James Riordan

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Signatures of John & James Riordan from the 1853 Bendigo Goldfields Petition
Bendigo Goldfields Petition Cover, August 1853. State Library of Victoria (MS 12440) and Condemned them to hard labor on the Public Roads of the Colony - A proceeding Your Petitioners maintain to be contrary to the spirit of the British Law which does not recognise the principle of the Subject being a Criminal because he is indebted to the State
That the impost of Thirty Shillings a Month is unjust because the successful and unsuccessful Digger are assessed in the same ratio
For these reasons and others which could be enumerated Your Petitioners pray Your Excellency to Grant the following Petition
* First. To direct that the Licence Fee be reduced to Ten Shillings a Month
* Secondly To direct that Monthly or Quarterly Licenses be issued at the option of the Applicants
* Thirdly To direct that new arrivals or invalids be allowed on registering their names at the Commissioners Office fifteen clear days residence on the Gold Fields before the License be enforced
* Fourthly To afford greater facility to Diggers and others resident on the Gold Fields who wish to engage in Agricultural Pursuits for investing their earnings in small allotments of land
* Fifthly To direct that the Penalty of Five Pounds for non-possession of License be reduced to One Pound
* Sixthly To direct that (as the Diggers and other residents on the Gold Fields of the Colony have uniformly developed a love of law and order) the sending of an Armed Force to enforce the License Tax be discontinued.
Your Petitioners would respectfully submit to Your Excellency's consideration in favour of the reduction of the License Fee that many Diggers and other residents on the Gold-fields who are debarred from taking a License under the present System would if the Tax were reduced to Ten Shillings a Month cheerfully comply with the Law so that the License Fund instead of being diminished would be increased
Your Petitioners would also remind your Excellency that a Petition is the only mode by which they can submit their wants to your Excellency's consideration as although they contribute more to the Exchequer that half the Revenue of the Colony they are the largest class of Her Majesty's Subjects in the Colony unrepresented
And your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray etc.
Red Ribbon Movement Monument in Rosalind Park, Bendigo [detail], 2013. Ballarat Heritage Services Picture Collection

Background

James Riordan senr. and wife Mary Ann with three daughters left Cork in 1837 aboard the Bussorah Merchant. On the voyage the two youngest daughters died of measles and they were quarantined for 3 months at Snug Bay when they arrived at Tasmania.[1]

They settled at Snug for several years having all of their children there. In 1852 they sailed for Victoria and the lure of gold.[2]

Goldfields Involvement, 1853-1854

James Riordan Junior and John Riordon were possibly the men who signed the 1853 Bendigo Goldfields Petition.

In 1853 John Riordon (13) and James (14) signed the petition. James senior may have signed it also, but he may not have been able to write.[3]

Post 1854 Experiences

James snr. and jun. lived in Tarnagulla until their deaths and are buried there. John moved to Creswick and over 30 years owned 2 hotels and was leasee of four. He also was leasee of two different hotels in Ballarat and finished his life in Portland owning the London Inn Hotel. He is buried in the South Portland Cemetery. It is believed that James sen had a farm at Irishtown (just out of Tarnagulla) and James senr tried setting up a Butter factory also in Irishtown.[4]

See also

Bendigo Goldfields Petition

Ballarat Reform League Inc. Monuments Project

John Riordon

Further Reading

References

  1. Information supplied by Wendy Ohlsen
  2. Information supplied by Wendy Ohlsen
  3. Information supplied by Wendy Ohlsen, February 2020.
  4. Information supplied by Wendy Ohlsen, Facebook query answered 3 February 2020

External links

https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/family-matters/collections/did-you-ancestor-sign-the-bendigo-goldfields-petition/


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