The Eureka Stockade
By: Rebecca
In 1851, people from all over the world came in
search of gold in Ballarat, Victoria. They left their
jobs behind to make more money and have a
better life. This meant that the government and
the authorities had to recruit more police and
more soldiers to do more work.
The Eureka Stockade started when the authorities
were getting upset how men on the goldfields were
finding gold and entering the premises for free. The
authorities came up with a money making scheme
amongst themselves and decided that miners would
have to pay 30 shillings per month as a licence to
search for gold. Even if miners did not find gold in
that particular month, they would still have to pay.
Police men were so busy checking licences that
crimes and burglaries were committed.
Eventually things were getting out of hand.
Miners burnt down a hotel because of the
licence system and a man killed three men on
purpose. The men who burnt down the hotel
got charged and sent to jail. The police man
did not charge the murderer because he was
his friend. Miners ended up finding out about
the murderer being let off and they were
very annoyed.
On the 11th of November 1854, ten thousand
miners demanded the three men to be
released from jail. They also tried to vote to get
rid of the licence system, but it was not
successful. Miners held meetings and did
everything they could and ended up burning
their licences with the Eureka Stockade flag,
which was made by women to show how
much they hated the licence system. The also
protested.
The next day, another burning of the licences
occurred. A man named Peter Lalor lead the miners
to a place on bakery hill and made them build a
fort to protect themselves from the authorities, the
police men and the soldiers. The fort was named the
Eureka Stockade. One thousand miners stayed in
the fort to fight against the authorities. Men ended
up running away because they were very selfish and
afraid that they wouldn’t make it.
Peter Lalor - Leader
Days past and the time had come. Seven
hundred police and soldiers attacked the fort.
The miners stood their ground and the two
hundred of them fought for justice. The battle
lasted for twenty minutes, and by that time
twenty miners and five soldiers died. The
leader of the group Peter Lalor was badly
wounded. Thirteen miners got charged for
criminal offences.
In 1855, commissioners accepted the idea of
loosing the licences and everyone was so
happy and stoked that it was all over. The
commissioners also released the three men
from jail.
.
This significant event changed Australia
because miners fought for rights to vote and
they made the government realise how much
they disliked the licence system.
I admire the miner’s bravery and how they
didn’t stop fighting for what they believed in
and they really tried to do something about
it. The authorities should have given the right
to miners that they could search for gold for
free; otherwise all of this caper would have
not happened.
Thankyou for Watching!
By Rebecca