“EUREKA - THE ATTACK ON THE STOCKADE AND THE EVENTS LEADING TO IT" by Peter Butters Part 1(a): The Prelude European sparse settlement of the local Ballarat district dates from 1838, however the pastoral tranquility was shattered at the end of August 1851 with the discovery of that treasured metal, gold. A massive influx of eager people with hopes of sudden richness occurred and soon the local landscape was transformed and disfigured. Fortunately we are left a legacy of descriptions of early Ballarat. They highlight the contrast of the landscape before, and after the discovery of gold. The publication 'Ballarat and Vicinity' was perhaps a little eloquent with its description. 'Winding in and out amongst the shapely wattle trees, which singly and in groups dotted the bosom of the plain, ran a lovely stream of pure water, truly a 'silver thread amongst the gold', forming a connecting link between large deep waterholes as yet unsullied by the yellow debris from the miner's dish and cradle. This stream (the Yarrowee) had its fountain head in the cool translucent springs of Brown Hill and Warrenheip.....' and after gold, '....the crystal depths of the silvery Yarrowee gave back no more the reflex of the bright blue sky or face of humble shepherd, but bore in sluggish silence the gold tinged mud of neighbouring excavations...' The two contrasting aspects of the Yarrowee were also highlighted in the publication, 'Australia's First Century' which was produced in 1889. It described the Yarrowee creek as, 'once a limpid mountain stream, known as the river Leigh, rushing down from the hills amidst rocks and ferns, creepers and mosses, but now a huge gutter, well boarded over into which the drainage of a city and town is emptied.' Whilst early Ballarat historian Withers informs us that 'the kangaroos leaped unharmed down the ranges, and fed upon the green slopes and flats where the Yarrowee rolled its clear water along its winding course down the valley.' The Yarrowee creek was itself described in 1851 as being a clear running creek three to four yards wide, with wide grassy alluvial flats. The description of the Yarrowee as a 'river' may have been a little kind. It has variously also been described as the 'rivulet Yarrowee' and 'the little river that ran through the Ballarat diggings'. The discovery of gold altered the tranquility of the Yarrowee, and introduced pollution. The 'green banks of the Yarrowee were lined with tubs and cradles, its clear waters were changed to liquid yellow as the yellowest Tiber flood, and its banks grew to be long shoals of tailings.' A tent city soon sprang into existence and the Victorian Government acted quickly sending Commissioners within weeks to collect the dreaded gold license fee. The Gold Commissioners were very prominent on the early diggings. The 'obnoxious' gold license fee began and by the 24th September 1851 one hundred and sixty had been taken out. The first local one issued read, 'Victoria Gold License, 21st September 1851. No... The bearer ...... , having paid to me the sum of fifteen shillings on account of the Territorial Revenue, I hereby license him to dig, search for, and remove gold on and from the district of Buninyong and Loddon, as I shall assign to him for that purpose, during the month of September 1851. The quantity of ground allowed is eight feet square. The license to be produced when demanded by me, or any other person acting under the authority of the Government. F.C. Doveton, Commissioner.' There was immediate resentment to the license but the demand grossly exceeded the mere eighty eight printed licenses which had been brought from Melbourne and prior to fresh supplies on the 6th October about 1,300 had to be handwritten. On the 23rd September, Lieutenant Lydiard and twelve troopers were despatched to the diggings. 'Victoria & Its Metropolis continues, 'Matters at Ballarat therefore, had barely begun to turn out prosperous when up rode two commissioners, Armstrong and Doveton, to issue licenses and collect the fees, and lest there should be any mistake as to the intentions of Government, there also came Captain Pulteney Dana, with eight or ten black troopers, carbines slung, sabres jangling. The commissioners pitched their tent on the brow of a little hill behind the Golden Point, and the troopers camped close by.' The Government had determined upon a weekly armed escort for the safe conveyance of gold from Buninyong to Geelong, and thence by steamer to Melbourne. It was to leave Buninyong at 6am. and arrive at Geelong at 4pm. and to arrive finally at Melbourne at 3.30pm the following day. Although the Government was to take every precaution for the safety of the gold, in the event of its loss it was to take no responsibility. The escort was to consist of two mounted men, and an armed trooper in the mail cart, the entire party to be under the command of Mr. Lydiard. Mr. Commissioner Doveton was to have a trooper orderly, and one sergeant and ten troopers for protection, and to maintain the public peace. Initially the alluvial gold was found close to the surface and was easily obtained by the lucky prospectors. Not all gold was conveyed by the Government Gold Escort but in the last three months of 1851 it carried over 30,000 ounces, and in the rich, early, alluvial days one party took out 600 ounces (approx. 17kg) in six days work. Another party recovered 1080 ounces (30kg) in six hours, and after 56 hours 2940 ounces (83kg.). Bert Strange in his history of Ballarat detailed the 'Jewellers Shops' at the junction of the Canadian and Prince Regent leads. 'The 'Blacksmiths Hole', a claim only 24 feet (7.4m) square yielded one ton of gold. In August 1853 the shafts reached the bedrock at the junction of the two leads at a depth of ninety feet, and entered a stratum of almost pure gold, which when broken, fell into a mass of gold dust and nuggets. It was estimated that in some sections the yield was up to 500 oz. (14kg) per foot.' With the influx of the miners after the discovery of the gold, and the transformation of the pastoral area into a highly populated gold field there was a requirement for a surveyed town. Government surveyor William S. Urquhart who had been the District Surveyor since December 1845 was at Burrumbeet and on the 3rd December 1851 he received his instructions to proceed to Ballarat. On the 11th he camped at Yuille's Swamp, and then had to select the most suitable area for the township, and the present location was solely his decision. His choice was not the area east of the Yarrowee which the miners had chosen, but the grassy plateau which looked down upon the creek. Ballarat was the first gold town that Urquhart had surveyed, although that year he had already laid out Malmsbury, Carlsruhe, Sunbury and Woodend. At Ballarat he worked in the field until the 26th December, and the plans he then prepared were dated the 17th January 1852. He stated in 1880, 'Ballarat was the first Gold fields Town surveyed by me in Victoria, and was always my favourite. Commanding a fine position, a bracing fine climate equal to any in the Colony, about 1400 feet (430m) above sea level, with rich lands on all sides, in some places second to none in Victoria....' Urquhart's survey consisted mainly of a grid of cross streets, being the east west running streets of Dana, Sturt and Mair Streets and the north south streets of Lydiard, Armstrong and Doveton Streets. The main street was three chains in width and the others two. Urquhart used aboriginal names for features of the landscape, he named 'Yarrowee' and 'Wendouree' together with other features, and then moved on to survey Castlemaine, and Sandhurst (Bendigo). In naming the streets of his newly surveyed township of Ballarat Urquhart selected the names of Government officials. The surnames are familiar of F.C. Doveton, and David Armstrong who were Gold Commissioners and C.J.P. Lydiard who was a Lieutenant of the Mounted Police, having joined on the 1st July 1851 and resigned on the 31st August 1860. Sturt Street was named after the brother of the famed explorer and Dana was a soldier and policeman who established the native police corps as mounted police rather than trackers. Dana died at the age of only thirty two from pneumonia contracted as a result of severe exposure whilst searching for bushrangers whilst Mair was a soldier and civil servant who lived for almost a century. A number of rich gold bearing leads were located and in May 1852 it was reported that rich new diggings named Eureka had been located north of Golden Point. In July the Commissioners' Camp at Golden Point was relocated to the plateau and situated in the present Camp Street area. The position was ideally situated on high ground as it looked down upon the junction of the two main leads in the diggings on the flat. The Government Camp as it became was bounded by Sturt, Lydiard, Mair and Camp Streets, Camp street running on the diagonal and intersecting with Mair at Greville Street. The present day Camp Street dog leg was not added until the 1860's. The camp stood in splendid isolation and a miner at the time recollected 'I well remember climbing the green mound to the group of tents called the Camp, where I paid for my licence.' The Camp was however no better equipped than at Golden Point, the ramshackle guard-house and stable had been carted across and were the only 'permanent' buildings. Because of the lack of facilities prisoners were shackled to a tree until a log lock up was erected. The police were supported by military pensioners, some fifty of whom were on the camp. They were old and worn out men who had been discharged from various regiments in Van Diemen's Land but, feeble as they were, the Victorian Government was glad to have them, for what they were worth. Illicit alcohol was a problem confronted by both them and the police. Originally there was no licensed hotel on the Ballarat goldfield, the closest being at Buninyong, 10 kms towards Geelong, which encouraged local sly grog. Early complaints about accommodation at the Government Camp pertained to the condition of the tents and the exposure to the elements of the members whilst later complaints were about the sub-standard conditions of the buildings. By April 1853 vegetables had been planted at the Camp in an endeavour to combat scurvy, which was prevalent. Surviving Police correspondence gives us an insight into early events and problems associated with Eureka. Inspector Gordon Evans had problems with his members and commented regarding one, 'Though he has only been twice previously brought before me for misconduct (which indicates the degree of problems with others) his general character is very bad'. Evans noted that the punishment he (Evans) could inflict upon him would not be sufficient to meet the offence and that is why it had been brought to the notice of the Chief Commissioner, and added 'I have ordered this (police)man to be confined in a separate cell in the Lockup and suspended him from pay and duty from this date'. Apart from the problems with discipline the local goldfields police were seriously understaffed. Although they had an authorised strength of seventy six constables, just prior to Eureka, in late 1854, their strength was only fifty three. Problems continued for the Police hierarchy. Inspector Evans reported that Constable Richard Kelly who was stationed at Eureka had been brought before the Bench of Magistrates and charged with violently assaulting John Luff, a gold digger. 'From the evidence adduced it appears that Luff has lost the sight of one eye from a blow inflicted upon him by the constable and as no provocation whatever was given, this man (Constable Kelly) has been committed to take his trial for the offence at the next General Sessions'. Kelly had only been in the police force for fourteen days at the time and it was felt that he must have had personal animosity towards Luff prior to joining the force. The Chief Commissioner commented on his police force, 'The conduct of the men at Ballarat is so bad that it will require the utmost exertion on the part of the officers to effect a change. I cannot help thinking that there must be a great fault somewhere.' Gordon Evans tried to explain his problems, 'About the latter end of the month of March last, thirty men were sent by Mr Inspector Brokey from Richmond to be stationed here, nearly two thirds of whom had been Soldiers and were men very much addicted to drink; I endeavoured by every means in my power to check this baneful habit, by punishing leniently and also severely the men who were brought before me for this offence, but unfortunately these men were such inveterate habitual drunkards, and from the proximity of the Public Houses to the Camp which is not enclosed, and the very bad example shown to them by the Corps of Pensioners lately stationed here, I was obliged to send several of them before the Bench of Magistrates as worthless drunkards who were severally sentenced to imprisonment and consequently dismissed from the Force. I was unable at that time to send all these characters before the Bench as they merited as will be seen on reference to my Defaulters Book as I would not then have been left with a sufficient number of men to perform the necessary duties...' Because of the manpower shortages some men who had been on guard duty during the night had to perform duty during the day, often searching for unlicensed miners. Life was not easy for the members of the force and the poor conditions made it difficult to recruit men with desirable attributes. As the events that lit Eureka drew closer Assistant Gold Commissioner Amos requested sixteen men from headquarters be sent to the Eureka camp to aid him in the search for unlicensed miners. However, due to staff shortages problems were encountered with the twice weekly searches. Complaining about his shortages with respect to Amos's application Gordon Evans noted Amos's desire to increase the number of searches from the present two, ' if the police are to be sent out in such numbers as Mr Amos requires, or so often as the Resident Commissioner has directed, which will be ten times a week'. Gilbert Amos had requested at least six mounted and ten foot constables in addition to those already stationed at the camp. One can visualise the situation at the Camp, as we approach Eureka. It was reported in official correspondence on the 10th August 1854, '.... in consequence of the gale the night before last the tents were blown up and torn in several places and the rain last night completely saturated the beds and blankets, so much so that the men were all huddled together in one tent.... the tents in use for two years are absolutely rotten.' Again, on the 28th September we read, '.... I also beg most respectfully to call your attention to the great discomfort and hardships endured by the men during the past winter owing to the want of proper accommodation and which no doubt of itself intended to make them unhappy and discontented, there being no barracks and on many occasions no stretchers or blankets for them in the miserable tents they were compelled to live in.' The prospect of sudden riches, coupled with other problems in the 'home' country spurned an unprecedented level of immigration. Ireland was in the grip of the potato famine, England the Industrial Revolution, and the news of the gold discoveries spread to Europe which had seen the revolution of 1848. Displaced persons journeyed to the other side of the world seeking their 'El Dorado'. The miners were beset by problems which included a lack of natural water, the lack of amenities and extremes in weather conditions. As the alluvial gold disappeared and the shafts became deeper rising water was a constant problem, together with hazardous gases given off by buried decayed trees from a long lost era. The new shafts required ventilation which was achieved by using mariners' knowledge and windsails directed towards the prevailing winds appeared above the shafts, successfully directing the captured air below. After the demise of the easily retrieved alluvial gold, mining became a much more dangerous task and it was about two years after the initial discovery before the technique of ramming clay into the open space between the slabs lining the shafts was initiated. This action retarded the intrusion of water and allowed the shafts to be successfully deepened in the elusive search. Because of the labour intensive time taken to sink the shaft before a payable return was received, if in fact it was, the miners had to be sustained and many hapless diggers relied on the good will of storekeepers for support and finance for their goods and provisions until they were financially able to repay. Many of these storekeepers reaped the 'golden' rewards of the goldfields whilst the unfortunate miners had to have enough ready cash to pay for the not inconsiderable cost of the monthly license fee, irrespective of their other financial problems. The futility of the excessive 'gold licence' fee was highlighted by the fact that in 1854 the revenue from the fee was almost all soaked up by the cost of the administration of the Camp, and so there was effectively no nett monetary gain to the government. Coupled to the miners' difficulties was the unsavoury reputation of, and behaviour of many of the police. Corruption was rife. In November 1853 the Victorian Legislative Council produced a Bill for the New Constitution for Victoria and a Bill to extend the Elective Franchise, which was to give miners a vote providing they met certain residential requirements, and had held a licence for twelve months. Because Victoria was a British Colony the Bills had to be sent to the British Parliament for Royal Assent and were despatched the following March, but because of travel times and their low priority to English matters their becoming law was not imminent. In May 1854 Lieutenant La Trobe left Victoria for England whilst his replacement, the new Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Hotham arrived on the 22nd June. Meanwhile Father Patrick Smyth was transferred to St Alipius Catholic Church and Robert Rede was appointed Resident Gold Commissioner at Ballarat. All three were to figure prominently in future events. Unfortunately for Hotham he inherited the colony of Victoria in severe financial difficulty. Within weeks of his arrival he, accompanied by Lady Hotham, ventured to the Goldfields so that he could personally acquaint himself with the conditions and at Ballarat he found the diggers to be respectful, loyal and enthusiastic. Hotham inspected the goldfields and viewed the deep sinking where depths of well over a hundred feet (33m) were being encountered. Lady Hotham was rescued from the muddy conditions by Big Larry, an Irishman, who assisted her passage through the crowd and carried her across the muddiest puddles. Larry was also able to boast that his party were hauling 6lbs (2.7kg) gold to the tub from their Gravels Pits claim. During the Governor's visit a 98lb (44kg) nugget was located at Daltons Flat, in the present locality of Main Road and Gale Street, and it was named the Lady Hotham in her honour. The Ballarat Times newspaper was very optimistic and reported on the 2nd September, 'A bold, vigorous and far-seeing man has been amongst us, and the many grievances and useless restrictions by which a digger's success is impeded will be swept away.' Upon return to Melbourne Hotham was again confronted by Victoria's precarious financial position, and endeavoured to overcome the problem by ordering an increase in the number of licence inspections, which had been occurring only about once a month. Against advice, Hotham ordered that the 'digger hunts' should be conducted not less than twice a week. This action placed a strain on the understaffed police force and irritated the diggers. Part 1 (b) The Goldfields Administration. Each Resident Commissioner controlled Senior Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners who were in charge of portions of each goldfield. To assist them in controlling the diggers, detachments of soldiers (redcoats) and, originally, the Gold Mounted Police (which preceded the Victoria Police Force) were provided. As they were all employees of the government with Charles Joseph La Trobe at its head, the diggers adopted the warning cry of 'Joe! Joe! ' when they appeared to demand that gold licence's be shown. The Ballarat Goldfield was divided between four Commissioners, but the boundaries of their jurisdiction were ill-defined, and as each Commissioner employed a separate band of license - hunters, it sometimes happened that diggers pursuing their lawful avocation were called up from their work twice or three times in one day. At Ballarat the Commissioners Headquarters, the Camp was enclosed by a picket fence at the corner of Lydiard and Mair Streets. Quarters for the staff were provided there - the clerks, gold receivers, gold escort personnel, drivers, farriers, soldiers and police, including the gaol which was referred to as the 'logs'. Gold Commissioners in the smaller camps requested more assistance from Headquarters to assist with the hunts, and many of the police, working day and night, vented their anger and frustration on the miners.