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• EUREKA STAMPS 2004 (ARCHIVE)
• CONTACT ADDRESS FOR ENQUIRIES & RESEARCH
• LOCAL HISTORY ACTIVITIES
• HELP & INFORMATION WANTED - STATUES
• VANDALS ATTACK HISTORIC STATUES
• COMING EVENTS WEB SITE
  
  

EUREKA STAMPS (ARCHIVE)



Australia Post commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade held in 2004 with the issue of a series of celebratory stamps. This stamp issue was on sale at participating Australia Post retail outlets.

The 50 cent stamp featured the Eureka flag, which was first known as the Southern Cross. It has become a symbol of democratic rights and freedoms and is identified as a flag of the people. The original flag holds pride of place in the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.

The $2.45 stamp featured the image of Peter Lalor, who led the diggers at the Eureka Stockade. He was injured in the fighting and had an arm amputated as a result of his wounds. He went on to become a member of the Legislative Assembly for North Grenville, a Ballarat-based seat. An enemy of injustice but conservative in politics, Lalor had a successful if unspectacular political career.


CONTACT ADDRESS FOR ENQUIRIES & RESEARCH

For details of where all communications regarding this website should be addressed (including information about research requests) please click on the "Other Resources" button above.


LOCAL HISTORY ACTIVITIES

Local historian Dot Wickham has reported in a "Ballarat Courier" article that Ballarat is no different to other centres around the world with many dedicated people recording and writing our history for the following generations.

The Ballarat and District Genealogical Society is currently indexing the Ballarat East Petty Sessions Register at the Ballarat Archives Centre.

Ballarat Heritage Services are recording the people who were in Ballarat and district before 1857 with special emphasis on those at Eureka.

If you can help with information for these projects or have any old diaries or letters, please contact Dot Wickham at the following e-mail address
info@ballaratheritage.com.au
or by post at PO Box 2209
Ballarat Mail Centre 3354.


HELP & INFORMATION WANTED - STATUES

Friends of the Ballarat Statues are seeking volunteers to search through public records for relevant Information, and in addition, undertake research at the library, Council archives and the Gold Museum. This work is ongoing and and interesting. A keen eye for copperplate script, and a few hours of reading and writing, is really all that is required. Monday and Tuesday 9.30 am-4 pm (times negotiable). For information contact Zaiga Svanosio in Ballarat on (03) 5320 5643.


VANDALS ATTACK HISTORIC STATUES - ARCHIVE

(This old item will remain on this web site for archival reasons)

Three of the historic statues in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens - "Leda", "Flora Farnese" and "Hebe" - were attacked by vandals in April 2002 and shortly after removed.


(PICTURE: RM)

The remaining 7 Carrara marble statues from the Thomas Stoddart bequest were removed from their pedestals in the Gardens and put on display within the nearby Robert Clark Centre. This was to ensure their ongoing preservation away from risks of further deterioration from wind rain, storm damage, algal and lichen growth and extreme temperatures.


(PICTURE: RM)

A working party was appointed by Council to make recommendations on whether to replace the statues with more resilient marble-like replicas, or whether to commission new works, install other forms of garden ornamentation, and to develop the concept of the new location for the Stoddart Bequest.

It is proposed that all 12 statues will be displayed within The Conservatory in the gardens until further notice while a permanent structure is planned and constructed.


COMING EVENTS WEB SITE

Click on the "Tourism" link above. On the Tourism page, click on "Up and Coming Events" (The web site URL is www.ballarat.com/events)