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The Victorian gold rush led to an influx of foreign nationals, increasing the colony's population from 77,000 in 1851 to 198,496 in 1853.[1] Many such as Raffaello Carboni had experienced the Revolutions of 1848. They supported the protest movement that formed on the goldfields in opposition to the mining tax system, ultimately leading to an armed uprising at Ballarat. It is currently known that the participants in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854 came from at least 23 different nations, including Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Jamaica, Mauritius, Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, The Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain.[2] Carboni recalled that "We were of all nations and colours."[3] During the 1855 Victorian High Treason trials the Argus court reporter observed that of "the first batch of prisoners brought up for examination, the four examined consisted of one Englishman, one Dane, one Italian, and one negro, and if that is not a foreign collection, we do not know what is."[4] However, despite being present on the Ballarat gold fields, there is no record of any Chinese involvement at the Eureka Stockade. According to figures published by Professor Anne Beggs-Sunter, in her sample of 44 rebels, only one hailed from a non-European country.[5]
- ^ Barnard 1962, p. 255.
- ^ "Eureka Nationalities" (PDF). Eureka Centre Ballarat. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Carboni 1855, p. 69.
- ^ "DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE". The Argus (Melbourne). Melbourne. 12 December 1854. p. 5. Retrieved 17 April 2024 – via Trove.
- ^ Anne Sunter, 'Eureka; Gathering 'the Oppressed of All Nations', 'Eureka; Releasing the Spirit of Democracy' (2008) 10(1) Journal of Australian Colonial History (special issue based on papers presented at the Eureka Conference at the University of Ballarat, November 2004).
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