“EUREKA - THE ATTACK ON THE STOCKADE AND THE EVENTS LEADING TO IT" by Peter Butters Part 11: The Trials The new year of 1855 did not bring immediate good news for the diggers as Governor Hotham granted an amnesty only to officials and refused the recommendation of the Commission for a general amnesty. He also ordered the re-commencement of the licence hunts. On 23 January Henry Seekamp, the editor of the Ballarat Times was found guilty of publishing seditious articles prior to the attack and was jailed, despite a strong recommendation for mercy. He was released after serving three months. Carboni described gaol conditions in Melbourne for the diggers accused of treason. 'At seven o'clock in the morning we are led into a small yard of about thirty yards long and eight wide, where we must either stand, walk, or seat ourselves upon the cold earth ( no seats or benches being afforded us ), and which at meal times serves as chair table etc with the additional consequence of having our food saturated with sand, dust, and with every other kind of disgusting filth which the wind may happed to stir up within the yard. We are locked in, about three o'clock in the afternoon, four or five of us together, in a cell whose dimensions are three feet by twelve, being thus debarred from the free air of heaven for sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. The food is of the very worst description ever used by civilised beings...... we have been subjected to the annoyance of being stripped naked, a dozen men together, when a process of 'searching' takes place that is debasing to any human being, but perfectly revolting to men whose sensibilities have never been blunted by familiarity with crime....even the Sunday, that to all men in Christendom is a day of relaxation and comparative enjoyment, to us is one of gloom & weariness, being locked up in a dreary cell from three o'clock Saturday evening till seven on Monday morning (except for about an hour and a half on Sunday) , thus locked up in a narrow dungeon for forty consecutive hours...' The trials of the thirteen prisoners who were charged with High Treason began on 22 February 1855. They were all identified as having been in the stockade at the time of the attack, except for Hayes who had been arrested by the troops as they were marching their prisoners to the Camp. This was not correct however as Carboni had also not been in the stockade at the time. The Chief Justice Sir William a'Becket presided at the Supreme Court. All the prisoners pleaded not guilty. The Afro-American John Joseph, who had been seen firing in the direction of Captain Wise during the attack was the first to be tried. As others had also fired in the direction of Wise it could not be established that Joseph had fired the shot which ultimately proved fatal and after deliberating for half an hour the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. Four days later prisoner John Manning was also tried and acquitted and the trials of the other prisoners were delayed for varying reasons. On 12 March a public meeting, which was poorly attended was held near St. Pauls Church, Melbourne to protest about the postponement. A week later the trial of Timothy Hayes, presided over by Judge Redmond Barry, began. He was defended by Richard Ireland, who appeared for no remuneration, and again after a deliberation of thirty minutes the jury returned a not guilty verdict. The Italian Raffaello Carboni and Dutchman Jan Vannick were acquitted on 21 and 22 March, the 'Age' noting that another 'foreign anarchist' is set free. The following day Irishmen James Beattie and Michael Tuohy were found not guilty and three days later Austrian born Thomas Dignum was suddenly set free without a trial. Amazingly, neither Rede or Captain Thomas were called to give evidence at the trials. On 27 March the remaining prisoners, Henry Read, Jamaican James Campbell, Jacob Sorenson, John Phelan and William Molloy were tried together, and also all were acquitted. There were many claims for compensation as a result of the attack, the application by Patrick Curtain being typical. Curtain participated in the affair as Captain and later Lieutenant of the pikemen, and was a claimant for injuries inflicted by the Military or Police, and for the destruction of his store. 'His store having been in the immediate precincts of the stockade, and he not having assisted in the maintenance of social order, it was impossible to draw any line between his case and that of so many others whose property was destroyed on 3 December.' A letter on his behalf by Alex. Fraser , Fisher & Miller's Bute & Arran Store, Specimen Hill, said '....he has suffered very severe losses, by having his store enclosed within the stockade erected by the insurgents against his inclination, and which store, with all its contents, was burnt down by the military and police after the capture of the place, the loss sustained by Mr. Curtain amounting to between 1200 and 1300 pounds....' A very interesting list of items from his store was listed on page 7 of the claim, total 1267 7s 2d of which 800 pounds was due to creditors. He declared in an affidavit dated 26th December 1854 that he took no part in the riot, directly or indirectly, any more than 'protecting my own property', which would contrast with other descriptions. He was however awarded 1000 pounds compensation March 1856. As the diggers charged with treason were being acquitted the dreams of the diggers were being realised. The Elective Franchise Act which had been endorsed returned from England and a short time later the New Constitution Act also returned. The Governor, Sir Charles Hotham received the report of the Gold Fields Royal Commission which favoured a major reform of the goldfields administration. A Miner's Right, to be taken out by all prospectors, costing by Licence Fee standards 'only' one pound a year was to also confer electoral rights. The Gold Commissioners were to be replaced by Wardens, and mining matters were to be resolved by Local Courts which were to be composed of members elected by the miners. The Commission also recommended that five goldfields representatives be elected to the Legislative Council pending the arrival of the Royal Assent to the Constitution Act. The Local Courts were later replaced by Mining Boards which legislated for and presided over larger areas. The arrival of the Royal Assent for the Constitution Act for Victoria later in 1855 saw the beginning of responsible Government for Victoria and the creation of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. Perhaps the 'final curtain' on the events of Eureka came at the very end of December 1855, when the dutiful Sir Charles Hotham, who had tendered his resignation in November died as the result of pneumonia, after catching a chill. One can only theorise what would have been the effect on Ballarat had Bentley been originally convicted of the murder of Scobie. The chances are that his hotel would have survived and would therefore not have been the flames to ignite the events of Eureka. But the other problems on the goldfields would still have existed, and sought an outcome. Eureka has been described as Australia's only 'civil war' and likened to Gettysburg, which is an unfortunate analogy. At Gettysburg the opposing forces totalled over 160,000 combatants in a ferocious battle which raged for three days, leaving a total of approx. 51,000 killed or dying of wounds, whilst at Eureka the 'battle' was measured in mere minutes, about fifteen to twenty and the dead totalled about thirty. By military standards Eureka was a mere ' skirmish ' although it was particularly nasty, as was evidenced by the injuries of the deceased, detailed at the time. Although the miners lost the battle, they won the war. The harassed miners fought an armed insurrection against the tyrannical rule of authority, and although routed in the confrontation, those who faced criminal charges were not convicted, and the Goldfields administration was drastically altered and reformed, which is the real significance of Eureka. An ultimate victory to the oppressed. Eureka is indelibly etched as an integral part of Australia's history and its definitive victories in reform can never be played down or diminished.