gold licensing fees, a desire for political reform, and
the general disorder at Ballarat.
To complicate matters, a further force of 800 troops. including a Naval
Brigade from HMS Fantome and HMS Electra, with howitzers and shrapnel
ammunition, was on its way from Melbourne.
Gold Commissioner Robert Rede (who later officiated as Sheriff during the
1880 hanging of bushranger Ned Kelly) decided to strike quickly without
waiting for the large reinforcement from Melbourne. Captain J. W. Thomas
(40th Regt) and a scout led the combined government force to the Stockade in
the early hours of 3 December. The Stockade was all but deserted, few miners
believing it would be attacked on the Sabbath. The Stockade was thus taken
with minimal casualties, but these increased when mounted police attacked
bystanders.
The Eureka Memorial said to be on the battleground itself. There has been
considerable debate in Ballarat about where the battle actually took place.
The State Trials map exhibit (in the State's Public Record Office) seems to
show a site about one kilometre North-West of the Eureka Memorial.
Of some 120 men captured at the Stockade, only 13 were committed for trial.
The State Treason Trials commenced in February 1855. Successive Melbourne
juries refused to convict any of the defendents. Democratic reforms ensued,
with peace being eventually restored on Victoria's goldfields.
Charles Doudiet's (recently discovered) contemporary sketch captures the
moment when the Eureka Hotel
was torched by a mob on 17 October 1854. Many historians believe this was
the catalyst
for the Eureka Rebellion. In the collection of the Ballarat Fine Art
Gallery.
Research in the 1990s has led to many interesting discoveries about the
Stockade, and circumstances leading up to the attack. Included among these
are the Charles Doudiet watercolour sketches, purchased at auction in 1996
by the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (home of the original Eureka Flag).
Doudiet, a Canadian miner, was apparently at the Stockade. He helped carry
away the fatally wounded Canadian leader, 'Captain' Henry (according to
letters and information supplied by a Canadian source) Ross. Other than a
watercolour by J. B. Henderson, showing the attack, and supposed to be
contemporary, the Doudiet sketches may provide the only genuine images of
Eureka available today.
'Captain' Henry (or Charles, according to official documents in Victoria,
Australia) Ross is believed to have been the designer of the famous Eureka
Flag. It has been suggested that his flag design might have been influenced
by the flag of Quebec, Canada.
 <<...>> You can decide for yourself.
The Eureka Flag was also described as The Southern Cross and is thought to
resemble that constellation. The flag has been used since by both sides of
Australian politics for various purposes.
Captain Henry Ross, the Canadian
leader at the Eureka Stockade. Known
as Charles Ross in Australian documents,
such as his death certificate, Ross was
shot 10 or 15 minutes after being arrested.
Photograph by S. J. Dixon, of the Electric
Light Photo Galleries, Toronto, Canada
Photo provided by a proud relative in Canada.
A gravestone to drummer boy John Egan of the 12th Regiment in Ballarat's old
cemetery has been shown to be a mistaken gesture well after the event.
Ballarat researcher Dot Wickham (in her monograph Deaths at Eureka, 1996)
has shown he survived Eureka to serve in New Zealand in 1860!
Drummer Boy John Egan's empty grave in the old Cemetery.
Interestingly, only two people -- one killed, the other captured at the
Stockade -- were Australian born. Both were from New South Wales. That
colony (now State) was also the scene in 1804, of Australia's first serious
armed uprising (of Irish convicts) at Vinegar Hill near Parramatta.
The password at the Eureka Stockade on the night of 2-3 December 1854 was
'Vinegar Hill'.

SON OF A STOCKADE LEADER TRIED FOR TREASON !
You can discover how the son of a Eureka Stockade leader was tried for
Treason in London in 1903 by visiting this external website.

BALLARAT'S SPLENDID NEW EUREKA STOCKADE CENTRE

Exterior of Ballarat's new Eureka Centre, and (inset) the entrance foyer.
Inside visitors will find a series of vivid displays that tell the Eureka
story. There are special programs for school excursions. The architecture
and interior design of the building are splendid and in keeping with the
grand legend of the Eureka Rebellion. 
A world-class attraction. Larger than life figures--like this British
soldier of the 40th Regiment--help heighten the experience and fire the
imagination.
Opening Hours: 9 am -- 5 pm Tuesday to Sunday and Mondays that are Public
Holidays. 
More information: Gael Shannon (Education Officer) -- Tel: (03) 5333.1854 
Students Pre-Booking: Christine Handley -- Tel: (03) 5337.1188 

© RESEARCHERS PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE OR CITE REFERENCES FROM THIS WEBSITE

IMPORTANT NEW PUBLICATION:  <<...>>  EUREKA RESEARCH DIRECTORY 1999 EDITION
By Dot Wickham, Clare Gervasoni and Wayne Phillipson Now here's a book with
something for everyone interested  in Eureka! It is well-illustrated and
contains a huge listing of  the names of people involved. Many of the
entries are  detailed, and represent years of research by the compilers  of
the directory and their network of fellow-researchers.  Published by
Ballarat Heritage Services, the Directory will  be updated periodically.
Indeed there is a form for new  information which will be included free when
the publication  is reprinted. The 106-page softbound book also gives a
thumbnail sketch of the Rebellion, and a How to Use this  Directory section.
Cost: $A 20 + $ 5 (postage & packing) From: Ballarat Heritage Services PO
box 2209, Ballarat Mail Centre 3354 Australia. Email: dotw@netconnect.com.au
Fax: 61+3+5331.6150 ASK for their latest Publications Catalogue.	

ILLUSTRATIONS, DIARIES & MEMORABILIA NEEDED
 <<...>> My E-Mail Address
Click below to search Defending Victoria Website:
Or visit Defending Victoria's Virtual Bookshop
 <<...>> LINKS
 <<eureka.gif>> 
Flag Adopted: No legal status, in use since 1854
Flag Proportion: 2:3
The Eureka Flag is thought to have been designed by a Canadian gold miner by
the name of "Lieutenant" Ross during the Eureka Stockade uprising in
Ballarat, Victoria, in 1854. 
According to Frank Cayley's book Flag of Stars the flag's five stars
represent the Southern Cross and the white cross joining the stars
represents unity in defiance. The blue background is believed to represent
the blue shirts worn by many of the diggers, rather than represent the sky
as is commonly thought. 
The flag above is considered to be the Eureka Flag (a number of variants
seem to have existed), as it is the design of the flag torn down at the
stockade by Police Constable John King on the morning of the miners'
uprising - Sunday, 3 December 1854. The torn and tattered remains of this
flag is kept at the Ballarat Fine Art Museum. 
The "Eureka Stockade" uprising was essentially a short-lived revolt by gold
miners against petty officialdom and harassment by a corrupt Police force,
who would often ask miners to show their gold digging licences several times
a day. The miners also objected to the high cost of the licences. 
Led by Peter Lalor, who later became a respected Victorian MP and Minister,
the Eureka uprising was a spectacular failure in a military sense. The
revolt had its roots in the killing of a miner, James Scobie, by a publican.
An inquest was held, but despite the evidence of miners, no conclusion was
made about who was responsible. Instead, the miners who pressed for the
arrest of the publican were taken into custody. 
This sparked protests by the miners who held many public meetings, and
sought to take the law into their own hands by seeking out the publican and
burning down his hotel. When the culprits were arrested and imprisoned, the
situation in the goldfields became explosive and expanded to cover general
discontent with unequal laws and unequal rights. 
The miners elected Lalor to lead them, and they built a stockade at the
goldfields to defy the authorities. It was at this time the Eureka flag
first appeared. Within a few days, a military force of about 300 men had
assembled to attack the Stockade, and within 15 minutes of the commencement
of the attack, had smashed the stockade and killed many of the rebels. 
Today, the Eureka flag is often used as a symbol of rebellion against
authority by people at the extreme left and the extreme right of the
political spectrum in Australia. It has been used in marches by neo-Nazis on
the one hand and draped over the coffins of deceased Communists on the
other. 

References
	*	Australian Flags
	*	Department of Administrative Services, Australian Government
Publishing Service, Canberra, 1995. 
	*	The Flag Book
	*	Arthur H Smout, Penpress, Brisbane, 1968. 
	*	Flag of Stars
	*	Frank Cayley, Rigby Ltd, Adelaide, 1966. 
Copyright © Ausflag Ltd · Last update 22 September 1995 ·
ausflag@ausflag.com.au 


> ----------
> From: 	Jenny-Louise Coster[SMTP:jennycoster@hotmail.com]
> Reply To: 	sinclair@matrix.net
> Sent: 	03 July, 2000 10:44
> To: 	sinclair@matrix.net
> Subject: 	Australian Gold Fields
> 
> 
> 
> HI,
> 
> Could anyone tell me where I might find some information to gather an idea
> 
> of the conditions in the Gold Fields of Australia in the 1850's.
> 
> Thanks, Jenny
> 
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eureka.gif