VISITOR GUIDE EUREKA CENTRE Welcome to the Eureka Centre Ballarat

Each year we welcome people from around the world who seek a meaningful connection to one of ’s most significant foundation stories – the . The Eureka Centre respectfully At the Eureka Centre, we explore the social history and cultural acknowledges the Wadawurrung People impact of the Victorian goldrush and honour the stories of the men as the Traditional Owners of the land on which and women who risked their lives in the fight for miners’ rights. the Eureka Centre stands. We pay our respects The Eureka Centre is located at the Eureka Stockade Memorial to Elders past, present and emerging. We Park, considered to be the site of the 1854 Eureka Stockade where acknowledge their continuing connections the rebellion took place. It is home to one of the country’s most to Country and Culture. compelling historic artefacts – the . The Eureka Stockade was a hastily erected wooden fort. It was just The Wadawurrung People are the Traditional as quickly dismantled following the attack by government forces on Owners of the land on which the Eureka 3 December 1854. Although, no tangible evidence of the structure Rebellion took place. While the Eureka Stockade remains, archaeological evidence was uncovered at the site between led to male suffrage in 1858 and informed the 1996 and 2012 that dates to the time of the Eureka Stockade. social reforms that followed, it was over 100 The Eureka Stockade Memorial Park is a place to contemplate the years until Australia’s First Nations People legacy and honour those involved in Eureka. People visit the Eureka were able to exercise the right to vote. Centre for many reasons. Some are descendants of those involved in the battle; others come to reflect on Eureka’s impact on Australian democracy and culture. Many people have strong feelings about Eureka and there are differing interpretations of both its history and legacy. We recognise the value of diverse opinions and are here to help guide visitors through the Eureka story and site. The battle was swift and deadly The battle at Eureka, known as the The Eureka Story – it was over within 20 minutes. Eureka Stockade, resulted in an Six soldiers and 22 rebels were investigation into the administration of registered as casualties. The exact the goldfields, called a Commission of Why did you disregard our memorials and death toll remains a subject of Enquiry. This enquiry recommended “ debate but has been estimated as the abolition of the despised monthly entreaties…until the people, sickened by hope being as high as 60. There was a licence. In 1855 the miners won the heavy military presence in the town right to vote and further democratic deferred, and maddened by continued and immediately after the battle and more reforms followed. As wrote increased acts of oppression, were driven to people may have died during this after his 1895 visit to Ballarat, the time. Those who survived either fled Eureka Stockade ‘is another instance take up arms in self-defence? and went into hiding or were arrested. of a victory won by a lost battle’. CLARA SEEKAMP 13 rebels were tried for treason, 12 The Ballarat Times, 1 January 1855. were acquitted and charges against one were dropped.

The battle of the Eureka Stockade Tensions continued to rise as the has an enduring place in the protesters felt the government was Australian consciousness and is ignoring their demands. Finally, heralded by many as the birth of the miners and their allies met and democracy in Australia. agreed to resist the authorities by building a timber stockade at a The announcement of the verdict In 1854, gold miners and their “ strategic position on the Eureka Lead, supporters protested what they of the jury was received with the in the heart of the gold mining area of saw as unjust regulations and Ballarat East and with a clear view of most vociferous demonstration law enforcement imposed by the the road from . colonial government, including the of applause… Joseph was prohibitively expensive Gold License. Before dawn on 3 December 1854, immediately surrounded Unrest built for months across the 276 soldiers and police marched from central Victorian goldfields, but the Government Camp in the centre by hundreds of friends who especially in the busy goldrush of Ballarat, to confront the rebels. welcomed him with the most settlements of and Ballarat. Only 120 people were at the stockade lively manifestations of joy. They were angry at the restrictive when the soldiers and police arrived JOHN rules around mining, land ownership as they were not expecting an attack ‘Friday, 23rd February 1855’ and the right to vote. on a Sunday morning. JOSEPH , Melbourne, 24 February 1855. 1854 key dates 11 NovEMBER The Ballarat Reform League Charter is adopted, listing demands for reform, including representation in parliament.

27 NovEMBER Lieutenant Governor rejects the Reform League Charter, My endeavour shall be to act honestly, leading to anger amongst its advocates. and for the good“ of the people. SIR CHARLES HOTHAM KCB 29 NovEMBER ‘Bring Your License’ meeting of 10,000 Lieutenant Governor of . gold miners at Bakery Hill. The Eureka Flag Speaking on 16 August 1854, as quoted in ‘Sir Charles Hotham’s is unfurled for the first time. Reception at ’, The Argus, Melbourne, 17 August 1854.

30 NovEMBER The largest ever gold licence hunt, known as the ‘Digger Hunt’ is launched by authorities.

3 DECEMBER Troopers attack the stockade at dawn on a Sunday – the Christian day of worship. The timing of the attack outrages the community. 1855 FEBRUARY 13 rebels are charged with treason. None are found guilty. Whatever may“ have been the MARCH The Goldfields Commission object of our rulers in adopting the line recommends the abolition of the of policy they have pursued, the result has gold licence and its replacement with a more affordable Miner’s Right. been deplorable, and such, I hope, 1856 as a civilised people will never spring , Leader of the Eureka again have to witness. Rebellion, and John Humffray, PETER LALOR Secretary of the Ballarat Reform Leader of the Eureka rebels. League are elected to the ‘The Ballarat Rebellion’, The Age, Melbourne, 19 April 1855. Legislative Assembly of Victoria. The Eureka FLAG The Eureka Centre is home to the in height and 4 metres in width. It is Eureka Flag, on loan from the Art made of cotton and wool. The flag Gallery of Ballarat. The flag was known has missing sections that were cut to the Eureka rebels as the Australian out as souvenirs. Occasionally these Flag, though it is catalogued as the fragments reappear, and many are held ‘Flag of the Southern Cross’. It was in museum collections. first raised at a Ballarat Reform League In 1973 the Art Gallery of Ballarat meeting on the 29 November 1854 at received a grant to repair and display Bakery Hill. The flag’s design features the Eureka Flag. Ballarat seamstress a white cross with five stars on a blue Val D’Angri led the conservation effort. background, inspired by the Southern Prime Minister unveiled Cross constellation. the flag on the 3 December 1973. He The history of the design and used the launch as an opportunity to making of the Eureka Flag is a position the Eureka story as central to source of passionate debate. Evidence Australia’s national identity. In 2011, points to the flag being designed by the flag was treated for a second time Canadian miner and Eureka rebel, in accordance with contemporary . A popular view, supported conservation standards. The flag was by oral histories, is that it was then installed in a purpose-built case at sewn by three women, Anne the Eureka Centre. Duke, Anastasia Hayes and Illustration of the ‘Flag of the Southern Cross (Eureka Flag)’, 1854. The appropriation of the Anastasia Withers. There is Collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Eureka Flag by groups another theory that it was representing divergent made by professional ideologies has a long tentmakers. history. The flag has a strong It is believed that association with the trade police trooper John King union movement, but in recent souvenired the flag after times has been adopted as an [I call] on all my fellow-diggers, the attack on the Eureka expression of political, subcultural irrespective of nationality,“ religion, Stockade. In the 1890s, or personal identity by many King’s family loaned the individuals and groups. The and colour, to salute the “Southern Cross” flag to the Art Gallery different ways in which the flag as the refuge of all the oppressed from of Ballarat and his has been embraced is a reminder descendants donated of Eureka’s enduring resonance. all countries on earth. it in 2001. The flag measures 2.6 metres ANASTASIA HAYES The Eureka Stockade, 1855 PETER LALOR CAPTAIN HENRY WISE EUREKA STOCKADE MEMORIAL PARK

The Eureka Stockade The 1884 monument remains Memorial Park is the site the centrepiece of the park, of the Eureka Lead goldfield, though other commemorative where the Eureka Stockade and interpretative elements have was constructed and defended been added over the years. A by protesting miners. Today walk through the park is a richly it is the focal point for layered experience. the commemoration and LAKE BLUE ATLAS THE The park features two distinct interpretation of the Eureka story. PENHALLURIAK CEDAR PLAYGROUND landscapes. The heritage In 1869 Ballarat East Council landscape to the south and Lake Penhalluriak has One of the most The playground was decided to mark the site of the east of the lake features its origins as a mining significant trees in the built in 2012 to reflect Eureka Stockade. The Victorian significant trees, monuments ‘sludge pond’ at the park is the Blue Atlas the story of the Eureka Government formally recognised and recreational features. Eureka Lead. It was Cedar (Cedrus atlantica Stockade. The nearby it as a reserve in 1870. In The landscape to the west expanded as part of an f. glauca) which is rotunda, barbeques 1884 a committee formed presents local plant species that employment relief estimated to be 140 and pool make the to commission a monument flourished prior to colonisation. program in 1915. years old. It is believed park a popular open marking the rebellion’s 30th The lake is named after to have been planted in space in Ballarat. The Eureka Stockade Memorial anniversary. Eureka veterans Frank Penhalluriak, 1891 when Ballarat East Park is on the Victorian Heritage were invited to determine exactly Ballarat East Mayor Council began making Register and was added to the where the stockade stood. Due 1911-12. improvements to the park. National Heritage List on to continuous mining at the 3 December 2004 – the Eureka Lead since 1854, it was 150th anniversary of difficult for the veterans to agree the rebellion. on the exact location. Following some debate, a consensus was The diggers did not take up arms, properly speaking, reached, though speculation against the government, but“ to defend themselves against about the exact site of the Eureka Stockade continues the bayonets, bullets, and swords of the insolent officials to this day. in their unconstitutional attack. JOHN HUMFFRAY ‘The Ballaarat delegates, and their interview with his excellency Sir Charles Hotham’, 1854, as quoted in Raffaello Carboni, The Eureka Stockade, 1855. MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS

EUREKA STOCKADE PATHWAY OF EUREKA PIKEMAN’S BRL EUREKA MONUMENT REMEMBRANCE CIRCLE DOG PLAQUES HALL The Eureka Stockade The Pathway of This interpretative The Pikeman’s Dog These plaques were The construction of Monument was built in Remembrance was sculpture was honours the Irish commissioned in 2008 a brick hall began 1884 by Rowsell and established in 2013 to commissioned in 2004 contribution to Eureka. by the Ballarat Reform in 1926. The Helen Sons to a design by H.A. recognise the Eureka to mark the 150th A sculpture of a loyal League Inc. to identify McKay Memorial Gates King. The monument fallen. In 2020 it was anniversary of the terrier named Wee significant Eureka- were added in 1953 is constructed from further developed by the Eureka Rebellion. It Jock, who refused to related sites across to commemorate a Victorian bluestone and and features 20 steel panels leave his dead master, Victoria. Two additional founding member of the monolith is of Stawell Eureka Australia Inc. depicting aspects of the was commissioned in plaques are in Ballarat the Eureka Stockade freestone sourced from with 35 plaques Eureka story arranged the 1990s. In 2012 it at Bakery Hill and the Progress Association. the honouring those known in the categories of: was incorporated into corner of Main Road and Ballarat East Gariwerd National Park. to have died due to Authority, Miners, a larger monument. Callow Street – the site Neighbourhood House The cannons were the battle. The project Attack, Result. The 22 golden pikes of the former Star Hotel, presents a program of supplied by the Victorian received diplomatic Artist: Dr Anton Hasell. represent those rebels which is where the community activities Defence Department for support from Canada, whose deaths were Ballarat Reform League in the hall: ornamental display but Germany, , Russia registered following Charter was written. www.ballarateastnh.org.au were not used in the and the United Kingdom. the battle. For hall hire Eureka battle. The The planting (Poa Artists: Charles Smith and enquiries email: memorial gates were labillardierii) along the Joan Walsh-Smith. [email protected] erected in 1924. path traces a segment of the Eureka Lead. 6 2. BAKERY HILL The Eureka Flag and plaque at Bakery Hill 5 1. ST ALIPIUS recognise the ‘monster CATHOLIC CHURCH meeting’ of 29 November 3. BALLARAT A slab church was built at 1854 where the flag was TRADES HALL this site in 1853. Father first flown. The actual Ballarat Trades Hall opened Smyth, St. Alipius’ priest, location of the meeting is in 1888 and is in the vicinity of the former Government 4 appealed for a peaceful designated with a marker resolution to the miners’ at the rear of the nearby Camp. It is the second oldest BALLARAT’S trades hall in Australia. The 3 protests. Smyth reputedly St Paul’s Church. EUREKA hid rebel leader Peter Lalor Eureka Stockade inspired after he was injured. The the union movement’s HERITAGE current bluestone church adoption of the Eureka Flag that stands on this site was as its principal symbol. The Eureka Centre at opened in 1874. 2 the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park is the starting point for experiencing the Eureka story. Continue your 5. PETER Eureka journey by LALOR STATUE This bronze sculpture by visiting other significant 4. ALFRED sites and monuments British artist T. Nelson 6. BALLARAT 1 around Ballarat. DEAKIN PLACE MacLean was presented OLD CEMETERY This site is located on part to the city in 1893 by This is the resting place of the former Government Ballarat civic leader, of both the rebels and the Camp where troopers and James Oddie. It includes government forces involved militia marched to the four relief panels in the Eureka Stockade. The Eureka Stockade on 3 depicting Peter Lalor’s Diggers’ Monument was December 1854. The Art involvement at the Eureka donated by sculptor James Gallery of Ballarat, built Stockade and his career Leggatt in 1856, while the here in 1890, has an as a Victorian Member of memorial for the soldiers extraordinary art collection Parliament. was installed by the including representations of colonial government. Eureka and the goldfields. EUREKA FURTHER AFIELD

Old Melbourne Gaol Public Record The jail where Eureka Melbourne’s Government Office Victoria rebels arrested for treason House, 1854 to 1876. & State Library Opening Hours were held before trial. Now home to the of Victoria Daily 10am to 5pm Swedish Church Custodians of important Parliament House, Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day and Scandinavian Eureka records. Please call and book a guided tour for groups of 10 or more. Melbourne Community Centre. The seat of political Tenakill House Café hours 10am to 3.30pm daily power in the Colony of Melbourne Raheen, Abbeyleix, Co. Ballarat Research Hub at Eureka (BRHAE) Victoria. Miners’ rights General Cemetery Laois, Ireland. Hours 10am to 4.30pm (Monday to Thursday) activists Peter Lalor and Eureka graves, including The birthplace of BRHAE presents the combined resources and services of the Public Record Office John Humffray were the Hotham Monument Peter Lalor. Victoria’s Ballarat Archives Centre, Ballarat and District Genealogical Society and the elected to serve in 1856. and Peter Lalor’s Grave. City of Ballarat’s Australiana Research Collection. Location BIRTH COUNTRIES OF THOSE 102 Stawell Street South WHO WERE INVOLVED IN EUREKA Ballarat Central, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3350 Carpark entrance from Stawell Street Public Transport Norway Regular regional trains operate between Melbourne and Ballarat. The Netherlands Finland Russia Scotland Sweden Route 15 Bus travels between the Eureka Centre and Ballarat Station. Canada Ireland Denmark England Poland Wales Switzerland Contact United States Germany Italy of America France Greece Visitor Information Portugal [email protected] Jamaica Spain +61 3 5333 0333 Education Program [email protected] Mauritius Australia eurekacentreballarat.com.au eurekacentreballarat

First edition, August 2020 Design & Illustration by Ben Sanders People arrived at the Victorian Goldfields from all over the world. This list has been compiled from ISBN 978-0-6487673-1-2 a range of sources and may not be a definitive reflection of the different origins of those involved.