Contents

The Australian rushes 4 Law and order on the goldfields 5 Maintaining law and order 6 Keeping gold safe 12 Problems with 14 The licence system 16 The 18 Chinese on the goldfields 26 Glossary 31 Index 32 Acknowledgements 32

Glossary words When a word is printed in bold, click on it to f ind its meaning. TheThe AustralianAustralian Law and order goldgold rushesrushes on the goldfields

With thousands of people arriving every day at new goldfields, it was important that some form of law In this book you can: n 2001, celebrated the 150th anniversary of I and order was maintained. At first, diggers organised • READ about the the official discovery of gold near Bathurst in New South their own forms of justice. Then the state governments different men employed Wales. On 12 February 1851, found five sent police and military officers to the goldfields to to maintain law and grains of gold in mud washed from Lewis Ponds Creek. take control. A Goldfields Commission was set up to order on the goldfields Gold was such a valuable and desired material that for administer the diggings. Miners’ licences were introduced • DISCOVER how gold a while, the whole country was caught up in ‘gold fever’. to pay for this system. was kept safe Men left their jobs, homes and families to rush to the The licence system was very unpopular and diggers • LEARN about some goldfields in and . The fever refused to pay. On many goldfields there were violent of the bushrangers spread to Queensland, and then finally to all the colonies protests. The most significant was the Eureka Rebellion who terrorised diggers, of Australia. Within 10 years, the population had more at in December 1854. robbing them of their than doubled, as eager gold diggers from Europe, America Some diggers also protested violently against hard-won wealth and Asia sailed to Australia in the hope of making their Chinese on the goldfields. They did not like the fact • READ about the fortune. Australia was never the same again. that they dressed and behaved differently to them. characters and events New towns and cities grew quickly with the increase Mostly, they did not like their success. Chinese camps of the Eureka Rebellion in population. More farming land was taken up to feed were attacked, shops and businesses burnt down and • FIND OUT why this the diggers and their families. New industries developed Chinese diggers murdered. rebellion is often to provide them with building materials, furniture, described as Australia’s clothes and food, and equipment for the mines. But gold first republican protest did not bring prosperity for all. As settlement spread, • READ about the Chinese more and more Aboriginal people were forced off their goldminers and the traditional lands. difficulties they faced. Law and Order on the Goldfields is one in a series of six books that celebrates 150 years of gold in Australia, from the excitement of its official discovery in 1851, to the large scale mines of today. Each book looks at how the discovery of those tiny grains of gold changed Australia forever. Police arrive at the Eagle Hawk  diggings in New South Wales

4 5 Curriculum Resource Pack: The © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Maintaining Gold licences Soon after gold was first discovered in New South law and order Wales in 1851, the government sent police and military officers to the goldfields to maintain law and order. They also set up a Goldfields Commission to settle disputes. The costs of doing so were met by the This gold licence was taken When diggers opened up new goldfields they had introduction of gold licences. out by Aeneas MacDonnell to organise law and order themselves. The nearest in March 1853 police station was usually a long way away Costs of licences and there were no courts, judges or jails. Diggers in New South Wales and Victoria had to pay Most people were so keen to make Many of the diggers 30 shillings a month for a licence. This allowed them their fortune they had no time to be used guns, rifles and to dig for gold in a specific area of ground. At the end Golden stories pistols to protect disorderly. However, the uncertainty of of each month they had to pay another 30 shillings life on the goldfields meant that some themselves. This also Sarah Davenport’s licence led to more violence and get another licence. It was not just miners GSarah Davenport went to the turned to crime. In 1852, a journalist on who required a licence. Anyone who worked on diggings in Victoria the Victorian diggings wrote: a goldfield needed one as well. with her husband and family in the At first, the colonies hoped that the expense early 1850s. She later wrote in her en are robbed almost every night; tents diary how she had avoided a fine for not M of a licence would discourage people from are cut open; and on the road to town some having her own licence when troopers taking up goldmining. When this did not very horrible outrages have been committed … found her panning for gold in a creek: work, the governments kept the tax and used Now we have to sleep with loaded pistols under I said, ‘my husband has got a licence and the the money to pay for the costs of managing Parson made us one, he will be here soon.’ our pillows … On the night before I left the the goldfields. [The trooper replied] ‘You must have one.’ diggings a man was shot at in an adjoining These expenses were high because officials I said, ‘the parson made us one are you going tent, and I passed half the night in pursuit of to divide us?’ Mr Street was one of them, had to be appointed to each field to sell licences the rascal. he rode off laughing and the and make regular checks to see that diggers had troopers followed him. them. As diggers worked all day in wet, muddy Diggers made their own rules Court reports conditions, they could easily Law-abiding citizens organised unofficial courts to Details of criminal trials were lose or damage their prosecute these criminals. When a man nicknamed published in the newspapers. licences. But no On the same day Edward ‘Mount Cole Billy’ was caught stealing horses on the excuses were accepted, Butcher’s Everyone on the Geohegan was charged licence goldfields needed Mount William diggings in Victoria, he was brought with stealing a gun, others and if diggers could a licence, even before the local diggers’ committee. Found guilty, were being tried for stealing not produce them they the shopkeepers. money, clothes, nuggets, he was tied to a tree and given 50 lashes. On other were arrested and fined. This is a licence tobacco, alcohol and a watch. goldfields, diggers made fun of thieves before chasing for a butcher them away. A favourite punishment was to strip the on the Ballarat diggings. offenders, cover them with wet tar and stick feathers on them. 6 7 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The Gold Commissioner The Native Police A Gold Commissioner was appointed to every goldfield. The first police on the goldfields were the Native Police. Helped by a number of assistants, his main job was to These were Aboriginal men who were paid three pence manage the licence system. The Commissioner set up ($1.86) a day to help maintain law and order. Most had camp away from the diggings, usually on raised ground been forced off their lands by British settlers. They had no so he could see over the field. other way of supporting themselves and their families. In 1842, the first Native Police forces were set up in (now Victoria), and in New South Wales in Native Police were issued 1848. Both were well established by the time of the gold with special uniforms rushes. Queensland set up its police force when it became with buttons like this a separate colony in 1859.

Skilled bush trackers Aboriginal men were valued as police because they had a much better understanding of the bush than Europeans. They were extremely skilled trackers and this was The licence tent important when trying This sketch is to find thieves and other Buying the licence by the goldfields criminals. Bushrangers The licence tent had a flagpole outside with the British flag, artist, S.T.Gill. were particularly clever the , flying. As everyone on the diggings had to Diggers line up to buy their at avoiding the police, buy a new licence each month, there were often long queues licences at Forrest holding up Gold Escorts of men waiting in line. In the heat of summer or the winter Creek, Victoria. and diggers and escaping rains, it could be particularly unpleasant. This made the with thousands of pounds diggers even more resentful of the licence system. worth of gold. As well as selling licences, the Commissioners would: • settle disputes about claims • try to prevent sly grog selling Native Police • prosecute criminals These men were described • provide a Gold Escort service to collect gold from as ‘the best Native Mounted Police detachment’ when diggers and transport it safely to the nearest city. this photograph was taken in Security at the Gold Commissioner’s camp was very Queensland in 1870. important. On well-established goldfields it was fenced all the way around with sentries patrolling day and night. 8 9 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The Gold Police Golden stories There were not enough Native Police to patrol all the goldfields. New South Wales and Victoria CaptainG Thunderbolt’s real name both formed special forces of Gold Police and was Frederick Ward. An escaped prisoner in the 1860s, he robbed tried to persuade men to join. travellers in the New England region As most able men hoped to make their and around Bourke, New South Wales. fortune for gold, it was hard to Captain Thunderbolt was known for his find good men. Those most interested were excellent horsemanship and gentlemanly men whose age or illness made them unsuited behaviour. Where possible, he tried to to digging, or who had failed at digging and avoid violence. He evaded the law for seven years until in 1870, he was spotted were desperate for work. As a result, the Gold by Constable Alexander Walker outside Police were not particularly hard-working, Uralla. On 25 May, Ward was shot reliable or honest. Not many had a real interest and killed. He was later in the job. In 1852 at Sofala in New South Wales, buried in Uralla all the men in one detachment had to be sacked Cemetery. for drinking alcohol on the job. This meant there were even less police available. The 40th Regiment The Victorian Government looked overseas, and in 1853, recruited volunteers Dressed as soldiers of the 40th Regiment, these men from the English police force. At the end The military are re-enacting a formal of 1853, Inspector Samuel Freeman, three The difficulty of finding enough police to patrol the salute at Sovereign Hill in sergeants and 50 constables from the goldfields meant that the army was also called in to help. Ballarat, Victoria. London Metropolitan Police arrived in the Army officers and soldiers who had retired to colony and were sent to the diggings. were brought to the Victorian goldfields to protect the government camps. Paid only two shillings and sixpence What is it The Mounted Police a day, they were not particularly effective. Most were over worth now? As well as Gold Police there were Mounted 50 years old, and many had a problem with drinking Two shillings Police who patrolled the main highways on too much alcohol. and sixpence horseback. This was particularly important would buy as much as $15.50 would today. in dealing with bushrangers who regularly The British 40th Regiment Since the average wage held up diggers and other travellers on their The Victorian Government also asked for more British for workers was between way to and from the goldfields. troops to be sent to help keep law and order. At the time, £1 and £2 a week, the retired soldiers were very there were no Australian military forces. In October 1852, poorly paid. 170 men of the 40th Regiment arrived in and formed a Gold Escort to protect gold shipments from This is Constable Alexander Walker the diggings to Melbourne. Two years later, members of who captured the this Regiment crushed the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, known as Captain Thunderbolt Victoria. 10 11 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Keeping gold safe Sending gold to the city

The Gold Commissioner Most of the gold found by diggers was like a fine dust. To send their gold for safekeeping to Melbourne, Once they had dried it out, usually by warming it , or , diggers first stood A gold pouch over a fire, they put it in a matchbox for safekeeping. Golden stories in line at the Gold Commissioner’s Tent. Handing These matchboxes were quite large. Filled to the top This pouch came from the their gold to the Commissioner, it was then weighed and the Truron goldfields in New they could hold between eight and 14 ounces (226 to A safe hiding place GEllen Clacy came to the amount carefully written down on a numbered receipt. The South Wales. You can still 396 grams) of gold. Victorian diggings in 1852 with gold was put into a pouch, which was sealed with wax with see some of the red wax, her brother. She kept house in the receipt tied to it. A copy of the receipt was given to each which was used to seal the pouch shut. Hiding places their tent and later wrote about their digger. When they went to the city, they handed this receipt to experiences. One day they returned Diggers were always anxious about keeping their officials at the Treasury and got back their gold. home to find everything turned hard-won gold safe from thieves. When they had upside down. Robbers had been too much gold to carry about in their pockets, they looking for their gold. Fortunately, The Gold Escort buried it under their tent or hid it in another secret Ellen had taken the precaution of The diggers’ pouches of gold were stored at the place. However, as most diggers did the same thing, sewing her brother’s gold finds Commissioner’s Tent in large iron boxes. When those wanting to steal the gold knew where to start into the lining of her dress. the Gold Escort arrived, these boxes were loaded looking! Some goldmining groups left one person onto the carriages which travelled regularly behind as tent keeper to protect their finds. Others between the goldfields and major towns. These chained up a ferocious guard dog in front of the tent. Escorts transported huge amounts of gold. In Instead of trying to 1852, over nine and a half tonnes of gold were find safe hiding places, sent from the Victorian diggings to Adelaide. diggers could hand over their gold to the Gold Highway thieves Gold scales and metal tray Commissioner. Diggers The regular gold transports attracted the attention of highway These gold scales were used in Bathurst, New South paid one per cent of thieves called bushrangers. Although every effort was made their gold’s worth to Wales. The small pieces of to protect the gold, there were no guarantees that it would metal are weights used to have it taken to the be delivered safely. If the Escort was held up and robbed, calculate the exact amount nearest major city. the owners of the gold lost the lot. of gold. The metal tray was used to tip the gold into a pouch.

A good day’s work A box for carrying gold These diggers are admiring their Because gold was so valuable, it was transported finds at the end of in these specially made boxes. They were very the day. The next heavy and secured with tight locks to make sure problem was to no one broke them open and stole the contents. keep it safe from This box carried gold from Braidwood and Kiandra thieves. in New South Wales to the Sydney Mint. 12 13 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Problems with bushrangers Arrests, rewards and hangings In New South Wales and Victoria, officials increased their efforts to stop bushranging. In the 1860s, many Bushranging had been a problem since the early bushrangers were killed or arrested. In 1862, Frank days of European settlement in Australia. The first What is it Gardiner was arrested and sentenced to 32 years’ jail bushranger, an escaped convict, held up travellers worth now? for the robbery. In 1865, the government as early as 1790. Today introduced the Felon’s Apprehension Act, which meant With the success of the Victorian and New £14 000 would that known bushrangers could be shot on sight. buy as much as South Wales’ gold rushes, many more men became $1.75 million. Anyone hiding them could be arrested as well. bushrangers. Thousands of pounds of gold were being transported from towns like Sofala and Ballarat to shot dead Sydney and Melbourne every week. Ex-convicts, On 4 May 1865, Aboriginal trackers and Mounted criminals and those who had failed at the Police found Ben Hall’s bush camp, 30 kilometres diggings found that holding up these escorts out of Forbes. After keeping watch overnight, they was an easier way to make a fortune surrounded the camp and shot Ben Hall dead. than digging for it. In Victoria, the most Three days later they found his two partners. Gilbert famous bushranger was Frank Melville was killed and Dunn escaped, only to be captured Rewards who stole gold from travellers between Ben Hall’s gun a year later. Taken to trial in Sydney, he was sentenced Huge rewards were offered 1851 and 1854. for assistance in the capture Ben Hall put his name on the to death and hanged at Darlinghurst Jail in March 1866. of bushrangers. A £4000 breech or handle of this gun. reward would be equal to Hall was one of the most Ben Hall’s gang The arrested about $500 000 dollars today. successful in avoiding capture The 1860s was of all Australian bushrangers. Another notorious goldfields’ gang, the Clarke brothers, the worst period for His admirers boasted that was captured in 1867. Thomas and John Clarke had bushranging. In New he had never killed anyone been robbing people on the roads around Braidwood, during his many robberies. South Wales in 1862, New South Wales for over two years. They were tried, a gang including Ben Hall, sentenced to death and hanged at Darlinghurst Jail and John Gilbert on 27 June 1867. Reporting on the Clarke brothers, held up the gold escort at Eugowra, near a Sydney newspaper described the contrast between Forbes, and escaped with £14 000 of gold the brothers’: and banknotes. The following year, the gang, heepish country-boy looks … and their now headed by Hall, took over the town of s life of violence. Canowindra, outside Bathurst. The whole town was rounded up and forced to stay in the hotel. Ben Hall’s belt and (sheepish – shy) However, as the bushrangers treated their hostages Bushrangers were popular Postcard of ammunition pouch Captain Thunderbolt to as much food and drink as they wanted and put heroes and their activities The belt has been cut in half followed with great interest. on displays of target shooting for entertainment, by a bullet fired during his People even bought there were not too many objections! final shoot-out with police. postcards of bushrangers after they had been killed. 14 15 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The licence system Diggers refuse to pay for licences

To ensure that diggers, storekeepers, publicans As the gold rushes continued, and other goldfields’ workers had licences, the diggers hated the licence system Commissioner and his assistants carried out regular more and more. It seemed checks. These often took on the appearance of a hunt particularly unfair that everyone as mounted police and troopers chased diggers who had to pay this monthly tax were trying to slip away. whether they were successful or not. As soon as the police were spotted, people called Diggers’ protests against the system became increasingly violent. out ‘Joe! Joe!’ (the nickname for the police) warning S.T.Gill’s ‘Deep sinking’ diggers without licences to run away. Diggers Bakery Hill, Ballarat – 1853 A portable cell on the Protests at Sofala and disappeared down into mine shafts in the hope of Victorian goldfields In 1852 at Sofala in New South Wales, over 600 miners This is the area where the finding an escape tunnel, or ran away into the bush. first major protests were There were few jails. Portable refused to pay the gold licence fee. They held meetings, held in the lead up to the When diggers were caught without licences cells reinforced with iron rods Eureka Rebellion. they were often tied to a tree or chained together. provided a secure lock-up for smashed mining cradles and sent a deputation to the Then when the hunt was over they were taken prisoners. Gold Commissioner. In 1853, diggers at Bendigo refused back to the Government Camp. They had to pay to pay and wore red ribbons to show their protest against the system. a fine of £5, and if they did not have the money, Did you know? they had to stay in jail. Golden stories In May 1852, a newly Diggers’ anger grows at Ballarat discovered area of the Joe and Josephine The most famous rebellion was in 1854 at Ballarat in Ballarat diggings was ReturningG to his tent at the end of the named Eureka. This name Victoria. A combination of circumstances brought the is a Greek word meaning day, a digger saw a licence hunt starting. diggers’ frustrations to a point where they felt they had ‘I have found it’. Many He knew that his mate, Joe did not to act. This became known as the Eureka Rebellion. of the diggers who tried have a licence, and could not see The winter of 1854 was particularly hard in Victoria. their luck there were Irish. how he could avoid being caught: Over the next two years, Ballarat was a field where miners had to dig deep shafts Two of the police were marching straight into there were some rich the doorway … when to my surprise [they] were before finding any gold. This was slow and expensive, finds of gold on this field. confronted by a smart, genteel looking female. [They] and meant months could go by before they made any turned on their heels in search of more easy prey, money. The Italian miner, Rafaello Carboni, who would while I proceeded to introduce myself to my later take a leading role in the rebellion, described new-found sister … In the course of the Ballarat as ‘a ruinous field of hard labour’. The Ballarat evening, Joe intimated that he had resolved never to take out a licence, he should … miners were therefore slow in paying licence fees. Less continue to wear his new style of attire than half the diggers on the field had them. and that in future his name was The Victorian Government was also short of money to be Josephine. Artist S.T.Gill’s sketch ‘License inspected, Forrest Creek’ at this time. As a result, licence ‘hunts’ took place as often as twice a week to raise funds. This only made the Diggers run for cover, diving down holes or running Ballarat diggers more resentful of the Commissioners into the bush as the cry ‘Joe! Joe!’ rings out. (attire – clothing) and the government. 16 17 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The Eureka Rebellion Diggers burn down the Eureka Hotel The event that brought the diggers closer to rebellion Violence and arrests was the burning down of Bentley’s Eureka Hotel. By October 1854, people on the This happened on 17 October, when diggers organised Ballarat diggings were very angry about a meeting to protest the licence hunts. They also thought against the release of James the administration of the goldfields Bentley. The meeting was disorganised and even corrupt. was well organised and The men and women who sold ‘sly orderly. A committee grog’ paid bribes to the police so they was appointed to take could continue their illegal businesses. their complaints to the At the same time, diggers were Governor and money raised to cover expenses. constantly harassed about their licences. Artist Eugène von Then two things happened to show the corruption Guérard painted Old But when it was over, a of the goldfields’ administration. Ballarat as it was in the group of men decided to Summer of 1853–1854 On 7 October, a man called James Scobie was walking march to the hotel. Angry past the Eureka Hotel in Ballarat when he decided he This painting shows and out of control, they what the diggings smashed windows and wanted a drink. Even though it was very late and the hotel looked like immediately was closed, he insisted that he should be served. In a fight before the Eureka furniture, threw curtains with the hotel owner, James Bentley, Scobie was killed. uprising. Bakery Hill and carpets outside and lit Bentley was arrested but later found not guilty of murder. is on the left. On the fires inside. Soon the hotel, right, towards the Eureka riot The diggers were outraged. They claimed the only reason front of the painting, stables, bowling alley and Bentley was not charged with murder was because the a group of miners have auction rooms were alight. Swiss artist and miner, police magistrate was his friend. been rounded up and Charles Doudiet was in are being taken to the Diggers are arrested and jailed Ballarat during the rebellion Government Camp. and painted Eureka riot Diggers decide to take action The large tent belonged The police arrested the men responsible and eventually 17 October 1854. The A few days later, Irish diggers were further angered when to a circus. jailed three: Fletcher, McIntyre and Westerby. Once Eureka Hotel burns, while a Catholic priest’s servant was beaten up and wrongly angry miners confront again, the diggers protested and tried to persuade police and soldiers. arrested. Both incidents indicated to the frustrated diggers Governor Sir to release the men, and that the goldfields’ administration and police force were again they failed. Over the next few days, the diggers’ often corrupt and unjust, and they became determined anger increased until rebellion was inevitable. to do something about it.

7 October 10 October 12 October 17 October 22 October 11 November 23 November 23 November James Scobie is The Catholic priest’s Bentley is found Diggers burn down Over 10 000 diggers Ballarat Reform League The men arrested for Members of the murdered by James servant is badly not guilty. Eureka Hotel. meet on Bakery Hill proposals are adopted. burning down the hotel Ballarat Reform League 1854 Bentley at the Eureka beaten and wrongly Three men are later to protest. are tried and convicted. demand their release. Hotel. Bentley is arrested. arrested. arrested. 18 19 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Events leading to the diggers’ The battle uprising at Bakery Hill On 2 December, some miners left the stockade to get food and ammunition. Only about Government calls for military help 200 remained. At dawn on 3 December, 27 November, 1854 the police and military attacked the Eureka Members of the Ballarat Reform League presented Stockade. Led by , the diggers put their demands to Governor Sir Charles Hotham. up a brave fight but it was all over in about Miner’s Right They were refused. Commissioner Rede, concerned that 10 minutes. Five soldiers were killed and 12 seriously wounded. Thirty diggers were killed or died angry diggers might march on the Government Camp, Proclamation Notice asked for police and military reinforcements. announcing the storming later from their wounds. Hundreds more were arrested. of the stockade Miners attack soldiers After the Eureka Rebellion 28 November On 4 December, the rebels were buried in a Royal Commission Report Miners attacked the military reinforcements as they passed common grave. The soldiers were buried separately. • the abolition of licences near the Eureka diggings. A drummer boy was killed and Miners’ Oath The next day, General Major Robert Nickle arrived two civilians injured. from Melbourne with 800 troops. Martial law was • exports of gold to be taxed instead We swear by the declared. About 130 diggers were brought to trial. • the Miner’s Right to be introduced. Diggers burn their licences Southern Cross Of these, 13 were sent to Melbourne for trial on At a cost of £1 a year, this secured claims 29 November To stand truly charges of high treason. The remaining diggers and entitled the owner to vote At Bakery Hill, a huge meeting of diggers was told that the by each other were released. • Crown Land to be opened up to small Governor had refused to release the prisoners accused of and fight to On 7 December, the Governor appointed a landholders setting fire to the Eureka Hotel. Some diggers burnt their defend our rights Royal Commission to look into the events of the • the Legislative Council to have eight licences in protest. The was flown for the first time. and liberties. past month. On 22 February 1855, the trial of representatives from the goldfields the 13 miners began. All were acquitted by juries • the Goldfields Commission to be abolished Diggers called to fight of Melbourne citizens who disapproved of the • the regulation of mining to be controlled by At 10 o’clock, 30 November, eight men were arrested during a government’s actions which had led to the rebellion. local courts made up of people elected by the licence hunt on the Ballarat diggings. Commissioner Rede quickly diggers. read the official Riot Act to the increasingly hostile crowd. Diggers Royal Commission report met again at Bakery Hill. The Irishman and Eureka digger, Peter On 27 March 1855, The Royal Commission handed Lalor called for volunteers to form companies of men prepared to down its report. fight. They set up camp at Eureka and built a stockade around it. The new Miner’s Right was introduced in May 1855. About 500 miners swore an oath to fight to defend Later that year, Peter Lalor and John Basson Humffray their rights. were elected to the Victorian Parliament.

27 November 28 November 29 November 30 November 30 November – 1 December 2 December The Governor refuses their Miners attack the military Diggers meet at Bakery A licence hunt on the Ballarat diggings Diggers set up camp Some diggers leave request. Commissioner reinforcements as they Hill. Some burn their meets with great opposition and eight at Eureka and begin the stockade to get 1854 Rede asks the government pass near the Eureka licences in protest. The men are arrested. Commissioner Rede building a stockade. food and ammunition. for police and military diggings. Eureka flag is flown for quickly reads the official Riot Act to About 200 remain. reinforcements. the first time. the increasingly hostile crowd. 20 21 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The Eureka Men of Eureka Stockade Governor Sir Charles Hotham A stockade is a fenced area. Hotham arrived from Britain in 1854 to take up the position Often stockades were built of . At the time, the colony was heavily to keep cattle or horses in debt and Hotham was ordered to ‘make the colony pay its safe overnight. They could way’. Against the advice of the Goldfields Commission, he be made from branches, ordered licence hunts twice a week. This was a major cause slabs of wood or anything of the Ballarat diggers increasing their protests. that came to hand. When the diggers began to build Robert Rede Governor a stockade at Eureka, they Sir Charles Hotham did not see it as a fort but Robert Rede was appointed Ballarat’s Gold Commissioner in as a place to meet, to drill Eureka Rebellion May 1854. Rede was at the Eureka Hotel when it was burnt down. He arrested some of the men involved and insisted and to resist the licence hunts. Only later did it become Charles Doudiet was an a fortress in which to defend themselves. eyewitness at Eureka and they be tried. He also enforced licence hunts. Robert Rede The Eureka Stockade covered about an acre. It was built drew what he saw in Eureka was one of the men who decided to attack the stockade. Slaughter, 3rd December. from slabs of wood that came from mines in the area. The soldiers are firing at John Basson Humffray A blacksmith worked in the centre of the stockade, making the Stockade where an simple weapons like pikes. enormous Eureka Flag flies A Welsh digger, he was one of the founders of the Ballarat above the diggers’ tents. Reform League. The League wanted a peaceful protest against The site for battle the licence system. It called for an end to the Goldfields It became a battlesite on 3 December 1854. As one local Commission and changes to legislation to give all men the man later wrote to his friend: vote. These requests were put to Governor Hotham who rejected them. I t was plain enough on Saturday evening a collision would occur, as the armed party had erected a barricade Peter Lalor on the Eureka … and we were not much taken by surprise Peter Lalor was an Irish mining engineer who worked on when this morning about half past four the troops filed the Ovens and Ballarat goldfields. During the Bakery Hill past. Immediately after the firing commenced, and did not protest, Lalor called for volunteers to fight for ‘liberty’. last over ten minutes, when the few who were collected He organised the defence, was badly wounded in the battle in the stockade … were either killed, dispersed, or taken and left for dead. A Catholic priest, Father Smyth, took him Peter Lalor prisoners … Thus ended, with the battle of Bakery Hill, to his home where Lalor’s arm was amputated. the rebellion of Ballarat.

Dawn, 3 December 4 December 5 December 7 December 22 February 27 March The police and military attack the The rebels are buried Martial law is declared. About The Governor The trial of the 13 diggers The Royal Commission Eureka Stockade. Five soldiers are in a common grave. 130 diggers are brought to appoints a Royal begins. All are acquitted. hands down its report. 1854 killed and 22 diggers. Many more The soldiers are buried trial. Thirteen are charged with 1854 Commission. are wounded. Over 100 diggers separately. high treason. The remaining are arrested. diggers are released. 22 23 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 The Eureka flag A rebel flag The Eureka flag was flown for the first time on Thursday In the years since Eureka, the Eureka or ‘Southern Cross’ 29 November. No one knows exactly who made it or flag has been used by many different groups as a symbol why. One story is that some diggers looked up at the of their protests against authority, and the government. stars and saw the Southern Cross shining brightly. They In 1888, The Bulletin recognised the importance of decided to have a flag made with this design. Another Eureka. As one journalist wrote, it was: story has the flag designed by a Canadian, Captain Ross, who was later killed during the fighting. t he day that Australia set her teeth in the face of the British Lion. Raising the flag Some people argued that the day The original flag is made of fine blue of the rebellion, 3 December, should wool with stars made from white lawn. become Australia’s national day. In the Different people, possibly the wives of 1890s, there was great unemployment the diggers involved, stitched it together. in Australia. The Eureka flag was flown The Italian gold digger and rebel leader, during the strikes as workers protested Rafaello Carboni, described raising the about their treatment by employers and flag for the first time: the government. T his maiden appearance of our The poet, wrote standard, in the midst of armed men, about these struggles in Freedom on the sturdy … gold-diggers of all languages Wallaby. He argued that should fly the Eureka flag to protest and colours, was a fascinating object to The Eureka flag is behold. There is no flag in old Europe half so beautiful still on display at against British rule: the Ballarat Fine … The flag is silk, blue ground, with a large silver cross, Art Gallery o we must fly a rebel flag similar to the one in our southern firmament; no device S As others did before us, of arms, but all exceedingly chaste and natural. And we must sing a rebel song, And join a rebel chorus … The British Union Jack They needn’t say the fault was ours The official government flag at this time was the British If blood should stain the wattle. Union Jack. To fly any other flag was to challenge the Australian icon, Blinky Bill, rights of the British to control Australia and Australians. When Australia suffered another proudly carries the flag In 1854, the Eureka flag was a symbol of the diggers’ fight major depression in the 1930s, the Eureka flag flew once This poster was against the government. When the soldiers overtook the again. Today, a replica flag flies on the original site of the produced for the stockade, John King, one of the troopers, pulled down the Eureka rebellion at Bakery Hill in Ballarat. In the 1990s, the Australian Republican flag. Small pieces were cut off as souvenirs of the battle. Australian Republican Movement adopted it as its flag. Movement. The flag then remained with the King family until it was given to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in 1895.

24 25 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Chinese on the goldfields Restricting the Chinese Miners’ concerns about the number of Chinese on the goldfields led governments in Victoria and New South From the early 1850s, Chinese diggers arrived Wales to attempt to restrict their arrival and activities. at the goldfields in large numbers, mostly from This was done by: What is it an area knows as Sze Yap in the province of • limiting the number of Chinese each ship could worth now? Canton. As news was sent back to their families land in the two colonies Today, £10 and friends, more and more came to try their • asking ship owners to pay £10 for every Chinese would buy as much as $1240. luck. To Europeans, they seemed to be arriving passenger arriving in New South Wales and Victoria at an alarming rate. In two years, the number of • making the Chinese pay a ‘protection fee’ of £1 a Chinese on the Ballarat diggings almost doubled year on the goldfields from 5000 in 1856 to 9000 in 1858. • forcing the Chinese to live in special villages apart from other miners. Why they were different To avoid these restrictions, Chinese diggers landed at Unlike most other nationalities, Chinese miners the seaside town of Robe in South Australia. They then stood out mainly because they dressed so had to travel hundreds of miles to the Victorian diggings differently. As a Danish digger described them: on foot or by coach. This journey took many weeks, and only added to their hardships. T hey wore huge hats, blue padded jackets, Artist Eugène von wide pantaloons, white socks, and thick rope Guérard painted the sole shoes, each carrying a long bamboo pole distinctive costume of the Chinese in 1854 over the shoulder with heavy baskets bouncing and jouncing on either end. Chinese diggers and their They also differed in the way they searched for gold. belongings are piled high on this Unlike most diggers who worked alone or in small coach as it heads groups, one to two hundred Chinese prospected to the Victorian together. They also lived and ate together, and rarely diggings had women living and working with them. Worst of all as far as the European diggers were concerned, they were very successful! Consequently, in the 30 years after Eureka, the most violent protests were against the hard-working Chinese. Chinese miners did not usually open up new mining areas. They patiently reworked old ones. Most understood how to carefully use and preserve water. These skills helped them work goldfields that Europeans had decided were too difficult. 26 27 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Violence at Lambing Flat Chinese in the Despite laws limiting the number Northern Territory of Chinese who could arrive in When gold was discovered Australia, European diggers in the Northern Territory in continued to resent those 1870, people thought that the already here. In Victoria, conditions were too harsh for angry diggers destroyed Europeans. In April 1874, 186 their camps and attacked Singaporean Chinese were them. Rarely were brought to Darwin to work these men arrested or as labourers in the mines. In convicted for what exchange for wages and their fares they had done. to Australia, they had to work The worst riots there for two years. At the end were at Lambing of this time, most stayed on to Gold scales, China, Flat (now Young) in work independently as prospectors. More Chinese joined 1850–1900 New South Wales. them, coming from Hong Kong, southern China and the On 30 June 1861, Hsi Chiang River region of Kwantung. over 2000 European diggers ‘No Chinese’ banner marched to Lambing Flat. They viciously attacked the Chinese camp, destroying their homes and possessions This banner was painted Pine Creek goldfields by diggers protesting These Chinese Gold was discovered at Pine Creek in 1871. But the and setting fire to their shops and businesses. With a against the Chinese at coins are from brass band playing and clutching bludgeons and pick Lambing Flat. With the a hoard of over isolation and harsh conditions of the goldfields meant handles, they chanted ‘no Chinese’. stars of the Southern 18 000 recently that few European diggers were willing to try their luck. Cross in the centre, found on the In 1879, there were eight times as many Chinese at miners were invited to No arrests ‘Roll Up’ to the cause diggings in work there. By 1888, there were 8000 Chinese miners These miners were not satisfied with simply destroying of ‘No Chinese’ on the Queensland at Pine Creek. goldfields. the camp. They rounded up about 1000 Chinese men and beat them and whipped them. Many were badly Tax on Chinese injured and an unknown number killed. Although Northern Territory Chinese never experienced the same they were breaking the law, not one of the European level of violent protests as those at the Victorian and miners was arrested. New South Wales goldfields. Even so, in 1888, the government introduced a £10 tax on Chinese entering the Territory. This led to fewer Chinese wanting to mine there. Many of the diggers already in the Territory returned to China. By the end of the 1800s, there were only 1000 Chinese left in the Territory and most of these had moved to Darwin.

28 29 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Chinese experiences Golden stories after the gold rushes Mei Quong Tart A Gfamous Chinese Australian was Like many of the people who rushed Mei Quong Tart. He came out to to Australia to seek their fortune, most Australia in 1859 to the Braidwood Chinese miners went home once the rushes goldfields in New South Wales. By the were over. Those who stayed often found time he was 18, his goldmine shares work as market gardeners, supplying their had made him a rich man. Moving to Sydney, he opened a number of tea shops region with fresh fruit and vegetables. which became very fashionable and successful. In Darwin, where almost half the Mei Quong Tart married a Scottish woman, non-Aboriginal population was Chinese – Margaret, and played an active role in Sydney they bought shops, set up laundries, and society. He was particularly concerned about later became teachers, lawyers, doctors the Chinese practice of opium smoking and and politicians. worked hard to have it abolished. In 1902, he was badly beaten by an intruder in his office and never really recovered, dying the following year.

Surcoat

Mei Quong Tart was thanked by the Chinese Emperor for his services to Australian Chinese and appointed a fifth rank civil official. He and his wife, Margaret, had robes made with the badge of his Margaret and Mei Quong Tart rank. This coat, called a surcoat, photographed in their robes was worn by Margaret. 30 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Glossary bribes money or favours given to ensure illegal behaviour was overlooked colonies the six British settlements of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia (including the Northern Territory) and Western Australia corrupt something that is done in a dishonest way Crown Land land that belongs to the government deputation a group of people asked to represent everyone’s interests detachment group drill training in precise military movements such as marching Europeans settlers from Europe. This term is often used to distinguish between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal (or European) Australians Gold Escort troopers who accompanied official shipments of gold Goldfields Commission people appointed to administer the goldfields high treason to behave in a criminal way against the government lashes a form of punishment; a swift strike with a whip lawn fine linen or cotton fabric martial law the military takes control when civil authority breaks down pikes a long metal pole with a dangerously sharp head £(pounds) currency introduced to Australia from Britain and used until 1966 when pounds, shillings and pence were replaced with dollars and cents prosecute to enforce the law against someone recruited people invited to join an organisation, e.g. army or police force Royal Commission special people appointed to report on a particular matter sentries soldiers keeping guard over people entering and leaving the camp sly grog alcohol sold illegally tar a dark, sticky substance that is very hard to remove trackers people skilled in following the tracks left by humans or animals in the bush Treasury a place where money and gold were deposited for safekeeping

31 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8 Index

A Aboriginal peoples 9, 15 G Gardiner, Frank 14, 15 N Native Police 9 Australian Republican Gilbert, John 14 Movement 25 Gill, S.T. 16, 17 P Pine Creek 29 Gold Commissioner 5, 8, 12, portable cells 16 B Bakery Hill 19, 20, 23, 25 13, 17, 23 Ballarat 5, 7, 11, 14, 17–26 Gold Escort 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 R Rede, Robert 20, 21, 23 Ballarat Reform League 20, 23 gold hiding places 12 Robe 27 Bathurst 13, 14 gold licence 5, 7, 16, 17, 18, Royal Commission 21, 23 Bendigo 17 20, 21, 23 Bentley, James 18, 19 Gold Police 10, 16 S Scobie, James 18 Bourke 10 Goldfields Commission 5, 7, sly grog 8, 18 Braidwood 13, 15 23 Sofala 10, 14, 17 British flag 8, 24 guns 6, 14 Sovereign Hill 11 British 40th Regiment 11 Sydney Mint 13 bushrangers 5, 9, 10, 13–15 H Hall, Ben 14, 15 bush trackers 9 Hotham, Sir Charles 19, 20, T Tart, Mei Quong and Margaret 21, 23 30 Canowindra 14 Humffray, John Bassoon 23 C thieves 6, 12, 13 Carboni, Raffaello 17, 24 Thunderbolt, Captain Chinese miners 5, 26–30 Kiandra 13 K (Frederick Ward) 10, 15 Clarke, Thomas and John 15 King, John 24 troopers 7 courts 6 L Lalor, Peter 20, 21, 23, 24 Uralla 10 D Darwin 29, 30 Lambing Flat (Young) 28 U Doudiet, Charles 19, 22 Lawson, Henry 25 licence hunts 16, 17, 20 V Von Guérard, Eugène 18, 26 E Eagle Hawk 5 Eugowra 14 M military 11, 20, 21 W Walker, Constable Alexander 10 Eureka flag 20, 22, 24, 25 Miner’s Right 21 Eureka Hotel 18, 19, 20 Mount Alexander 7 Eureka Rebellion, 5, 11, Mounted Police 10, 15 17–24 Eureka Stockade 20, 21, 22 Acknowledgements

The author and the publisher are grateful to the following for permission to Victoria; page 24 ‘The Eureka flag’ reproduced courtesy of the Collection: Ballarat reproduce copyright material: Fine Art Gallery; page 25 ‘Blinky Bill and the Eureka flag’ reproduced courtesy of The Australian Republican Movement; page 26 Eugène von Guérard, Chinese person, Cover: Re-enactment of a formal salute by soldiers of the 40th Regiment, Melbourne 1854 reproduced courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, Victoria, reproduced courtesy of The Sovereign South Wales; page 28 ‘Anti-Chinese banner’ reproduced courtesy of the Young Hill Museums Association. Historical Society Inc.; page 30 ‘Margaret and Quong Tart’ from Quong Tart: how Photos supplied by the Powerhouse Museum Collection except as follows: a foreigner succeeded in a British Community, compiled and edited by Margaret Tart, Page 5 Police at Eagle Hawk diggings reproduced courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State printed and published by W.M Maclardy “Ben Franklin” Printing Works, Sydney, Library of New South Wales; page 7 ‘Butcher’s licence, 1858’ reproduced courtesy of 1911. the Gold Museum, Ballarat; page 8 S.T.Gill, Diggers licensing Forrest Creek reproduced While every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge copyright the publishers courtesy of the National Library of Australia; page 9 ‘The best Native Mounted Police tender their apologies for any accidental infringement where copyright has proved detachment 1870’ reproduced courtesy of Collection: John Oxley Library, Brisbane; untraceable. page 10 ‘Constable Alexander Walker’ reproduced courtesy of State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Library (P1/1889); page 11 ‘Soldiers of the 40th Regiment’ The author would like to acknowledge the following sources of information: reproduced courtesy of The Sovereign Hill Museums Association; page 12 ‘A good Annear, Robyn, 1999, Nothing but gold: The diggers of 1852, Text Publishing, day’s work’ reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Australia; page 16 S.T.Gill, Melbourne License inspected, Forrest Creek, 1852, reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Bate, Weston, 1978, Lucky city: The first generation at Ballarat, 1851–1901, Melbourne Australia; page 17 Lithograph by F.W. Niven after S.T.Gill, ‘Deep sinking’ Bakery Hill, University Press, Melbourne Ballarat – 1853 reproduced courtesy of the Collection: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; page Blainey, Geoffrey, 1969, The rush that never ended: a history of Australian mining, 18 Eugène von Guérard, Old Ballarat as it was in the summer of 1853–1854 reproduced Melbourne University Press, Melbourne courtesy of the Collection: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; page 19 Charles Doudiet, Eureka riot 17 October 1854 reproduced courtesy of the Collection: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; The calculation used in this book to convert 1850s pounds to today’s dollars is only page 20 ‘Proclamation Notice’ reproduced courtesy of The Gold Museum, Ballarat; approximate as prices fluctuated wildly during the gold rushes. page 22 Charles Doudiet, Eureka slaughter, 3rd December reproduced courtesy of the Collection: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; page 23 Governor Sir Charles Hotham and Peter Lalor, reproduced courtesy of the La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Please visit the Powerhouse Museum at www.powerhousemuseum.com 32 Curriculum Resource Pack: The Australian Gold Rushes © Powerhouse Museum/Macmillan Publishers Australia 2012 ISBN 978 1 4202 9789 8