Ballarat

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Gold licence hunts 2.jpg

An incident on the Ballarat goldfields on 21 September 1851 illustrates their success as a force prepared to intervene in case of disorder. Commissioner Doveton and his assistant David Armstrong explained to the diggers the government’s decision to introduce licensing fees, which attracted an angry response from the miners. A public meeting was held immediately, and when the first men came forward to pay the fee, 13 they were struck and pelted by ‘the mob’ as Dana called them. Had it not been for the presence of the Native Police, Dana reported, those diggers would have been seriously injured (Fels 1988, p. 213)’.


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