cnr Victoria St & Humffray St Ballarat
Bakery Hill
Bakery Hill Protest Meetings from late 1853 to early 1855
Many large protest meetings were held at Bakery Hill. It was here that the diggers and storekeepers gathered to discuss their grievances and their struggles with the authorities.
There were at least 8 meetings prior to the Eureka battle and at least 3 after the event.
Next Monument:
distance to next monument
<1km: Ballarat
2km: Star Hotel
11km: Buninyong
63km: Creswick
79km: Castlemaine
85km: Chewton
114km: St Paul’s Melbourne
117km: Bendigo
377km: Beechworth
Bakery Hill Protest Meetings from late 1853 to early 1855
Many large protest meetings were held at Bakery Hill. It was here that the diggers and storekeepers gathered to discuss their grievances and their struggles with the authorities.
There were at least 8 meetings prior to the Eureka battle and at least 3 after the event.
Do we know the exact site of these monster meetings?
Among the watercolour sketches by Charles Doudiet purchased by The Art Gallery of Ballarat in 1996, there was one that made everyone excited. It was the first visual image by an eye-witness of the Bakery Hill monster meeting with the diggers swearing an oath of allegiance to a new flag, the Southern Cross. The Eureka flag flew for the first time at this meeting and Doudiet was there, a young man excited to be part of an emotional and momentous occasion.
From all the evidence it would seem that the site of the Bakery Hill meetings was certainly the elevated area adjacent to the present St Paul’s in Humffray Street. From here there would have been a clear view across the flats to the Government Camp. An article by Jack Harvey published in 2018, ‘Where did the Bakery Hill monster meetings take place?’ can be read in Eurekapedia.com/Essays.
11th November 1854
The Ballarat Reform League was officially formed at this meeting in the presence of around 10,000 people. The 4 page Charter of the Reform League was adopted and the decision made to present it to Governor Hotham. The Charter contains expressions of democratic principles including full and fair representation and manhood suffrage as well as the total abolition of the licence fees and the disbandment of the Commissioners.
30th November 1854
A spontaneous meeting followed a provocative and aggressive licence hunt.
At this meeting, Peter Lalor mounted the stump and called for volunteers to form companies and he swore them in, then and there:
‘We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other
And fight to defend our rights and liberties.’
About 1,000 men, led by Peter Lalor, marched from here to the Eureka diggings to construct a stockade, a defensive place from which to resist future licence hunts.
nearby points of interest...
