EUREKA STOCKADE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7301, 3 December 1910, Page 13

EUREKA STOCKADE

A HISTORIC INCIDENT

DIGGERS AND MILITARY IN COLLISION

(By "Old Identity.") A brief explanation of this "one solidary .rod page in the history of Victoria may bo of interest on this tho 56th anniversary of its occurrence. .Soon after tho discovery of the goldfields a law was passed prohibiting tho digging of gold wept under certain rules and provisos, including a license tax of 30s per month. Commissioners with large powers wore appointed to enforce the provisions -nf the Act; and as there were many who dodged the fee it was necessary to keep u continual watch over the diggers. Great indignation was at ono time caused by an attempt to extort a double license foe from the diggers. But tho moro immediate and particular cause jof tho outbreak at Ballarat was tho circumstances attending a board of inquiry upon a ticket-Oi-lcavo man, ono Bentley. A man named Scobio, was killed near Bentley's hotel, and Bentley was brought to justice. On his first trial ho was declared -to havo come through tho investigation without a stain on his character, tho case being as clear as day. But the digging population, exasperated at tho result of the trial, decided to Becuro Bentley and deliver him over again to justice. Tho house was Immediately surrounded, but Bentley, warned of the storm, escaped on horseback. The hotel was fired and burnt to the ground before the multitude could bo dispersed. Three men were arrested mid .sentenced to short terms, but meanwhile Bentley was rc-tried, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to three ;-cars on tho roads. -Reinforcements of horse and foot police were concentrated about this time tho Ballarat camp from the neighbouring fields, together with detachments uf tho 12th and 40th Regiments of the Line. On November 28tU the police were pelted, and tho military entering from Melbourne by tho Eureka, were attacked by the diggers. Several soldiers were wounded, and a -drummer boy was ihofc in -the thigh. ENT m PETER LABOR. At a monster meeting, held at Bakery EfilU on November 29th, Peter Lalor, a young, handsome, stalwart i Irishman, whoso father was a follower of O'Connell, made hia first appearance as an orator of tho Reform League. Some 12,000 men, it is said, were present at the meeting. A platform was erected, and

on a flagstaff was hung tho insurgent fl a g_-the Southern Cross; tho flog had n Blue ground; on which in silver the four principal stare of the constellation Ivor© shown. Resolutions were carried pledging the meeting to defend any person arrested for having no license, and against the presence of the military. Bonfires were made of licenses, guns and revolvers were discharged, and league Tickets of membership were issued to llio crowd, 1 ' J THE LAST DIGGER HUNT. ! With incredible’want of prudence, the authorities chose the next day, November 30th, for an. irritating display of "digger hunting," Under the direction of Commissioners Redo and Johnston, and supported by the military, the police made the last raid of the kind im Victoria and, amidst the cries of "Joe," "Joe," (the nickname given to the ireapers), the diggers defended them■elves with, a running fire of stones and’ ijocasional gunshots. Tho troops took some prisoners and returned to camp,

miicl socm. after that the Southern Cross was again hoisted on Bakery Hill. The diggers t;wore mutual defence, implored the help of God, and then began to drill. The advocates of'moral force remained aloof. Lalor liras appointed ■'commander-in-chief” of the Insurgents, and issued warrants and manifestoes. Vern, a Hanoverian, was next in command; Hayes, Edward Thonen (a t Prussian lemonade-seller), John Manning (a young Irishman), John Lynch, Lieutenant Ross (a ‘Canadian), Raffaello, Patrick Ourtain, Magill (a young American with some military experience), were all. given important charges. This was after a council meeting had been held, and the erection of a stockade for defence purposes had been decided upon. The turbulent spirits amongst the digging population flocked into the stockade and were drilled by the commanders of divisions. Firearms were procured whenever available. Pikes were manufactured by John Esmond—the first discoverer' of gold in Victoria —and others who could use the tools of a blacksmith. On the night of December Ist Commissioner Amos arrived at the camp ■with the information that the diggers , were occupying an entrenched camp at the Eureka in considerable force. Before daylight on Sunday, December 3rd, a force of 276 men of all arms, including a strong body of cavalry, mustered quietly and left camp for the purpose of attacking the stockade. At early dawn they reached the neighbourhood of the. position sought, and the advance files were fired at by a sentinel posted within the stockade. The order of attack was given, and tho detachment of tho 40th Regiment, led by Captain Thomas, the chief officer in . command, made a quick advance upon the stronghold of the insurgents, who, though surprised, were now ready to receive the soldiery. The attack was short, sharp, and decisive. After several volleys had been fired on both sides, the barrier of ropes, slabs, and overturned carta was crossed, and the defenders driven out, or into the shallow holes with which the place was spotted. The insurgents were driven from point to point, and retreated in disorder. Fourteen of their number were killed outright, eight were fatally wounded, and twelve were wounded and subsequently recovered. Altogether about 150 prisoners were taken. Of the troops three privates were killed and several wounded, one of whom died. Two officers were wounded, and one. Captain Wise, died. According to Lalox’s account, there were only about 120 men altogether in the stockade at the time of the attack. Lalor's left arm was shattered by a musket-ball, which, with two smaller bullets, lodged in his shoulder. He was rendered hors de combat from loss of blood, was assisted out of the enclosure • by a volunteer, and remained for about an hour hidden behind a pile of slabs. He then escaped into the bush, but was afterwards conveyed to Geelong in a dray by a man named Carroll, "Tommy” Marks acting as nurse during the journey. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS. Great changes have taken place in Ballarat since tho memorable 3rd December, 1554. A populous town now stands on the ground prospected by the pioneers of "the fifties,” and a splendid city has sprung up on tho west side of the Yarrowce, on country that not many years ago was covered by a dense bush. Many of the old colonists who took part in the stirring scenes of 185-S have long since departed from this mundane sphere. Comparatively few remain to tell the tale of the Eureka revolt. Peter Lalor, the insurgent chief, who, when the soldiers were advancing on Ballarat, swore in his fellow-diggers under the Southern Cross, has 'been dead for some years; Raffaello, Vern, Black, Ross, Esmond, Kennedy, and others who •were the life and soul of the insurrectionary movement, are also gone. Mr James Oddie, J.P., F.G.S., some time ago erected at a cost of .£2200 a statue of Lalor in Sturt street, 'Although re-

markable for his observance of all law and order, Mr Oddie, who lived .near Eureka at the time of the riots, spoke in strong terms of tho persecutions to which tho digsers were subjected prior to the stockade epoch. A man named Martin Cusack was olio of tho soldiers in the doth Regiment that did duty at the stockade. Cusack states that when the British soldiers were ordered to march on Ballarat and engage in battle with tho diggers, almost every man in each company displayed a (repugnance for the work, a£ it was reported among the troops at Melbourne and Geelong that tho diggers

were being hounded down and persecuted by the Government authorities, Robert Rede, subsequently better known ns "Colonel" Rede, was One of tho Goldfield Commissioners at Ballarat in 1851. The remains of the six soldiers who were killed are interred in the Ballarat old cemetery, the inscription on the monument marking the graves stating that "tho deceased fell dead, or had been fatally wounded, at the Eureka Stockade, in bravo devotion to duty, on Sunday, 3rd December, 1851, whilst attacking a band of aggrieved diggers in arms against what they regarded as a tyrannous Administration." Close by in tho same cemetery are the graves of the seventeen diggers who fell at the stockade. On the monument appears the following inscription: "Sacred to the memory of those who fell on the memorable 3rd December, 1834, in resisting the unconstitutional proceedings of the Victorian Government. This monument was presented by James Leggatt, Geelong, to the people of Bal-

ME JOHN SIiritONDS, OP WELLINGTON, Wiio was in tho' stockade when the troops and troopers mode tho i attack at daybreak. Ho was standing within a few yards of Peter Lalor, wnen ho was shot down in tho shoulder -with a musket bullet. > When the diggers ; were driven out of the stockade, he, with many others, took shelter in : tho workedotit diggers' claims and remained there some time, and then made his escape to Melbourne. .He afterwards took ship to New Zealand, and haa been principally, in Wellington since that time.

lorat, and by them erected on the 22nd March, 1836/* On on© of the faces of the stone appear the names of the deceased diggers. An octagonal monument has also been erected on the site occupied by the Eureka Stockade, and surmounting the structure are several cannons presented by the Victorian Defence Department. On a- bluestone cub© is the following inscription; "Eureka Stockade, Sunday morning, 3rd Decernber, 1854.” This monument, it may be added, was erected by public subscription and presented to the Town Council of Ballarat East, who are to maintain and look after it for all time.

• It may not bo generally known that the' family that took care of Peter Lalor at Geelong when he was wounded were "townies” of his; they had a grown-up daughter, whowas his principal nurse; nurse and patient* became attached to each other, and agreed to travel the remainder of life’s journey together, clinching their agreement at the altar. Although this account of the Ballarat riots is very incomplete it will give the people of the present day some idea o! the true state of affairs on the Victorian goldfields in the olden days, as many people think that the Ballarat rioters were a mob of rowdies who had no respect for law or order. The high positions that many of those men afterwards occupied in tho State of Victoria show that they were.gentlemen and men of groat ability.