Battle of the Eureka Stockade - December 3, 1854

On this day in 1854, miners seeking reforms in Victoria, Australia, rebelled against colonial authorities. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello Again. I'm Eves and you're listening to
this Day in History Class, a show where we dropped
history knowledge every single day. Today is December three. The

(00:24):
day was December three, eighteen fifty four. Gold miners seeking
reforms in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, rebelled against the colonial government.
The conflict led to the Battle of the Eureka Stockade,
which resulted in the death of at least twenty eight people.
The Victorian gold Rush began in Australia in eighteen fifty one.

(00:45):
It brought people seeking fortunes from all over Australia and
the world. As people flocked to the area and the
colonial government struggled to find the money to support them,
New South Wales Governor Charles Fitzroy and Victoria's Lieutenant Governor
Charles Latrobe imposed the license fee of thirty shillings a
month on miners. That was a hefty fee for miners,

(01:08):
especially when surface gold started to dwindle and gold production
for a person was decreasing. Miners expressed their concerns to Latrobe,
but not much was done about the miners protests. Police
set out on license hunts to find miners who did
not pay their fees, and miners claimed that police were
exploiting them by extorting money, beating people up, taking bribes,

(01:31):
and locking people up without due process. Many people were
unhappy with the way the police handled crimes on the
gold fields, claiming police and government officials had to be bribed.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that miners could
not vote or own the land that they were working on.
In October of eighteen fifty four, a Scottish miner named

(01:51):
James Scobie was killed in a conflict at the Eureka
Hotel in Ballarat. J. F. Bitley, the proprietor, was pegged
as the murderer. When Bentley was exonerated, miners felt it
was an injustice. A group of people gathered to protest
the decision, but a mob of miners ended up burning
down the hotel the police arrested them. An organization called

(02:14):
the Ballarat Reform League formed in response to the government's
in action on people's demands. It organized a meeting in
Ballarat on November eleventh, eighteen fifty four. The League advocated
for negotiations on the Bentley decision. As well as the
people arrested because of the fire, for abandonment of the
gold licensing system, for removal of the gold commissioners, and

(02:36):
for a better policing and justice system. But their grievances
were dismissed and more soldiers were sent to the gold
fields to back up the police and soldiers already present.
Dissenting miners held another mass meeting, elected Peter Lawler as
their leader and flew the Eureka flag. They swore to
fight together to defend their rights and liberties, and they

(02:59):
built a stock at Eureka, performing military drills to prepare
for any conflict. Robert Reid, commissioner of the Ballarat gold Fields,
ordered the police in army to destroy the stockade on
December three. Before dawn that day, troops stormed the stockade.
Miners failed quickly against the well armed force. At least

(03:20):
twenty two diggers and six soldiers died. Police detained around
a hundred and thirteen miners, and thirteen were eventually taken
to Melbourne for trial. All of the miners accused of
treason were acquitted within months. A Royal commission recommended removing
the license fee and adding an export duty and an
annual miner's right. The number of police on the gold

(03:43):
Fields was cut significantly and a warden replaced the gold commissioners.
Twelve new members were also added to the Victorian Legislative Council,
with four appointed by the Queen and eight elected by
diggers who had a miner's right. I'm each Deathcote and
how fully you know a little more about history today
than you do yesterday. If you'd like to follow us

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(04:32):
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