Spending the day in the Sovereign Hill theme park showed us the cruelty of the administration in the 1800s, and how the gold miners life was a difficult one. Not many of them actually struck it rich, yet at the height of the gold rush here over 40,000 men of various nationalities toiled above and below ground for the elusive metal, having walked here from all over Australia pushing their tools and possessions in wheelbarrows.Despite that the town was and still is very rich, as I shall show later. Within twenty years from 1850 to 1870 it grew to be the most prosperous city in Australia, and some say the world.
At Sovereign hill we can pan for gold, descend a mine and experience a cave in, (well almost) and handle the real thing. There is still gold here, a number of small mines dot the landscape within a few miles, and it is still possible to find the odd piece here in the stream.
There are many volunteers dotted around the town, totally in character, one playing a drunk woman, and of course the diggers themselves. Some of the children are in period costume, and are learning how their ancestors had to live.
The 'diggers' had to buy a licence every month, initially at £1, but soon rose to £1-10s, (£1-50), which many of them could not afford. The police and the corrupt magistrates enforced it, and would daily tour the workings looking for miners without a licence, as they would get half the fines that were administered. The diggers resented this of course, to the extent that eventually they revolted by burning their licences, and building a stockade around the diggings.
The authorities brought in the army and the navy, and very early one Sunday morning, when many of the miners were away visiting their wives, they pounced. Shooting down the defenders, they killed around twenty miners, and lost eight of their own ranks.
Arresting 13 of the men they said were the ringleaders, they took them to trial for high treason in Melbourne, but all were acquitted by sympathetic juries.
After being castigated in the world's press the authorities realised that they must treat the people with more respect and a new social order was established throughout Australia. Some of the leaders of the revolt became MPs, the dreaded licence fee was abolished, and the corrupt police and magistrates sacked.
Sovereign Hill now has many fine old buildings, some brought in from outside, but many original including the diggings, with tents and even a Chinese village, as many of that race came here to seek their fortune.We attended a sound and light show which enacted the revolt and it's consequences, and a good show it was too.
Anne got to hold a genuine gold ingot, just smelted and still warm, worth £100,000. She tried to pocket it but was seen and almost ended up in the clink!
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The city of Ballarat itself also has a lot to offer, many of the town centre buildings were designed and built in the 1870s, including a lovely Town Hall, still in use today. The architecture is a measure of the wealth of the town at that time, and we spent a few hours walking round the streets admiring the buildings. We also went into an art gallery, not usually my scene, but they had some very interesting drawings and paintings depicting the gold rush and the uprising.
I shall leave you with a few pics of the streets and buildings, and one of the pictures from the gallery.
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