In late August 1851, the gold rush commenced with the discovery of gold in Ballarat, Victoria. Individuals from various countries arrived in Australia with hopes of finding gold. The Eureka stockade on the Ballarat goldfields did not arise from a singular issue. In Victoria, tension between miners and the government arose due to deplorable living and working conditions, worsened by an inadequate gold licensing system. Specific incidents in Ballarat triggered a surge of hostility and violence between miners and authorities.
The event known as the Eureka stockade refers to a challenging journey to the goldfields where miners faced dreadful conditions, leaving them dissatisfied. While traveling via walking, horse and cart, or peculiar velocipedes, many miners were robbed by ruthless bushrangers. The goldfields were overcrowded and likened to a disease-plagued city on June 2, 1851, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
At the goldfields, miners had to endure unpredictable weather, lack of food and water supplies, difficulties in mining, and residing in shabby tents. Theft, drunken fights, murder incidents occurred frequently necessitating self-defense weapons for miners. Concerns about claim-jumpers resulted in six-day workweeks with Sunday being their only day of rest.
The unsanitary conditions caused death and diseases such as Typhoid fever, dysentery, and scurvy. However, these dire situations remained unresolved leading to escalating conflicts between miners and the government.
The miners faced additional challenges with the gold licensing system. Each month, they were required to pay 30 shillings in advance to renew their licenses, regardless of whether they discovered gold or not. These licenses only granted them the privilege to mine in a restricted area. Even if the miners left their licenses in their tents due to the dirty conditions in the mines, they were still subject to arrest. Troopers were dispatched to apprehend those miners who refused to purchase licenses. Consequently, Governor Hotham increased license checks to twice a week in September 1854. The diggers were outraged by these developments!
The harsh consequences for not having a gold licence resulted in the destruction of the miner’s equipment and huts, as well as fines or arrests. The lack of action regarding the licensing system only intensified the rage of the miners, leading to the chaos of the Eureka rebellion. Among the numerous causes, one event in particular fueled their anger – the death of James Scobie, a Ballarat digger, on October 6th, 1854. Scobie was murdered at the Eureka Hotel, which was owned by James Bentley, an ex-convict who was likely suspected of the murder.
Police decided to drop charges against Bentley as a result of the favors Bentley had done for them. This decision greatly angered the miners, ultimately leading them to burn down the hotel on October 17th. On November 29th, 1854, the diggers, frustrated by the government’s inaction, chose to burn their licenses. The following day, tensions among the diggers escalated when the government ordered another license hunt, despite knowing that many miners had already burned their licenses the previous day.
The miners were extremely angry and organized a gathering for the Ballarat Reform League, where they chose Peter Lalor as their leader in the fight for miners’ freedom. The Eureka stockade wasn’t caused by a single factor. It began at the goldfields, where conditions were terrible and the licensing system was appalling, and the government ignored the situation. Violence escalated, and the death of Scobie ignited further anger among the miners.
The significance of the Eureka Rebellion in Australian history today is emphasized by various sources, including Rebellion: The Eureka Stockade (2012) and Life of the Australian goldfields (2011), both retrieved from www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/goldeureka.htm on June 1st. Additional information can be found in The Eureka Rebellion, available at home.alphalink.com.au/~eureka/eukand.htm, and in Bedson et al.’s Humanities Alive 3, Second Edition (2010), published by John Wiley & Sons in QLD.
