On the Eureka rebellion and elections

160 years ago today the Eureka flag was hoisted above Ballarat. Gold miners were unhappy with the laws that required them to pay an onerous license fee. Miners received few services for the fee. They had no vote. The miners burnt their licenses and built a stockade.The Eureka rebels adopted the language of the American revolution - there should be no taxation without representation. There were other issues: a young miner, James Scobie, had been killed by a hotel owner, Bentley. The miners felt that Bentley was acquitted inappropriately by the judge - a similar grievance to the contemporary protests at Ferguson, Missouri.

A replica of the Eureka flag flying near the site of the stockade photographed by me in 2007

On 3 December the Government forces attacked the stockade built by the miners at the Eureka lead. The miners lost the skirmish. 22 miners were killed and 5 of the Government troops. However, after the rebellion changes were introduced. The license fee was reduced. Miners could own land. Miners also got the vote.

A gold license issued in 1853 by my great great great grandfather, Philip Champion de Crespigny (1817-1889),  who was a gold warden in Victoria (image from the State Library of Victoria). He was not at Ballarat at the time of the rebellion.

160 years later the citizens of Victoria went to the polls to elect the State Government. There are debates as to how significant the riots were in progressing Australian democracy. It seems to me that the miners included lack of representation amongst their grievances and that grievance was addressed not long after the riot. The path to our present political system is not dependent on one event but in my mind certainly the protests by the miners progressed our system of democracy and thus our vote today has roots in the raising of the Eureka flag 160 years ago.

In the 1850s more than half a million immigrants arrived in Australia and 60% of these came to Victoria for Gold. At the time of the Eureka rebellion there were about 25,000 living on the Ballarat goldfields including some of my husband's forebears.  I don't know if they played any part in the rebellion, they are certainly not among those named, any part they played must have been small. I would love to know what they thought about it.


Further reading:

• "Eureka Stockade." Explore History. State Library of Victoria, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/golden-victoria/impact-society/eureka-stockade>.
• "Eureka Stockade." Australian Stories. Australian Government, 16 Feb. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/eureka-stockade>.
• Wilkie, Ben. "What's Wrong With Eureka? Part II." Stories. The Ballarat Independent, 1 Sept. 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://theballaratindependent.com.au/news/article/what-s-wrong-with-eureka-part-ii>. 
• Wright, Clare. "Eureka Flag Heralds Winds of Change." The Age. Fairfax, 28 Nov. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/eureka-flag-heralds-winds-of-change-20141125-11t7sz.html>.

Bankruptcy in England in the early nineteenth century

Shrewsbury Prison main entrance

It seems that my fourth great grandfather, William Pulteney Dana (1776-1861), went bankrupt and was gaoled for it. Notices in the London Gazette include insolvency and I found some concerning William Dana that give some of the story of his financial experience. The Gazette commenced in 1665 and is now digitised and searchable. 

 

(On their own Petitions.)

Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), Publication date: 18 August 1840 Issue: 19885 Pages: 1921-2 retrieved from https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19885/page/1922

A few months later he was out of gaol and living in lodgings. We learn that as well as being on half-pay from the army, Dana was running a printing business.

Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), Publication date: 13 November 1840 Issue: 19913 Pages: 2558-9 retrieved from https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19913/page/2558

Some months later his case was adjourned.

Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), Publication date: 5 March 1841 Issue: 19958 Pages: 627-8retrieved from https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19958/page/628

I have found no further mentions of the case. I assume Dana settled his debts. At the time of the 1851 and 1861 censuses he was living with his married daughter and her husband in a terrace house in Shrewsbury. It would seem his finances did not recover.  It was quite different to living in Roughton Hall.

Bankruptcy featured a lot in Victorian literature. Charles Dickens's character of Mr Micawber springs to mind. In 1824 Charles Dickens's father, John Dickens, was imprisoned for debt under the Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813. It wasn't until 1869 that debtors no longer went to prison. For a brief history of insolvency law in England the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_insolvency_law#History is useful. However I found the chapter on the subject of Bankruptcy, Debt and Money lending in What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew : fascinating facts of daily life in the nineteenth century by Daniel Poole very readable and informative.

Pool, Daniel What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew : fascinating facts of daily life in the nineteenth century. Robinson, London, 1998.

Earlier this month, Susan Donaldson wrote about a book on Victorian life and this is another but containing many references to novels of the era. Bankruptcy and debt featured in many novels and this presumably was based on the experiences of living in the era. My forebear was one of those who experienced this misery.

Anne Young blogging at http://ayfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au

Everyday Llife of our Victorian Ancestors

I've been trying to catch up after the mammoth daily April A-Z Challenge - so just a short piece from me this month on a book that is well worth reading as background material for writing your family history narratives.

Do you want to find out what life was really like for your ancestors living  in Victorian Britain?    

I recommend "How to be a Victorian" by Ruth Goodman, published by the Penguin Group in 2013.

It is  a fascinating read that gives us an insight  into how Victorians lived their daily lives, whether they be rich of poor, town or country based.  

Material has been gathered from contemporary accounts,  letters, diaries, newspapers and magazines.   

The author takes an innovative approach by following a typical routine  day in all its detail  for both men and women;  from the point of waking up - by a servant in a grand house or a"knocker upper" poking a stick at the window of a miner or mill worker's home.

Of added interest are the descriptions by the  author of her attempts to experience some aspects  of Victorian life  - such as doing the laundry, trying out Victorian recipes, heating the home or  struggling into the multi layers of dress.

We often can gather information quite easily on the life of the upper classes. but the emphasis here is very much on the day to day lives  of ordinary people.  

Chapters look at 

• Waking Up
• Getting Dressed 
• A Trip to the Privy
• Personal Grooming
• Breakfast and Midday Meal
• A typical  working day -  for both men & women 
• School
• Leisure Time
• The Evening Meal 
• Before Bed
• Behind the Bedroom Door 

Just one slight niggle - there is hardly anything on the the part church played in people's lives,    which I found surprising, given our perception of the Victorian preoccupation with religions observances.

This is no dry historical textbook, but an engrossing read, (or a book to dip into), to experience what life was really like for our ancestors.   

RECOMMENDED! 

Becoming an Ancestor - Understanding Social & Historical Context.

The year for me so far has been dismal on the private and domestic front. My husband and I have had a series of emotional upheavals that we expected one day, but not just yet. As February drew to a close the post that I had decided to write for Worldwide Genealogy was bumped to next month because today's post was created on the back of something that I did yesterday.

Yesterday I did several things. Firstly I entered my Mum's death details into my family history program along with a copy of her death certificate. I then spent several hours writing a presentation made up of several readings and the music that will be delivered and heard at her funeral. The presentation will be shared with members of my family and friends who can not attend. It will also be a lasting tribute to my Mum.

I became acutely aware that in the space of a few moments the transition from life to death happened, and in a longer time frame the existence of my Mum within my genealogical material from a living individual to an ancestor occurred. I can not tell you the series of emotions that I felt as I sat at my desk yesterday. Sadly, I know that some of you will know exactly how I felt because you have done something similar.

The point of this post is not be weepy and depressed. Far from it. I am absolutely my Mother's daughter. Things I write, say and do. We all exhibit things from our parents and those we interact with on a daily basis. Those things are what keeps our relatives alive in our memories.

How did though our ancestors deal with bereavement, death, dying and grief? They would have felt the absolute emotions that I have felt over recent weeks, but we are not the only people who have lost a loved one. Sadly death is a fact of life and yet over hundreds of years how we deal with the emotions and the physical process has changed, probably I suspect beyond recognition.

The Victorians dealt with death with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. Sometime ago I came across this video, which is from a lecture held at Gresham College in 2010. You can view the Power Point presentation with other details at the Gresham College website. This lecture forms part of the The Victorians: Culture and Experience in Britain, Europe and the World 1815-1914



Therefore, from the saddest of events we can learn and reflect on the past and truly understand how our ancestors dealt with the natural order of things.