Join Doug Bradby for a special Eureka edition of Talking History where he will present an examination of the November 1854.
By October 1854, tensions on the Ballarat goldfields were mounting. Word reached the diggings that James Bentley and his co-conspirators had been acquitted and police watched on as the Eureka Hotel was burnt to the ground. Through November, thousands attended a series of mass rallies, culminating in the Eureka Rebellion. But could the violent escalation of events leading up to the Eureka Stockade have been avoided all together? Or was the Eureka Stockade inevitable?
Doug has lived and worked all his life in Ballarat. Educated at Urquhart Street Primary School, Ballarat High School and Monash University, Doug taught history for 30 years at Ballarat secondary schools. He has written seven history books for children and three books that explore Ballarat’s astonishing mining history. He is now working on a series of booklets that explore the vibrancy of community life in Ballarat.
Attend Talking History in person at the Eureka Centre (no booking required). Past lectures can be viewed on YouTube by clicking this link.
Image: J B Henderson, ‘Eureka Stockade riot, Ballarat, 1854’ c.1854 (details). Watercolour on paper, Mitchell Library, State Library of NE South Wales, Presented by W. J. H. Harris.
