Eureka 50, 1904

Newspaper Reports

AT THE STOCKADE

WHAT WE OWE THE DIGGERS

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANNIVERSARY

At the Stockade a crowd began to gather long before the hour when the proceedings were expected to commence. What little shelter there was was speedily taken advantage of, and the great majority of the people present had to walk about and try to think the weather was cool. Their task was a difficult one. By the time the procession arrived some thousands were on the ground. The space on the monument was all taken up, so that when the official progress reached that spot it had to halt, someone shouted an invitation to those above to come down and let the procession up, but there was no response those in possession meant to stay in possession. Col Williams in the background waving his staff appeared to be inciting his followers to the charge, but the march had apparently exhausted them. One veteran, indeed, held aloft a flag and dashed up the heights, but none dared follow him. At last a way was cleared and the fort was won. Mr W.D. M’Kee took charge and after a short delay opened the meeting, The veterans were accommodated with seats around the monolith. Mr McKee presided.

The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, on behalf of the committee thanked the Berringa and Creswick bands and the Smythesdale Fire Brigade for coming such a long distance to be present to commemorate the event of the day. Continuing he said there were many in this State who might differ with them in keeping up that event, but there was no one could deny that the miners on that occasion received the greatest provocation. (Hear, hear).

A Voice: What about my poor father?

Mr M’Kee: And they would have been less than men if they had not resented it in good British fashion. (Hear, hear.) There was one thing that resulted from that for the miners, and that was that the licenses, which were 30s and subsequently £1 per month, were reduced to £1 per annum, and every holder of a miner’s right was enfranchised in the future.

Voice: So he ought to be now.

Mr M’Kee: Mr Lalor and Mr J.B. Humffray were returned as the first members to represent Ballarat in the Council. That was before the creation of the Assembly. One had that kind of bull-dog courage, and that determination, that those who thought would receive their rights, the other, perhaps more effeminate, he would not say more clever, was a leader of the peace party, but it was very creditable to Ballarat that they honored both these men in sending them in as representatives without contest. Coming down to the present time, it was such we had made considerable progress.

Voice: Backward!

Mr M’Kee: It is in the hands of the people to do as they like. We have payment of members. The object of this payment was to enable those who had no means to absent themselves from their work to be selected if they were considered fit to represent the people. He hoped - he had no doubt - that when men came to celebrate the centenary of this event - there were many present who would not be present then - but he hoped that they would have representatives and citizens who would commemorate the centnary (sic) of Eureka Stockade. (Hear, hear.)

Mr Carpenter, M.P., of West Australia, thanked those responsible for calling that magnificent gathering for the honor done him in asking him there to say a word or two. Any man might be proud to take part in a celebration of that unique character, and he was particularly pleased that afternoon because he had to convey from the assemblage a message of sympathy to those who that day at that time were conducting a similar celebration in various parts of West Australia. Those who had been inclined to cavil at the promoters of that demonstration would, he thought, for ever hold their peace when they knew how heartily the matter had been taken up, not alone in Victoria, but in that far-off portion of Australia where their own kith and kin had gone by hundreds and thousands and had taken with them the same spirit that animated the men of Eureka 50 years ago. He spoke that day on behalf of those who would gladly have been there and taken part in the demonstration, but because they could not be there, and because they had felt something of the thrill that emanated from the Eureka Stockade, had taken upon themselves to celebrate in that distant part of Australia the great event that was being celebrated in Ballarat. Wherever the British race existed there was an innate love of liberty which refused, at any time to bow its neck to the tyrant’s yoke, whether it were the yoke of a foreign foe or the unfortunate lust of power which sometimes came from among our own people whenever power was held unchecked or unlimited. It stood to the credit of the race that they had always stood up in dogged determination at the expense, if necessary, of life itself, rather than have their God-given rights trampled upon by the tyrant’s heel. It was just that spirit which animated the men who on that spot 50 years ago stood up for what they conceived to be their inalienable rights. It was not that they were opposed to law and order, but they felt that those who represented law and order were abusing their powers, and it was well they took that stand. There were participating that day in a public and national gathering in the widest sense, and all they needed to say was the liberty and political freedom they enjoyed now all over Australia had come from the event which they now celebrated. The same spirit which animated John Hampden centuries ago, which nerved the arm of Cromwell, was the spirit which also nerved the arms of the diggers of Eureka, and all through that chain of circumstances they had been brought up to the present day when they enjoyed in Australia their full political liberties and rights. He wished to say how much he appreciated the action of the A.N.A. and kindred bodies who organised that demonstration and had sought in that way to beget and foster a national spirit among young Australia. He was sure all would strive to hand down to their successors the same rights unsullied and unchecked that were given to them. In conclusion, he conveyed to the gathering hearty congratulations from West Australia.

Mr H. Scott Bennett, M.L.A., who was received with applause, said the promoters of this celebration did well to come before that vast concourse of people without an apology for what happened 50 years ago. (Hear, hear.) There was no need to apologise for one action taken by the miners at the time of the Stockade. When despotism came armed to the teeth, the people had always the sovereign right to defend themselves in whatever manner they might see fit. (Hear, hear.) He rejoiced to see the thousands of people gathered round the monument to pay a tribute of homage and a tribute of respect to those who fell 50 years ago. It was a matter for congratulation we should have so many old veterans still hale and hearty still with us in heart and soul, and if need be to die for the people and the people’s rights. He rejoiced with all his heart in having the opportunity of saying a few words. He rejoiced, too, to see the enthusiasm that prevailed in the crowd, because it showed that here in this city of Ballarat the spirit that animated those who fell had by no means died out. It showed the people were always willing to come forward to celebrate such an action as this. For this was the real people’s day; it was the day when every man, woman, and child should join hands in hearty congratulation and pay tribute to those who still lived, and to raise our hats in solemn homage to those who now slept their last sleep, and who did something to preserve and defend the liberties of the Australian people. (Cheers).

Dr Lalor, the son of Peter Lalor, observed that he was not an orator, and he believed he had never attempted to make a speech before in his life; but he was the only relative of Peter Lalor there, otherwise he might ask somebody else to make a speech for him. He thought the best thing he could do was to give a few particulars of his father which might be unknown to some present. He was born in Queen’s County on the 5th February, 1827, the youngest and smallest of 18 children - 17 boys and one girl. He came to Australia in 1852 with his brother Richard, who went back about a month afterwards and became M.P. for Queen’s County. Peter Lalor had told the speaker that he was very proud of being called a miner, and said he would rather be called that than K.C.M.G. or any other title. He always said miners were the leaders of civilisation. Dr Lalor agreed with that. Take the Phoenecians, for example. With a population no bigger than that of an English county, they ruled the world at one time simply because they were miners. They went to Cornwall, where the best miners in the world come from, and got tin and lead. The Cornish were crossed with the Phoenicians, and he was sure were proud of it. It was Plutarch, he believed, who said wherever there was gold mines there was civilisation. He thanked the gathering in the name of his deceased father the reception given him.

Mr Crouch, M.P., said he was proud to be there to represent his father, who was there 52 years ago, and who was still alive and well. (Hear, hear.) One or two thoughts in coming through the crowd had struck him, and he was proud indeed to speak upon that occasion. That monument stood for revolt and discontent. He was proud indeed of the revolt and discontent that existed 50 years ago. (Hear, hear.) He wanted them to recognise that the time for revolt and discontent had not passed. (Hear, hear.) Revolt against commercial corruption, revolt against social functions, revolt against political cant. Discontent with all these things, and although it was no longer necessary for us to shed our blood in order to remedy these it had been possible by constitutional means - it remained for them to see that this revolt and discontent, this state of things should be abolished, and injustice found out (Hear, hear). When he came up the hill he saw an Australian flag, the .......

45-35 BALLARAT COURIER 05 December1904 p6 c2 A REMINISCENT GATHERING Probably never once before since the momentous fight of ‘54 had the full significance of the monument erected by the Victorian Government to commemorate the historic rising appealed so much to those present as it did yesterday. There they stood on the precise spot where, 50 years before, the plucky but indiscreet and indifferently-armed diggers made their last and most desperate resistance against the properly-armed and well-drilled forces despatched to rout them and give then their quietus. Looking around the crowd from the base of the monument one saw a sea of faces on all sides, some of tender years and aware of what had taken place in Ballarat 50 years before only by means of what they had been told by their elders; others who might have been born about the Stockade period, and fewer still of the rapidly-thinning band of pioneers who have seen the diggers’ village develop into one of the finest inland cities in the southern hemisphere. The congregation of so many Eureka veterans at the historic spot was in itself appropriately reminiscent of the rising and the stirring incident of that momentous occurrence must have been revived in their memories if only by reason of the very little altered appearance of the immediate surroundings. Probably many of the little hills and eminences of mullock which gave so many golden harvests looked almost exactly as they did half a century ago, when the place was active with the thousands of diggers who followed the common avocation. Looking to the west and lifting the gaze a little brought into view the prosperous city of Ballarat with its fine public buildings, its broad avenues and pretty gardens, with the picturesque Lake in the back-ground, all showing what striking changes had occurred during the roll of 50 years. Summed up, the scene at the Stockade was an impressive one and an uncommon one, inasmuch as it is unlikely that such another site will be presented for perhaps another 50 years, when the younger folk present today may have the privilege of participating in the centennial demonstration that will doubtless be arranged when the time comes. The crowd present was estimated to number several thousands. A large throng followed in the wake of the precisionists, and when the Stockade was reached there were some thousand or two people who had already “pegged out” a convenient spot to witness the unique proceedings about to commence.

CELEBRATIONS: ALFRED HALL MEETING

6-12 BALLARAT COURIER 29 November, 1904 (P2 C5) Mr James Oddie, who takes the keenest interest in everything concerning the meeting in celebration of the jubilee of this historical event, to be held in the Alfred Hall on Thursday...... Thursday evening. Admission is by a silver coin, which will entitle the first 1900 members of the audience to a 60 page booklet giving a history of the stockade. During the course of the evening the following resolutions will be submitted...............

7-13 BALLARAT COURIER 29 November, 1904 (P8 C5) MEETINGS HISTORICAL 50th STOCKADE MEETING, - 1st DEC., ALFRED HALL The following resolutions will be submitted to the 50th Historical Eureka Stockade Public MEETING on the 1st of December, at the Alfred Hall:- 1. That a fund be constituted at an early date for keeping in order in perpetuity the graves of the Stockaders who were slain on the 3rd of December, 1854. 2. I the opinion of this meeting the State Government would do an equitable, humane, and graceful deed by granting a pension to the aged widow of the late Mr J. W. Esmond, Victorian gold discoverer, who, with her daughter are worthy residents of the City of Ballaarat, and not in affluent circumstances. 3. This meeting is of opinion that the current antiquated State system of police should be superseded by the modern British municipal system. In 1854 as the territorial system, it controlled the collection of the gold licence at the point of the bayonet and was responsible for the murder of a number of innocent diggers by its officers. The gift of a 60-page booklet, the history of the Stockade, to each donor of a silver coin is guaranteed to the number of 1900 and not beyond. The press report of the 50th Gold Discovery Meeting was 2000 and the silver coin approximated. The capacity of the Alfred Hall is 3000. An early seat will assure a booklet, the cost of which represents more value than that of the popular silver coin. James Oddie

12-14 THE BALLARAT COURIER, 0 2 December, 1904 (p2 c4/5) Mr. J. Oddie’s Eureka celebration meeting in the Alfred Hall last night was attended by a large audience, who for the most part listened attentively to the chairman and the five veterans who sat with him on the platform. There was another veteran in the hall who although flatteringly referred to as a good old Stockader who had been chained to another patriot, declined an invitation to come on the platform, and preferred to remain down below, where he enlivened the meeting with sundry interjections of a critical character, and with arguments with another member of the audience. When he was mentioned by name as being responsible for “kicking up all the row,” Mr. Oddie ingeniously suggested that two men should show him the way to the door, but no one volunteered. The veterans, who were seated in State on the platform, told a number of anecdotes of the old days, and of the events before and after the fight, but of the fight itself hardly a word was said. Mr. A. T. Arthur, from beyond Omeo, came on in his shirt sleeves, and delivered the most vigorous speech of the evening. He gave a very picturesque account of what happened to him after he got tired of eating salt beef and ploughing the ocean, and so ran away from a man-of-war and came to Ballarat. A number of resolutions were carried at the meeting, and a selection of lantern views were shown. The Eureka Stockade Demonstration committee met last evening under the presidency of Mr W.D.M’Kee. The attendance of members was fair. Letters were received from the following pioneers, intimating their intention of being present at the celebrations:- Messrs S. Uridge, Brunswick; W. Hanrahan, Timor West; H. Levinson, St. Kilda; J. Heywood, Morwell; A. Waddell, Talbot; J. Kemp, Morwell; D. Maine, Morwell; J. Adam, Deniliquin (N.S.W.), and L. C. Haines, Arawata, via Korumburra a letter was received from J. Ashburner, of Armidale, who stated that he was one of the men taken prisoner by the military and sentanced to a month’s imprisonment, another being the well-known Timothy Hayes. The writer further stated that he and Mr Alex. Sturrock, sen., treasurer of the Eight Hours’ Pioneers’ Society, and their wives would be present at the demonstration. It was decided to endeavour to arrange a social gathering at the close of the celebrations, so that the pioneers and survivors of the fight may indulge in reminiscences of that memorable occasion. It was intimated that the following bands would take part in the procession to the Stockade on Sunday: - Prout’s, Drum and Fife, Orphan Asylum, Creswick Jubilee, and Berringa. Arrangements were completed for the sports to-morrow. Several leading “peds” are competing in the various events, and 30 heats are to be run. The proceedings at the Alfred Hall in the evening will be unusually attractive, as a “Eureka diggers’ camp meeting” is to be held; the scene depicting the diggers at work amongst tents, windlasses, cradles, and other paraphernalia of the digging days. “Upwards of 70 rollicking fellows,” the promoters state, “will occupy the stage and make merry with song, jest, and dance.” The procession to the stockade on Sunday will leave the Galloway Monument at two o’clock. The prize offered by the West Australian board of directors of the A.N.A. for the best essay on the Eureka Stockade has been awarded to Mr J. B. Castieau, of Melbourne. The judge (Mr Benj. Hoare), in announcing his award, wrote:- “The winner has written a really meritorious work. He has shown a fine appreciation of the value and proportion of subsidiary facts, and of the proper order of his matter. His language is clear, terse, and cirile. He is often elegant, always forcible, and I must say that a cause for which brave men risked life and liberty, and to which a million colonists gave their hearts as against a stupid and tyrannical bureaucracy, suffers nothing at his hands.”

15 THE BALLARAT COURIER, 0 2 December, 1904 (p2 c5) One of the attractions of the Eureka Stockade jubilee celebrations on Saturday will be the concert in the Alfred Hall at night, when memories of the old digging days are to be revived by a digger’s camp meeting. The stage is to be set out as nearly like that of the Eureka camp as possible - one of the survivors has assisted Mr Spielvogel in this matter - and, to quote the programme, “amongst tents, windlasses, cradles, and other diggers’ paraphernalia upwards of 70 rollicking fellows will occupy the stage and make merry with song, jest and dance.” They will be called on by their camp nicknames, and the programme will in every way be illustrative of the Ballarat diggings in the early fifties. The second part of the programme will be of the ordinary concert type, and contains the names of well known amateurs.

16 THE BALLARAT COURIER, 0 2 December 1904, (p3 c5) THE EUREKA ANNIVERSARY. Mr J. ODDIE’S MEETING - SPEECHES FROM VETERANS. (NOTE........... Ball Star P5 c1/2 Dec 2 - Gathering of Veterans..... is very similar to this.....................................) When the Eureka Stockade and the old digging days are mentioned in Ballarat, one seems instinctively to think of Mr James Oddie, who not only played his part in those stirring times, but whose public-spirited conduct ever since has kept him prominently before the notice of his fellow-citizens. Mr Oddie has strong views as to the injustice with which the diggers were treated, and the importance of the stand they made for liberty. Some time before the 50th anniversary of the fight at the Stockade approached, he endeavoured to rouse people to the significance of that event, and to get them to celebrate it in a fitting manner, and pursuing this object with his accustomed energy, he called a public meeting in the Alfred Hall last night. A silver coin was charged for entrance, but each of the audience was presented with a little book containing an interesting account of the life of Peter Lalor, and a history of the Eureka Stockade. There was a very large attendance. Seats on the platform were occupied by five veterans of the fight. Messrs G. Hartley (Mount Egerton), John Manning, T. Marks, M. Carroll, and A. T. Arthur. Mr Arthur had come from somewhere beyond Omeo to be present.

After a few selections on a gramaphone (sic) in charge of Mr B. Humphreys. Mr Oddie addressed the audience, and explained that when lecturing last year, he stated it was his intention to call a meeting in June to prepare an entertainment for the 3rd of December. Another party started in April, and seeing another movement was going on, he thought it better to carry out this on his own account. He was one of the pioneer diggers of 1851, and knew from the inception the institution of law upon the goldfields. Golden Point diggings were started on 1st September, 1851, and Government officials did not appear till 19th September. On 20th September, they issued the first licence. Two commissioners, Doveton and Armstrong, came with 15 black troopers as caretakers of the diggers. Trouble arose over the collection of licences, and a deputation of which he (Mr Oddie) was one, waited upon one of the commissioners to urge that it had been promised no fees should be collected for two months. The deputation were (sic) soon cut short, and from then to the Stockade the trouble came on by degrees. As the audience knew, the licences were collected at the point of the bayonet, and the diggers who had none to show were taken to the logs. It was not possible for people now to realise the conditions that prevailed. Life was not worth living. The only wonder was that the riots did not come sooner. Men who were present in those times were on the platform, among them Mr Hartley, from Mount Egerton, the poet of the Stockade, and he asked Mr Hartley to step forward and recite his poem, “The Eureka Stockade.” Mr G. Hartley recited the poem, which was one of his own compositions. Mr Michael Carroll, the son of the man who took Peter Lalor to Geelong after the Stockade, and who helped in the undertaking himself, then described his experiences. They took Lalor, he said, to Father Smythe’s (sic) presbytery, where his arm was amputated. They had a very difficult task to get him away. They left Ballarat on a Sunday morning, and travelled through the bush, principally at night time, getting to Geelong on the third day. Lalor waited there until the State trials were over and the reward for his apprehension withdrawn, and then he came out and wrote some pretty strong letters to the press. There was a certain individual in Ballarat who said he took Lalor to Geelong, but he had nothing to do with it, and the facts just mentioned could be proved. He moved - “That a fund be constituted at an early date for keeping in order in perpetuity the graves of the Stockaders who were slain on the 3rd of December, 1854.” Mr G. Hartley seconded the motion. Mr Oddie observed that he proposed setting in motion a movement to provide a fund to keep the graves in order as long as they existed. He suggested that £100 should be raised and invested in Government stock, which was more or less of a perpetuity. The motion was put, and carried unanimously. Mr John Manning, an old Stockader, said that the deaths of those killed at Eureka were due to bad law. The diggers were hunted by the police. There were about 780 men on the Eureka field, and to his own knowledge half of them were not getting anything, yet they had to pay a heavy licence fee. They could stand it no longer, and took up arms. He gave at considerable length his recollection of the times when the diggers were drilling and preparing for the fight, and described what led up to the burning of Bentley’s hotel. In conclusion he repeated that the trouble was all due to bad laws. He had every sympathy with the young natives, and he wished the nation well. He moved -- “That in the opinion of this meeting the State Government would do an equitable, humane, and graceful deed by granting a pension to the aged widow of the late Mr J. W. Esmond. Victorian gold discoverer, who, with her daughter, are both residents of the city of Ballarat, and are not in affluent circumstances.” Mr A. T. Arthur, who said he came 400 miles to be present, seconded the motion. He had been, he said, on a man-of-war, but thought he would like something better than salt beef, so he ran away, and came to Eureka in 1853. He had not been on the diggings a week when the “traps” came round. A man who would not be kept on board a ship to grease the masts demanded his licence. He said he had none, and then an argument ensued, and he was arrested. He saw an Irishman tied to a stump, with a bag thrown over him to keep the sun off, and all for nothing more than giving three cheers for Dan O’Connell and three groans for the Government. (Laughter.) Mr Arthur added that he still had the rose that was put on his breast at the Stockade by Donovan to fight for Ballarat. (Hear, hear.) Mr Oddie supported the motion, and urged that the granting of a pension to Mrs Esmond would be a very gracious and acceptable act. He had a letter from Mr Hitchcock, of Geelong, enclosing £5 from his brother, in London, towards any fund established for the celebration of that anniversary. He (Mr Oddie) had no use for the money, and proposed to hand it over to the jubilee celebration committee. He moved -- “That this meeting is of opinion that the current antiquated State system of police should be superseded by a modern British municipal system.” At this stage Mr Oddie noticed Mr G. Goddard in the audience, and asked him to come forward. Mr Goddard, he said, had told him he was in the Stockade and was afterwards chained to Timothy Hayes. He was a real Stockader, and ought to be on the platform. Mr Goddard stood forth for a while, but did not accept the invitation. Mr Oddie (continuing) argued in favor of the change in police organisation in the direction indicated in the resolution. Mr M. Carroll seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. Mr T. Marks said he took a very active part in trying to bring to trial the man who murdered Scobie, and Mr Thos. Wanliss worked like a Trojan for the same end. Mr Marks described in detail the incidents relating to the efforts to bring Bentley to justice. The Stockade was a brutal affair, and it could be proved that the men who took no part in it at all were shot. The speaker was in a very reminiscent mood, especially as far as the trial of the rioters was concerned. Mr Marks said he had been employed by Peter Lalor, and had received many a bright sovereign from him, and lately his son Dr Lalor, in giving him a present had said to him, “Tommy, my father often used to talk of you.” After the speeches a number of lantern views illustrative of the great event now being celebrated were shown, and these brought the programme to a close.

23-17 THE BALLARAT STAR 02 December, 1904 (p5 c1-2) NOTE ........ also see courier, same date p3 c5............................... THE EUREKA ANNIVERSARY A GATHERING OF VETERANS - TALES OF THE EARLY DAYS There was a pathetic interest attached to the gathering at the Alfred Hall last night of the veterans of the Eureka Stockade, when a public meeting arranged by Mr James Oddie was held to celebrate the anniversary of the fight at Eureka. The audience was not a very large one. It consisted mainly of the old folks, and though all could not claim to have taken part in the historic battle, there were those there who did. On the platform there were assembled a little group of veterans, who wore on their arms a badge, denoting that they had fought within the stockade, and they chatted together, while the audience assembled, and exchanged experiences, or renewed old acquaintances, and revived the life of the early days. The veterans were very diverse in their characteristics. Some were tough, wirey men, knarled (sic) and brown, who looked good enough for another forty years, while others were bent and feeble, and it was only when the stirring tale of the stockade opened out before them that the old light came back into their eyes, and their minds went back to the time when, as young, fiery, and impetuous men, they rallied around Peter Lalor, and took the stand against the powers that were, that secured the abolition of the diggers' license. Some of the veterans had come long distances to attend the meeting: one old digger, as vigorous and alert as when he helped to build the stockade, having travelled four hundred miles, from the Snowy River, for the express purpose of meeting the remnant of the old friends who had gathered on the Eureka to "see it out." The veterans were heartily cheered as each finished his short experience, and they were evidently as proud of the part they were now taking in the meeting as of the part they had taken in the greater meetings of '54. The audience, as they entered the hall, were presented with a neat booklet, describing the life of Peter Lalor. Mr James Oddie, who presided over the gathering, explained that it had been the intention that the late Cr Murary (sic) should take the chair, but unfortunately death had claimed that gentleman. A difficulty had arisen, owing to there being two movements. When lecturing a year ago, he had stated his intention of calling a meeting to organise this gathering, but a second party stepped in, and decided to run another show. He was not sorry, and he hoped that it would realise £500 for the charities. He was one of the pioneers who had been on the diggings in '51. The diggings were not then controlled by the government. That came on the 19th December, and the licenses were first issued on the 21st. Two commissioners came- Messrs Doveton and Armstrong- and a deputation of two diggers, of which he was one, waited on them, to ask that the licenses be remitted. They were told if they did not pay the license, they would soon be made to. Then the government began to inforce the license at the point of the bayonet. He remembered at one time that 30 diggers were locked up at "the logs," and so it went on until the stockade evolved. Life then was made so hard that it was not worth living. The present generation could not understand it, but those who lived in those days wondered that the fight was not precipitated before. There were a few of the old stockaders there that night, and he would call on some of them to give their experiences. Mr George Hartley, of Mt Egerton, was the poet of the Stockade, and he would give his experience. Mr Hartley, a veteran digger, came forward, and recitated a lengthy poem, describing the Eureka fight and the causes that led up to it. Mr M. Carroll, the son of the man who took Peter Lalor down to Geelong, described how Lalor was taken to Father Smyth's presbytery, where his arm was amputated. A certain man in Ballarat had claimed that he had escorted Peter Lalor to Geelong, but such was not the case. It was desired that the graves of those brave men who had fallen in the fight should be kept in proper order, and he had much pleasure in moving:- "That a fund be constituted at an early date for keeping in order in perpetuity the graves of the stockaders who were slain on the 3rd of December, 1854. " Mr G. Hartley seconded the resolution, which was carried. Mr. Oddie explained that what he wished to do was to raise a fund of £100, to be invested in Government stock, and the interest thereon would suffice to maintain the graves as they should be kept. Mr John Manning, another stockader, next spoke, stating that the men who died there had lost their lives because of bad law. The diggers had worked in the face of immense difficulties, until at last they flew to arms. Mr Lalor had on the Friday night before the day of the battle about 1100 men under him. A rumour was circulated that 500 soldiers with five guns were on their way to Ballarat, and a number of diggers went out to meet them. Mr Manning described the burning of the miners' right, and the building of the stockade. He moved- "That in the opinion of this meeting the state government would an equitable, humane, and graceful deed by granting a pension to the aged widow of the late Mr. J.W. Esmond, Victorian gold discoverer, who, with her daughter, now resides in the city of Ballarat, and they are not in affluent circumstances." Mr. A.T. Arthur, who seconded the motion said he had come 400 miles to attend this function. His mother and sister were living on the Eureka at the time of the fight. He had not been on the diggings a week before a "slovenly looking trap" came along and demanded his license, and as he had not got it he was arrested. When he got to "the logs" he found an Irishman tied to a stump just for giving three cheers for Daniel O'Connell and five groans for the government. He stuck to the Eureka and saw it through. The resolution was carried with applause. The chairman said if any man did well to his country it was Esmond, the man who found gold, and it would be a grand thing if a fund were established to keep his aged widow in comfort to the end of her life. This morning he had received a letter from Geelong from the brother of one of the oldest diggers of Victoria (Mr W. Hitchcock), enclosing £5 towards the jubilee funds, which he proposed to hand over to the jubilee committee. At this stage a slight diversion was caused by the interjections of another aged stockader in the audience, which became so insistent that the chairman, who was endeavouring to move another resolution, found it difficult to go on. Eventually, however, the chairman moved the resolution, as follows:- "This meeting is of opinion that the current antiquated State system of police should be superseded by a modern British municipal system." He proceeded to explain what the resolution meant, when the stockader in the hall point blank contradicted him. The chairman remarked that the interjector was in the stockade at the time of the fight and was afterwards chained to another man - Timothy Hayes- and he should be on the platform. Mr M. Carroll seconded the resolution, which was carried. Mr. Marks then addressed the audience, stating that he took an active part in trying to bring to justice the man who murdered Scobie, and he helped to bury the murdered man. He described the burning of Bentley's hotel and the events leading up to the Eureka fight. Mr Marks proved himself the most eloquent of the speakers, and he described in much detail the State trial of the prisoners taken at the stockade. In the midst of this the vetran (sic) interjector rose and made his way ostentatiously to the back of the hall. Mr. Marks stated that he was a close friend of Peter Lalor and was proud of the friendship of such man. This closed the addresses and after some praphophone selections and a "divertisement" by the vetrean (sic) interjector a splendid series of pictures, of the pioneer gold discoveries and also some early pictures of Ballarat, showing the site of the first discovery of gold were thrown upon the screen. Mr Oddie, as the pictures passed before the audience, gave some interesting details, which were warmly appreciated. The meeting then closed.

25-18 MOUNT ALEXANDER MAIL, 02 December 1904. P2 c5 EUREKA STOCKADE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT BALLARAT. Ballarat, Thursday The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most exciting incidents in the history of Victoria, the fight between the diggers and the Government troops at the Eureka Stockade, is to be commenced here this evening, when a public meeting will be held in the Alfred Hall. The meeting has been convened by Mr James Oddie, who was the first Chairman of the municipality of Ballarat. Resolutions will be submitted providing for the maintaining in order of the graves in the local cemetery of the diggers who were killed in the fight; affirming the desirability of the Government granting a pension to the widow of James Esmond, one of the captains under the late Peter Lalor, and one of the first discoverers of gold in Victoria; and in favor of the abolition of the present police system with a view of establishing the British municipal system. Efforts have been made to trace all the surviving diggers who took part in the conflict, and several of them, from different parts of the Commonwealth, will address the meeting. The celebration will be continued on Saturday next, when a sports gathering will be held on the Eastern Oval, followed in the evening by a diggers’ camp fire concert. On Sunday the celebration will be brought to a conclusion by the holding of a big demonstration at the site of the Eureka Stockade. The demonstration will be preceded by a monster procession.

17-19 THE BALLARAT STAR, 02 December, 1904 (p2 c8) One of the Eureka rioters, Mr Main, of Boolarra, has been granted a free pass to travel to Ballarat, to be at the jubilee of that riot. Main Claims to have assisted Peter Lalor to bind his broken arm.

41-20 BALLARAT COURIER 05 December1904 c2 p6 CONCERT IN THE ALFRED HALL DIGGERS’ CAMP MEETING On Saturday evening the Eureka anniversary celebrations were continued by a concert in the Alfred Hall. There was a fair attendance. The chief feature of the programme was the realistic diggers’ camp, a representation on the stage of an old-time camp meeting among the tents, windlasses, &c. A number of “diggers” in orthodox costume took part in this distinctly novel item. Mr Fred. Spielvogel, stage manager, was captain of the camp, and under his direction a selection of songs, dances, and recitals was given by Messrs Kennedy, Smith, Hore, Clift, Eurey, Finch, Higgens, Dorter, Rogers, Nankervis, Hoskin, Kearney, Walsh, Callinan, O’Grady, M’Kissock, Nicholson, Bennett, Warne, Troup, Whidburn (2) and Fred. Spielvogel. Other items in the programme included - Overture, “The goldfields,” and selection, by the Cremona Orchestral Society, under the direction of Mrs C. Dorter; character sketch, “The Eureka Stockade,” by Mr A.N. M’Kissock; solo by Mr R. Bennett; Highland fling by Mr. B. Matthews; “Comicalities,” by Mr W. Nankervis; cutlass drill, by the Ballarat North Naval Brigade (Mr J.J. Kellett, instructionor); duet. “The dolls,” by Misses Hanrahan and Brooks; descriptive scena, “ Masks and faces,” by Mr F. Spielvogel; coon specialty, by Miss Vera Doyle; sketch, “The Two Tramps,” by Messrs B. Kearney and B. Hoskins; double sailor’s hornpipe, by the Misses L. And E. Boggins; solo, by Mr P. Rogers; and comedietta, “The Irish substitute,” by Misses L. and E. Boggins and Messrs J. Morrisey, F.J. Spielvogel, W. Nankervis, C. Dorter, R. Wilson, and Fitzpatrick; concluding with an Irish reel by the company. The piano used for the concert was lent by the Beale Australian Piano Company.

19-21 THE BALLARAT STAR, 02 December, 1904 (p2 c6) Rival poets put in an appearance at the Eureka Stockade anniversary meeting last night. Mr Geo. Hartley one of the men who fought with Peter Lalor in the stockade, wrote some verses, entitled “The Eureka Stockade,” which he recited to the audience at the Alfred Hall. He had hardly concluded when there came forward a local versifer, known as “Vancouver,” who, with much ostentation, presented to the chairman a sheet of paper containing another poem, presumably on the same subject. The chairman, however, declined to recognise the new aspirant for the poet-laureateship of the stockade and the disappointed poet placed his production on the platform, and turned away with a strongly-expressed disgust in his comments in chairmen in general and this one in particular. Later on “Vancouver” made another effort to attract the attention of the chairman to his poem without avail and the effort, so far as that meeting was concerned, was born to blush unseen.