Eureka: The Unfinished Revolution

by Peter Fitzsimons

96. Ibid.

  97. Ibid.

  98. Lynch, p. 13.

  99. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854.

  100. Ibid.

  101. The Argus, 16 November 1854, p. 6.

  102. Ibid.

  103. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854.

  104. The Argus, 16 November 1854, p. 6. Author’s note: I have put the quotes recorded by The Argus into the present tense.

  105. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854.

  106. The Argus, 16 November 1854, p. 6.

  107. Ibid., p. 6.

  108. Ibid.

  109. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854.

  110. Thomas Pierson diary, 12 November 1854, SLV, MS 11646, Box 2178/4, p. 238.

  111. Carboni, p. 30.

  112. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854.

  113. Section III, ‘An Act for the Better Security of the Crown and Government of the United Kingdom’, p. 127.

  114. The Argus, 16 November 1854, p. 6.

  115. The Ballarat Times, 18 November 1854, p. 2.

  116. Molony, p 110.

  117. John Foster’s evidence, ‘Report from the Select Committee upon Mr. J. F. V. Fitzgerald’s Case’, p. 2.

  CHAPTER NINE: ALL RISE

  1. Withers, p. 73.

  2. Clark, pp. 68-69.

  3. Author’s Note: The Melbourne Public Library is now the State Library of Victoria - an institution that I relied on heavily for this book and was always there for me!

  4. The Argus, 20 November 1854, p. 6.

  5. The Age, 20 November 1854, p. 5.

  6. The Argus, 20 November 1854, p. 6.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Ibid., p. 4.

  10. Foster to Wallace, 20 November 1854, VPRS 3219, Vol. 20, pp. 430-1.

  11. The Ballarat Star, 4 March 1870, p. 4.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Carboni, p. 34.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Inflammatory poster, produced by Seekamp’s press, VPRS 5527/P Unit 4, Item 1.

  17. Lynch, p. 15.

  18. Withers, pp. 141-2. The Argus, 8 July 1899, p. 4.

  19. ‘Report of the Board into the Circumstances Connected with the Late Disturbance at Ballarat’, p. viii.

  20. Ibid., p. xi.

  21. Ibid., p. xiii.

  22. Ibid., p. xi.

  23. Ibid., p. xv.

  24. Ibid., p. xi.

  25. Record of meeting between Lieutenant-Governor Hotham and a deputation from the diggers, led by J. B. Humffrays and George Black, 27 November 1854, VPRS 1095/P Unit 3, Bundle 1, No. 16.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Ibid.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Ibid.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Ibid.

  34. Ibid.

  35. Ibid.

  36. The Argus, 28 November 1854, p. 4.

  37. Commissioner Robert Rede letter to Mr Furnell, 27 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J55/14458.

  38. MacFarlane, p. 38.

  39. Commissioner Robert Rede letter to Mr Furnell, 27 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J55/14458.

  40. Commissioner Robert Rede to Colonial Secretary Foster, 27 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J55/14458.

  41. Inflammatory poster produced by Seekamp’s press, VPRS 5527/P Unit 4, Item 1; Gold, p. 29.

  42. The Argus, 28 November 1854, p. 4.

  43. Charles Pasley letter to his father, 27 June 1855, p. 51, ML, B1564.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Ibid.

  46. Ibid.

  47. Geelong Advertiser, 30 November 1854, p. 4.

  48. Gold, Eureka, p. 32.

  49. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  50. Author’s note: Confirmation that there were 600 Americans on the Ballarat diggings at the time of Eureka can be found In: L. G. Churchward, ‘Americans and Other Foreigners at Eureka’, in Historical Studies: Eureka Supplement (1954), p. 80.

  51. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  52. Rede to Chief Commissioner of Goldfields, 28 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14459.

  53. Potts, Young America and Australian Gold, p. 184.

  54. Rede to Chief Commissioner of Goldfields, 28 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14459.

  55. Turner, p. 55.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Ferguson, pp. 281-2.

  58. Geelong Advertiser, 2 December 1854, p. 4.

  59. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  60. Lynch, p. 29. Author’s note: Lynch, among others, had it that Egan was killed outright; however, this has been proved otherwise by Ballarat historian Dorothy Wickham as Egan appears to have gone on to live a long and happy life.

  61. Samuel Lazarus diary, 24 September 1853-21 January 1855; Tuesday, 28 November 1854, p. 116, SLV, MS Box 1777/4.

  62. Samuel Huyghue diary, The Ballarat Riots 1854, SLV, MS 7725, Box 646/9, p. 1.

  63. Ibid., pp. 10-11.

  64. Carboni, p. 35.

  65. Sameul Huyghue diary, The Ballarat Riots 1854, SLV, MS 7725, Box 646/9, p. 11.

  66. Ibid., p. 12.

  67. Commissioner Robert Rede letter to the Chief Commissioner of the Goldfields, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14460.

  68. Ibid.

  69. Author’s note: Though in his 1885 account Wilson does not specify Captain Ross being there, this is my assumption as other accounts have Ross as ‘Father of the Flag’, and it stands to reason that he would have been present.

  70. Wickham, The Eureka Flag, p. 25.

  71. Ibid.

  72. Ferguson, p. 280.

  73. Author’s note: For an interesting discussion on the making of the flag, see Fox, L. The Eureka Flag, pp. 47-54. In this book, it is possibly an Anastasia Catherine Withers who is instrumental.

  CHAPTER TEN: READING THE RIOT ACT

  1. The Argus, 7 December 1904, p. 4.

  2. Geelong Advertiser, 2 December 1854, p. 4.

  3. Wilson, p. 7.

  4. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  5. Ibid., p.

  6 Thomas Pierson diary, Wednesday, 6 December 1854, SLV, MS 11646, Box 2178/4, p. 241.

  7. Carboni, p. 36.

  8. The Ballarat Times, 3 December, 1854.

  9. Empire, 6 December 1854, p. 5.

  10. Macdougall, p. 180.

  11. Empire, 6 December 1854, p. 5.

  12. Lynch, p. 26.

  13. Ibid., p. 24.

  14. Carboni, pp. 38-39.

  15. The Argus, 7 December 1904, p. 4.

  16. Author’s note: Those remarks were recalled by a digger who seemingly was there at the time, in a letter to The Argus, some 50 years after the event. In the letter he states that Vern made these remarks a fortnight before the massacre, which positions it around 19 November, but as there appears to have been no significant meeting at Bakery Hill at this time I think that this is the meeting meant, as opposed to the meeting on 11 November, which was comparatively calm.

  17. The Argus, 7 December 1904, p. 4.

  18. Empire, 6 December 1854, p. 5.

  19. Daily Southern Cross, ‘Outbreak at Ballarat’, 22 December 1854, p. 3.

  20. Carboni, p. 40.

  21. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  22. Carboni, pp. 40-41.

  23. Thomas Pierson diary, Wednesday, 6 December 1854, SLV, MS 11646, Box 2178/4, p. 239.

  24. Carboni, The Eureka Stockade, p. 41.

  25. Wilson, p. 5.

  26. Lynch, p. 25.

  27. Pasley report to Hotham, 29 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, K/5413511.

  28. Geelong Advertiser, 1 December 1854, p. 4.

  29. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  30. Lynch, Story of the Eureka Stockade, p. 15.

  31. Pasley report to Hotham, 29 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, K/5413511. Molony, p. 125.

  32. Author’s note: It is my assumption that the views expressed by Pasley to Hotham in hi
s report are the same as the views he expresses to Rede and Thomas on this occasion.

  33. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  34. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 308.

  35. Rede’s report to the Colonial Secretary, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1085/P Unit 8, Duplicate 162 Enclosure no. 4.

  36. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  37. Ibid.

  38. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Bohn, p. 644.

  41. Lynch, p. 27.

  42. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 309.

  43. Ibid.

  44. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  45. Empire, Wednesday, 6 December 1854, p. 5.

  46. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  47. Ibid.

  48. The Argus, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  49. Ibid.

  50. Ibid.

  51. The Argus, 2 December, p. 5.

  52. Samuel Lazarus diary, 24 September 1853-21 January 1855, Tuesday, 30 November 1854, SLV, MS Box 1777/4, p. 121.

  53. Pasley report to the Colonial Secretary, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, K54/13512.

  54. Samuel Huyghue Diary, The Ballarat Riots 1854, SLV, MS 7725, Box 646/9, p. 15.

  55. Geelong Advertiser, 2 December 1854, p. 5.

  56. The Argus, 10 April 1855 p. 7.

  57. The Argus, 10 April 1855, p 7.

  58. Carboni, p. 43.

  59. The Argus, 10 April 1855 p. 7.

  60. Ibid.

  61. Samuel Lazarus diary, 24 September 1853-21 January 1855; Thursday, 30 November 1854, SLV, MS Box 1777/4, p. 122.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: ‘WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS …’

  1. Hotham despatch to Sir George Grey, ‘Reporting a Serious Riot and Collision at the Ballarat Gold Field’ 20 December 1854, VPRS 1085/P0, Duplicate despatches from the Governor to the Secretary of State, Unit 8, Duplicate Ddespatch No. 162.

  2. The Argus, 10 April 1855, p. 7.

  3. Queen v. Hayes, p.73.

  4. Carboni, p. 44.

  5. Author’s note: One of Hanrahan’s descendants is Mike Walsh, the television identity and cinema impresario.

  6. Carboni, p. 50.

  7. Lynch, p. 28.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Carboni, p. 50.

  10. Ibid.

  11. Queen v. Hayes, p. 29.

  12. Author’s note: An anomaly with many of the accounts of how big the Stockade was is that while the most authoritative accounts have it as about 200 yards long by 100 yards wide, they also have it as just one acre. But both statements cannot be correct.

  13. Author’s note: I am aware that Peter Lalor later downplayed the defensive nature of the Stockade, saying it was no more than a gathering point. However, at the time, it was very much in his interests to so downplay it.

  14. Lynch, p. 11.

  15. The Argus, 5 December 1854, p. 5.

  16. The Austral Light, January 1896, p. 30.

  17. Queen v. Hayes, p. 85.

  18. Blake, p. 25.

  19. Carboni, p. 64.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Ibid., p. 51.

  23. Carboni, p. 64.

  24. The Ballarat Courier, 20 July 1889, p. 5.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Rede’s account of the Gravel Pit riots and call for martial law to be proclaimed, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1085/P Unit 8, Duplicate 162, Enclosure No. 4.

  27. Rede to Colonial Secretary Foster, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1085/P Unit 8, Duplicate 162, Enclosure No. 4.

  28. Pasley report to the Colonial Secretary, 30 November 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, K54/13512.

  29. Author’s note: He is also referred to as John Diamond.

  30. Hotham to George Grey, 20 December 1854, ‘Further Papers Relative to the Discovery of Gold in Australia’, July 1855, p. 66.

  31. Carboni, p. 45.

  32. The Argus, 7 December 1904, p. 4.

  33. Carboni, p. 47.

  34. Ibid., p. 48.

  35. Lynch, p. 28.

  36. Carboni, p. 48.

  37. Author’s note: This is my assumption.

  38. Nicholls, W. H., ‘Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade’, The Centennial Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 1890, p. 748.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Carboni, p. 52.

  41. Ibid., p. 53.

  42. Ibid., p. 54.

  43. Ibid.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Ibid., p. 55.

  46. Ibid., p. 52.

  47. Ibid., p. 55.

  48. Ibid.

  49. Ibid., p. 52.

  50. Carboni, p. 55.

  51. Ibid., p. 56.

  52. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855,’ Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 309.

  53. Ibid.

  54. Carboni, p. 56.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 309.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Carboni, p. 57.

  61. Turnbull, p. 61.

  62. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 309.

  63. Resident Goldfields Commissioner Robert Rede to the Chief Commissioner of the Goldfields, 2 December 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14462.

  64. Patrick Smyth letter to Hotham requesting temporary suspension of license fee to avoid bloodshed, 30 November 1854, VPRS 4066/P Unit 1, December 1854, no. 3.

  CHAPTER TWELVE: ‘AUX ARMES, CITOYENS!’

  1. Resident Goldfields Commissioner Robert Rede to the Chief Commissioner of the Goldfields, 2 December 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14462.

  2. Samuel Huyghue Diary, The Ballarat Riots 1854, SLV, MS 7725, Box 646/9, p. 19.

  3. Carboni, p 51.

  4. Ibid., p. 58.

  5. The Argus, 5 December 1854, p. 4.

  6. Housman, p. 39.

  7. Carboni, p. 58.

  8. Carboni, p. 59.

  9. Nicholls, W. H., ‘Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade’, The Centennial Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 1890, p. 746.

  10. Ibid., p. 749.

  11. Ibid., p. 746.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Ibid.

  14. MacFarlane, p. 156.

  15. Nicholls, W. H., ‘Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade’, The Centennial Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 1890, p. 746.

  16. Craig, pp. 265-266.

  17. Withers, p. 103.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Carboni, p. 69.

  20. The Argus, 10 April 1855, p. 7.

  21. Withers, p. 103.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Ibid., p. 119.

  24. The Ballarat Courier, 20 July 1889, p. 5.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Nicholls, W.H., ‘Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade’, The Centennial Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 1890, p. 746.

  27. Ibid., pp. 746-747.

  28. Ibid., p. 746.

  29. The Ballarat Star, 11 July 1860, p. 3.

  30. Nicholls, W. H., ‘Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade’, The Centennial Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 1890, p. 747.

  31. The Argus, 2 December 1854.

  32. Author’s note: A cylindrical or truncated cone, military cap with visor and plume or pompon.

  33. Samuel Lazarus diary, September 24 1853-21 January 1855; Friday, 1 December 1854 [Monday November 21], SLV, MS Box1777/4, p. 127.

  34. Wright, C., ‘An Indelible Stain: Gifts of the Samuel Lazarus diary’, History Australia, Vol. 6, No. 26, p. 45.

  35. Pasley letter to father, 27 June 1855, SLV, MS
Box 94/4.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Pasley letter to father, 27 June 1855, SLV, MS Box 94/4.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Assistant Colonial Secretary Moore on behalf of Hotham to Rede, 1 December 1854, VPRS 3219/P Unit 2, 3430.

  41. Gold, p. 37.

  42. Lynch, p. 28.

  43. Samuel Lazarus diary, September 24 1853-21 January 1855; Saturday, 2 December 1854 [Monday November 21] pp. 128-129, SLV, MS Box 1777/4.

  44. The Melbourne Herald, 5 December 1854, p. 4.

  45. Carboni, p. 62.

  46. MacFarlane, p. 159.

  47. Carboni, p. 60.

  48. Author’s note: My source for much of this account is from Raffaello Carboni, page 60 onwards.

  49. Withers, p. 105.

  50. Robert Rede’s evidence, 10 January 1855, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 309.

  51. Ibid.

  52. Ibid., p. 310.

  53. Ibid.

  54. Samuel Huyghue diary, The Ballarat Riots 1854, SLV, MS 7725, Box 646/9, p. 21.

  55. Queen v. Joseph, p. 85.

  56. The Ballarat Times, 3 December 1854.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Carboni, p. 62. Author’s note: I have modified the words ‘they’ and ‘will’ and ‘victory’ for ‘zey’ and ‘vill’ for ‘wictory’ to fit in with the way Vern is documented to have pronounced those words.

  59. Gold, p. 37.

  60. Author’s note: Though this is what is claimed of McGill, it seems unlikely. He did have military experience, but there is no James McGill who appears on the enrolment lists at West Point in the period when he might have trained there.

  61. Gold, p. 37.

  62. Carboni, p. 63.

  63. Corfield, p.25.

  64. Ibid.

  65. Carboni, p. 66.

  66. Ibid.

  67. Ibid.

  68. Craig, p. 270.

  69. Author’s note: Variously referred to by Carboni as ‘the Council for the Defence’, ‘the Committee for the Defence’ and ‘the Council-of-War for the Defence’.

  70. Author’s note: I am aware of Lalor’s later statement that ‘in plain truth it [the Stockade] was nothing more than an enclosure to keep our men together, and was never erected with an eye to military defence’, but most other accounts are of the view that the Stockade really was exactly as I describe it here. It was in Lalor’s interest at the time to describe it as he did.

  71. Queen v. Joseph, p. 28.

  72. Withers, p. 103.

  73. Molony, p. 150.

  74. Carboni, p. 65.

  75. Commisioner Rede report to Chief Commissioner Wright, 2 December 1854, VPRS 1189/P Unit 92, J54/14462.

  76. Robert Rede’s evidence, ‘Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Goldfields of Victoria’, p. 310.