With the Festive Season upon us, our Christmas post recalls the annual Boxing Day Fete held in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens from 1864 to 1872.
The main purpose of the fete was to raise funds for Ballarat’s charitable institutions. It featured a street procession and activities for children and adults in the gardens. Accounts show the various fetes were well supported by the citizens of Ballarat and beyond. It could be argued that this event was an early precursor to the Ballarat Begonia Festival.
The fete was first held in 1864 and named the Orphan Asylum Fete, with monies raised helping support the establishment of the Ballarat Orphan Asylum, which was planned to commence operation in 1865. The following year, in 1865, it was renamed the Boxing Day Fete, with funds raised directed to supporting the Orphan Asylum, as well as additional charitable institutions in Ballarat.
On 24 December 1864, ‘The Ballarat Star’ wrote, "…the great preparations which for a length of time have been in progress for the public demonstration in favor of the proposed Ballarat District Orphan Asylum may now be said to be completed, and on Monday morning the general public will be called on to accord its approval and crown the labors of the promotors with a justly deserved harvest.” (1) The article further noted, “…thousands of visitors will during the livelong day have an unceasing round of healthy and harmless enjoyment...” (2)
On 28 December 1864, ‘The Ballarat Star’ reported on the presentation of the fete and its associated procession. The article described the procession, “…headed by a band of the Rifle Corps…”, leading people through the streets of Ballarat to the fete at the Botanical Gardens where “…there could not have been fewer than from eight to ten thousand people massed within the space which comprises the oval and the ground between the oval and Lake Wendouree.” (3)
The article provides a thorough and colourful account of the activities and performances enjoyed by the public, including this observation: “Boys and girls were in the third heaven of pleasure with their toys, round-a-bouts, kiss in the ring, swings, or merry-go-rounds. Boys and girls, old as well as young, were ecstatic at the appearance of the “awful guys” of Richardson’s show, whose delightfully preposterous get-up was irresistibly amusing. Even the lion looked on with an unconventionally comic expression and attitude…” (4)
The article estimated the 1864 fete raised over 850 pounds for the Orphan Asylum. (5) In September 1865, representatives from the District Hospital, Benevolent Asylum, Orphan Asylum and other local charities met at the Ballaarat Mechanic's Institute to discuss the forthcoming Boxing Day fete. (6) At the meeting, a decision was made that monies raised from the fete should be distributed among these various local charities.
The 1865 fete was a tremendous success with 7000-10,000 people estimated to have attended the event. (7) The fete continued to be strongly supported by the people of Ballarat, up until the final fete in 1872. The procession for the final fete assembled outside the former Ballarat East Library in Barkly Street and wound its way down Victoria and Sturt Streets until it reached the Botanical Gardens. Spectators lined the route to the gardens, where again, various activities, demonstrations and displays entertained the crowd. The program concluded with an evening display of fireworks, “…comprising a great variety of squibs, rockets, circular lights, and other illuminations, a bouquet of coloured lights being especially beautiful.’ (8)
On 27 November 1873, ‘The Ballarat Courier’ reported, “…the Boxing Day fete, which for many years, was successfully held under the auspices of the different friendly societies in the town, gave place this year to an athletic sports meeting at the Western Cricket Reserve”. (9) The article continued, “…the day’s amusements commenced with a procession which marched by way of Bridge, Victoria, Barkly Sth and Pleasant Streets to the grounds.” (10) Despite the thematic change, the monies raised on Boxing Day continued to be directed to supporting Ballarat charities.
The Boxing Day fete is a long-forgotten part of Ballarat’s history, but the legacy of its fundraising efforts lives on in our buildings and institutions. These charitable fetes attracted thousands of people each year and, for a time, defined the character of Ballarat’s festive season, being the embodiment of the Christmas spirit of compassion and generosity.
On behalf of the staff at BRHAE and the Eureka Centre I would like to extend our best wishes and season's greetings for the holiday period to everyone. May 2024 be a year filled with much successful research.
Simon Jacks
Australiana Research Librarian
Here is a link to 'The Ballarat Star' editorial about the preparations for the first fete. 24 December 1864, p.2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66350726/6478861
Here is a link to a report in 'The Ballarat Star; about the first fete celebrations. 28 December 1864, p.2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66350788/6478870
Here is a report in 'The Ballarat Courier' about the final fete celebrations. 27 December 1872, p.2 and p. 3
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/192279541/21561664 (page 2)
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/192279541/21561665 (page 3)
Here is a report in 'The Ballarat Star' about the final fete celebrations. 27 December 1872, p.3
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/219196995/21868010
Here is a report in 'The Ballarat Courier' on the Boxing Day Sports Carnival. 27 December 1873, p.2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/192283846/21560233
Footnotes
(1). 'The Ballarat Star', 24 December 1864, p.2
(2). 'The Ballarat Star', 24 December 1864, p.2
(3) 'The Ballarat Star', 28 December 1864, p.2
(4) 'The Ballarat Star', 28 December 1864, p. 2
(5) 'The Ballarat Star', 28 December 1864, p. 2
(6) 'The Ballarat Star', 20 September 1865, p.2
(7) 'The Ballarat Star', 27 December 1865, p.2
(8) 'The Ballarat Courier', 27 December 1872 pp.2-3
(9) 'The Ballarat Courier', 24 December 1873, p.3
(10) 'The Ballarat Courier', 27 December 1873 p.2
Image 1: Ballarat in 1872. Looking towards Black Hill from the Ballarat Town Hall Tower. Australiana Research Collection.
Image 2: 'Botanic Gardens, Ballarat' in the 'Australasian Sketcher', Alfred May and Alfred Martin Ebsworth (publishers), print: wood engraving, Melbourne, 22 October 1881, State Library of Victoria, Accession No: A/S22/10/81/348
Image 3: ‘Ballarat Benevolent Asylum Fete – The Chinese Procession’, print: wood engraving, published in ‘The Illustrated Australian News for home readers’, 1 December 1875, Publisher: Ebenezer and David Syme, Melbourne. State Library of Victoria, IAN01/12/75/188.
