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Several military commanders played a role in the culmination of the 1851-1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian goldfields. The following is a list of the key leaders among the British colonial forces of Australia and the Eureka Stockade rebel garrison. This article is currently being expanded and revised.
The military and police formations that took part in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade were under the command of Captain John Thomas. The government forces were under the overall command of Lieutenant Governor Charles Hotham and Ballarat's resident gold commissioner, Robert Rede.
The strength of the various units in the government camp was: 40th regiment (infantry): 87 men; 40th regiment (mounted): 30 men; 12th regiment (infantry): 65 men; mounted police: 70 men; and the foot police: 24 men. [1]
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Charles Hotham | Captain Sir Charles Hotham KCB served as lieutenant governor and, later, governor of Victoria, Australia, from 22 June 1854 to 31 December 1855. [2] | Hotham feared that the "network of rabbit burrows" on the goldfields would prove readily defensible as his forces "on the rough pot-holed ground would be unable to advance in regular formation and would be picked off easily by snipers," which led to the decision to move into position in the early morning for a surprise attack on the Eureka Stockade. [3] |
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Robert William Rede | Rede was appointed to the Victorian goldfields commission in October 1852. From June 1854 to January 1855, he was posted to Ballarat and had responsibility for the government camp during the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. [4] | Following the armed uprising, Rede was recalled from Ballarat and kept on full pay until 1855. Rede served as the sheriff at Geelong (1857), Ballarat (1868), and Melbourne (1877) and was the Commandant of the Volunteer Rifles, being the second-in-command at Port Phillip. In 1880, he was sheriff at the trial of Ned Kelly and an official witness to his execution. [5] |
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2023) |
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | John Wellesley Thomas | Captain John Wellesley Thomas was in command of the government forces at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. He was captain of the 40th regiment and a top adviser to Robert Rede. [6] Thomas received his commission in 1839 and also saw active service in Afghanistan and China. In 1862, he was promoted to colonel and in 1877, he became a major general. Thomas was an honorary lieutenant general when he retired in 1881. In 1882, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Hampshire Regiment, and in 1904 was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. | |
| Henry Wise | Captain Henry Christopher Wise was the highest-ranking British soldier who died in the Eureka Rebellion. He became a captain in the British army and arrived in Victoria with the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot in 1852. | Wise was the son of Henry Christopher Wise, an English Conservative politician, and his first wife, Harriett Skipwith. | |
| Arthur Atkinson | Captain Arthur Atkinson served with the 12th Regiment and was posted to the government camp during the battle in case the rebels attacked. [7] | ||
| William Henry Queade | Captain William Henry Queade served with the 12th Regiment at the battle. | ||
| Thomas LK Nelson | Captain Thomas LK Nelson served with the 40th Regiment at the battle. He joined the British army in 1831 as an ensign and was raised to lieutenant in 1836. Nelson saw active service in the first Afghan war and was made adjutant of the regiment in 1842. In 1846 he was promoted to captain and in 1856 became a major. | ||
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Pasley | Captain Charles Pasley was the colonial engineer and offered his services to Hotham as the rebellion was heading for an armed uprising. He served as aide-de-camp to Captain John Thomas, arriving in Ballarat on 28 November 1854. Pasley commanded the centre during the government assault on the Eureka Stockade. [8] | Eyewitness accounts of the battle tell how women ran forward and threw themselves over the injured to prevent indiscriminate killing. As second in command, Captain Pasley gave the order to withdraw and threatened to shoot anyone involved in murdering prisoners. | |
40th Regiment
40th Regiment
12th Regiment
40th Regiment
40th Regiment
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Peter Lalor | Lalor mounted the stump armed with a rifle and declared "Liberty" at the 30 November 1854 meeting on Bakery Hill. He called for the formation of paramilitary companies and presided over the Eureka Flag raising and oath-swearing ceremonies. Lalor was wounded in action at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854. [9] | At his first public appearance, Lalor acted as secretary for the 17 November 1854 meeting that led to the burning of Bentley's Hotel and moved in favour of establishing a central rebel executive. [10] Raffaello Carboni recalls a meeting in Diamond's store where he was elected as "president" and "commander in chief" of the rebel camp. [11] Lalor was hidden and secreted out of the fallen stockade by supporters. He remained on the run until a general amnesty was granted in May 1855. Lalor became a member of parliament and later served as a minister of the crown and Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024) |
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Henry Ross | Ross was one of the seven rebel captains of the rebel garrison. He was present at the oath-swearing and Eureka flag-raising ceremony at Bakery Hill on 30 November 1854. Ross acted as the Eureka Flag bearer at the head of about 1,000 rebels who marched in double file from Bakery Hill to the Eureka lead, where the stockade was situated. [12] [13] He received a groin injury during the battle while in the vicinity of the flag pole and died later that day after being taken to the Star Hotel. [14] | There is a popular tradition where the flag design is credited to Ballarat Reform League member Henry Ross who was originally from Toronto, Canada. A. W. Crowe recounted in 1893 that "it was Ross who gave the order for the insurgents' flag at Darton and Walker's". [15] Crowe's story is confirmed in that there were advertisements in the Ballarat Times dating from October–November 1854 for Darton and Walker, manufacturers of tents, tarpaulin and flags, situated at the Gravel Pits. [16] |
The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat between the rebels and the colonial forces of Australia. The fighting left at least 27 dead and many injured, most of the casualties being rebels. There was a preceding period beginning in 1851 of peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience on the Victorian goldfields. The miners, many of whom such as Raffaello Carboni came from Europe and were veterans of the Revolutions of 1848, had various grievances, chiefly the cost of mining permits and the officious way the system was enforced.
The Eureka Flag was flown at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851–1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian goldfields. Gold miners protested the cost of mining permits, the officious way the colonial authorities enforced the system, and other grievances. An estimated crowd of over 10,000 demonstrators swore allegiance to the flag as a symbol of defiance at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854. It was then flown over the Eureka Stockade during the battle that resulted in at least 27 deaths. Around 120 miners were arrested, and many others were badly wounded.
Captain Sir Charles HothamKCB was Lieutenant-Governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, Australia from 22 June 1854 to 10 November 1855.
John Basson Humffray was a leading advocate in the movement of miner reform process in the British colony of Victoria, and later a member of parliament.
Henry Erle Seekamp was a journalist, owner and editor of the Ballarat Times during the 1854 Eureka Rebellion in Victoria, Australia. The newspaper was fiercely pro-miner, and he was responsible for a series of articles and several editorials that supported the Ballarat Reform League while condemning the government and police harassment of the diggers. After the Rebellion was put down, he was charged, found guilty of seditious libel, and imprisoned, becoming the only participant to receive gaol time.
William Bramwell Withers was a journalist and novelist best known for writing the first history of Ballarat, Victoria. Born in England, Withers moved to the Colony of Natal in 1849 and contributed to local newspapers. He moved to Victoria in 1852, working odd jobs before becoming a reporter for the Argus and the Herald in Melbourne.
The Battle of the Eureka Stockade was fought in Ballarat, Victoria, on 3 December 1854, between gold miners and the colonial forces of Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851–1854 Eureka Rebellion during the Victorian gold rush. The fighting resulted in at least 27 deaths and many injuries, the majority of casualties being rebels. The miners had various grievances, chiefly the cost of mining permits and the officious way the system was enforced.
Ellen Francis Young was an English-born Australian early proto feminist poet living in the time of the Australian Gold Rush.
Since 2012, various theories have emerged, based on the Argus account of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade and an affidavit sworn by Private Hugh King three days later as to a flag being seized from a prisoner detained at the stockade, that a Union Jack, known as the Eureka Jack may also have been flown by the rebels. Readers of the Argus were told that: "The flag of the diggers, 'The Southern Cross,' as well as the 'Union Jack,' which they had to hoist underneath, were captured by the foot police."
The following bibliography includes notable sources concerning the Eureka Rebellion. This article is currently being expanded and revised.
The Eureka Rebellion, an 1854 gold miner's revolt in Victoria, Australia, has been the inspiration for numerous novels, poems, films, songs, plays and artworks. Much of Eureka folklore relies heavily on Raffaello Carboni's 1855 book, The Eureka Stockade, which is the first and only comprehensive eyewitness account of the uprising. The poet Henry Lawson wrote about Eureka, as have many novelists.
The following is a timeline of the Eureka Rebellion.
The Eureka Stockade Memorial Park is believed to encompass the site of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade that was fought in Ballarat on 3 December 1854. Records of "Eureka Day" ceremonies at the site of the battle go back to 1855. In addition to the Eureka Stockade Monument, there are other points of interest in the reserve, including the Eureka Stockade Gardens and an interpretative centre. There was formerly a swimming pool and other structures. There has been a nearby caravan park since the 1950s. The present Eureka Stockade Memorial Park Committee has undergone several name changes since 1922.
Historians have noted various manifestations of loyalist sentiment throughout the 1851-1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian gold fields. Among the examples that have been cited include a letter from the Mayor of Melbourne to the Lieutenant Governor concerning US Independence Day in 1853, the Bendigo Petition and Red Ribbon Movement protests, the inaugural meeting of the Ballarat Reform League, the Eureka Jack Mystery, and the public protest in Melbourne following the Battle of the Eureka Stockade.
The 1855 Victorian High Treason trials took place between 22 February – 27 March in the aftermath of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. The goldfields commission recommended a general amnesty for all on the runs from the fallen Eureka Stockade. Instead, thirteen of the rebels detained were eventually indicted for High Treason. The juries all returned a verdict of not guilty by a jury, and the indictment against Thomas Dignum was withdrawn. On 23 January, the trial of Ballarat Times editor Henry Seekamp resulted in a finding of guilt for seditious libel, and a month later, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six months. The trials have been described as farcical, and the colonial secretary would rebuke Governor Sir Charles Hotham over prosecuting the Eureka rebels for the lofty offence of High Treason.
There were key people involved in the Eureka Rebellion who subscribed to the ideals of Chartism and saw the struggle on the Victorian goldfields as a continuation of the activism in Britain in the 1840s and "the centuries of heroic struggles in England which preceded the Australian Federation" such as the 1688 Glorious Revolution, that resulted in the enactment of the English Bill of Rights. From 1837 to 1848, 129,607 incomers to Australia arrived from the British mainland, with at least 80 "physical force" chartists sentenced to penal servitude in Van Diemens Land. Currey agrees that the population at the time would have been sufficiently politically awake such that: "it may be fairly assumed that the aims of the Anti-Corn-Law League and the Chartists were very familiar to many of the Victorian miners."
The Eureka Stockade was a crude battlement built and garrisoned by rebel gold miners at Ballarat in Australia during the Eureka Rebellion of 1854. It stood from 30 November until the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December. The exact dimensions and location of the stockade are a matter of debate among scholars. There are various contemporary representations of the Eureka Stockade, including the 1855 trial map and Eureka Slaughter by Charles Doudiet.
The Eureka Stockade Monument is situated at the presumed site of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. It is located on the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park in Ballarat, Victoria. A public meeting was held on 16 April 1884 to discuss the construction of a permanent monument in honour of the event. A. T. Morrison was the founding honorary secretary and treasurer. It was reported on 31 May that 200 pounds had been raised and four 64-pounder cannons were supplied by the defence minister, Sir Fredrick Sargood.
The Eureka Stockade is an 1855 novel by Raffaello Carboni, who was present in Ballarat during the Eureka Rebellion. He lived near the Eureka Stockade and witnessed the battle on 3 December 1854 when the government forces defeated the rebel garrison. The Eureka folklore is deeply indebted to Carboni's novel, the first and only comprehensive eyewitness account of the Eureka Rebellion.
The Victorian gold rush led to an influx of foreign nationals, increasing the colony's population from 77,000 in 1851 to 198,496 in 1853. Many such as Raffaello Carboni had experienced the Revolutions of 1848. They supported the protest movement that formed on the goldfields in opposition to the mining tax system, ultimately leading to an armed uprising at Ballarat. It is currently known that the participants in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854 came from at least 23 different nations, including Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Jamaica, Mauritius, Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, The Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain. Carboni recalled that "We were of all nations and colours." During the 1855 Victorian High Treason trials the Argus court reporter observed that of "the first batch of prisoners brought up for examination, the four examined consisted of one Englishman, one Dane, one Italian, and one negro, and if that is not a foreign collection, we do not know what is." However, despite being present on the Ballarat gold fields, there is no record of any Chinese involvement at the Eureka Stockade. According to figures published by Professor Anne Beggs-Sunter, in her sample of 44 rebels, only one hailed from a non-European country.