Print this page Rebellion! Behind The Eureka Stockade

Just before dawn on the morning of December 3 1854, 296 soldiers and police descended on the sleeping inhabitants of the stockade which had been roughly thrown together on the Eureka Lead in Ballarat. Fifteen minutes later twenty-two miners lay dead and the rebellion against the authority of the Crown had been quashed. The issues which had driven the Ballarat miners to erect the stockade were not unique to Ballarat. The discovery of gold in Australia, and in particular the new colony of Victoria, had exposed government incompetence which sought to maintain control by employing power hungry officials to impose harsh and un just policies on free men. Tension brewed on Castlemaine, Bendigo and other goldfields before it finally came to a head at Ballarat. This course places the events at Eureka Stockade in their full historical and social setting.

This is a Discussion Group course, if you aren’t already part of a group please see ‘Getting Started’ below.
 

COURSE INFORMATION

Course Author: Jill Blee

Course Code: D198

Supplied Material: Course Booklet

Units & Pricing: 6 units / $78 per person

GETTING STARTED

Start your Group: Anyone can start a Discussion Group – seek out some like-minded friends or put up a notice in your local library, bookshop or workplace. Please note a minimum of 6 people is required to start a new discussion group.

Arrange the Meetings: New groups need to decide where and when to meet, and for how long – whatever best suits members' particular situations.

Run your Group: Choose a secretary to liaise with WEA and your tutor, a Discussion Leader to chair meetings, a reporter to take discussion notes to send to your tutor, and maybe a librarian to look after the books.

Start the Course: Contact WEA Sydney to enrol. Bookings can be made for one year, divided into two terms – Term 1 commences in February, Term 2 in July (Groups may make forward bookings for popular choices). Please indicate in what order your Group wishes to study the courses, if more than one course is booked.