Thomas Allen
Contents
Background
Thomas Allen was also known as 'Old Waterloo' Allen.[1] He was a Ballarat resident in 1854, he had previously been in the 33rd Regiment, and for two years worked for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company as resident office keeper. After serving at the Ballarat Camp for six months Allen used all his pay to start a small business called the Waterloo Coffee House, which was located within the Eureka Stockade. At that time he was 60 years of age. Allen stated that he had served at Waterloo, hence the naming of his business.[2]
Goldfields Involvement, 1854
He was the proprietor of the Waterloo Coffee House, [3] with a tent inside the Eureka Stockade. He stayed in his bed during the battle until Sub-Inspector Charles Carter forced him out. [4]
Mentioned on Rev. T.J. Linnane's List,[5]
Post 1854 Experiences
Allen was a post Eureka claimant for the destruction of his property, and received compensation. During the compensation claims Allen said he was kept prisoner inside the stockade on the morning of 3 December 1854, when it was attacked by the military. He stated that at 60 years of age the loss sustained left him almost destitute. [6]
Captain Thomas of the 40th Regiment stated during the Compensation Claims that Allen was loyal, and had come to him at the Camp before 3 December 1854, to report that he had been held as a prisoner inside the stockade. Allen lived at Ballarat, and was recorded on the 1855 Electoral Roll, under the electoral qualification of Miner’s Right.[7]
After the battle Allen testified that there were three tents within the Eureka Stockade neighbouring his. One was the home for a married couple with six children, another housed a couple with three children, and the third ten sheltered a man with four children.[8]
See also
Further Reading
Riot at Ballarat appointed to enquire into circumstances connected with the late disturbance at Ballarat together with the evidence taken by the board laid upon the Council table by the Colonial Secretary, by Command of His Excellency the lieutenant Governor and ordered by the Council to be printed 21st November, 1854.
References
- ↑ Blake, Gregory, To Pierce the Tyrant's Heart, Australian Military History Publications, 2009, p.172.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Names in the Eureka Story, self published, c1972.
- ↑ Blake, Gregory, To Pierce the Tyrant's Heart, Australian Military History Publications, 2009, p.173.
- ↑ List of names of people who figured in the life of Ballarat before and during the Eureka Rebellion of 3 December 1854, unpublished.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Blake, Gregory, To Pierce the Tyrant's Heart, Australian Military History Publications, 2009, p.172.
External links
biography/akehurst-arthur-purssell-12769/text23033
