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Expenses of troops and police associated with the Ballarat riots
Expenses of troops and police associated with the Ballarat riots

Expenses of troops and police associated with the Ballarat riots

Printer
Date17 January 1856
Object number00018466
NameParliamentary paper
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 337 x 215 mm, 0.15 kg
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThis Parliamentary paper is an account of the expenses of troops and police as a result of the Ballarat riots. The colonial government of Victoria made substantial payments for the additional employment and transportation of police and troops to quash the Eureka uprising at Ballarat in 1854.HistoryExpensive gold licenses and variable returns from mining created resentment towards the Victorian colonial government during the 1850s. In 1854 this tension reached a climax as diggers refused to pay for their license fees. On 3 December 1854 violence erupted as miners exchanged fire with troops from within a stockade at Ballarat, Victoria. A group of Americans called the Independent California Rangers Revolver Brigade fought alongside the digger's army. During a 20-minute battle 25 miners and one soldier were killed. As a result of the conflict a number of properties and businesses were destroyed. These losses formed the basis of the compensation claims by residents in Ballarat. Some of the storekeepers who lost their property after the riot were successful in receiving compensation. The conflict also resulted in the abolishment of the miner's license fee which was replaced by an annual £1 fee called a Miner's Right. The Parliamentary papers of the colony of Victoria contain major reports by members in the Parliament committees, offices and organisations. They offer an insight into the official view of the government at the time. SignificanceThis paper gives an insight into the official government view of the miners' riots in Ballarat in 1854. It is representative of the financial cost to the Victorian government to stablilise the conflict.