Robert Anderson

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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

Goldfields Involvement, 1853-1854

Signed the 1853 Bendigo Goldfields Petition. Agitation of the Victorian goldfields started with the Forest Creek Monster Meeting in 1851, but what became known as the Red Ribbon Movement was centred around the Bendigo goldfields in 1853. The Anti-Gold License Association was formed at Bendigo in June 1853, led by George Thomson, Dr D.G. Jones and 'Captain' Edward Browne. The association focused its attention on the 30 shillings monthly licence fee miners were required to pay to the government. They drew up a petition outlining digger grievances and called for a reduced licence fee, improved law and order, the right to vote and the right to buy land. The petition was signed by diggers at Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, McIvor (Heathcote), Mount Alexander (Harcourt) and other diggings. The 13 metre long petition was presented to Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe in Melbourne on the 01 August 1853, but their call for a reduction in monthly licence fees and land reform for diggers was rejected. The diggers dissatisfaction erupted into the Red Ribbon Rebellion where agitators wore red ribbons on their hats symbolising their defiance of the law and prohibitive licence fees.

Post 1854 Experiences

Obituary

THE LATE ROBERT ANDERSON.
Through the death of Mr Robert Anderson, of Loch Avenue, which took place on Saturday, 21st April, Ballarat has lost a worthy citizen. Mr Anderson was intimately associated in the early mining days of this district with several successful alluvial claims, notably the Avoncliff Company, at Scarsdale, where from 1864 to 1869 he held the post of mining manager, and subsequently the Park Company, Leviathan, and Winter’s Freehold. Mr Anderson was born at Alnwick, in the north of England, in the year 1827, and arrived in Victoria in 1852, landing at Portland. Bendigo at that time was the centre of attraction, and, in company with the present Minister of Lands, MrMcIntyre, he tramped the country, reaching Bendigo after a fortnight’s severe journey. At Bendigo several of his comrades were arrested and marched off to the logs for working without the necessary licenses. They were asked why they did not take licenses, and Mr McIntyre replied by asking if the warden thought they would walk about in that state— pointing to the toes peeping out of their journey - worn shoes —if they possessed the price of a license. This argu-ment was unanswerable, and the men were allowed to resume digging. After meeting with varying success, Mr Anderson returned to Ballarat and carried on the business of a “mine furnisher,” that is, supplying parties of miners with the requisite tools, and in return receiving a share of the profits. Getting tired of mining, Mr Anderson selected land at Kewell West, near Dimboola, in 1877, and took to farming until four years ago, when he re turned to Ballarat to enjoy the fruits of his hard toil. About 12 months ago, however, he was attacked with what appeared to be an affection of the heart, and died at 2.30 on Saturday at 67 years of age, leaving a widow but no family.[1]

See also

Bendigo Goldfields Petition

Ballarat Reform League Inc. Monuments Project

Further Reading

References

  1. Ballarat Star, 01 May 1894.

External links

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


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