The Victorian colonial police force of the 1850s operated as an armed paramilitary gendarmerie where troopers and police were garrisoned at central locations, such as the government camp in Ballarat, and there was no interaction with the civilian population. To cope with the expansion of the mining industry, the Victorian government resorted to recruiting at least 130 former convicts from Tasmania who were prone to brutal means. They would get a fifty per cent commission from all fines imposed on unlicensed miners and sly grog sellers. Plainclothes officers enforced prohibition, and those involved in the illegal sale of alcohol were initially handed 50-pound fines. There was no profit for police from subsequent offences, that were instead punishable by months of hard labour. This led to the corrupt practice of police demanding blackmail of 5 pounds from repeat offenders.[1] By January 1853, there were 230 mounted police throughout Victoria. By 1855, the number had risen to 485, including nine mounted detectives.
In October 1854, the murder of gold miner James Scobie outside the Eureka Hotel in Ballarat, along with the prosecution of Johannes Gregorius, was the beginning of the end for those opposed to physical force in the mining tax protest movement. A discredited colonial inquest found no evidence of culpability by the Bentley Hotel owners for the fatal injuries amid allegations that Magistrate D'Ewes had a conflict of interest presiding over a case involving the prosecution of Bentley, said to be a friend and indebted business partner.
Gregorius, a physically disabled servant who worked for Father Smyth of St Alipius chapel, was subjected to police brutality and false arrest for licence evasion, even though he was exempt from the requirement. On 15 October, a mass meeting of predominantly Catholic miners took place on Bakery Hill in protest over the treatment of Gregorius. Two days later, amid the uproar over the acquittal, a meeting of approximately 10,000 men occurred near the Eureka Hotel in protest. Gold receiver John Green initially tried to read the riot act but was too over-awed. The hotel was set alight as Rede was pelted with eggs. The available security forces were unable to restore order.
Foot police reinforcements arrived in Ballarat on 19 October 1854, with a further detachment of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot a few days behind. On 28 November, the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot arrived to reinforce the government camp in Ballarat. By the beginning of December, the police contingent at Ballarat had been surpassed by the number of soldiers from the 12th and 40th regiments.[2] [3] The strength of the various units in the government camp was: 40th regiment (infantry): 87 men; 40th regiment (mounted): 30 men; 12th regiment (infantry): 65 men; mounted police: 70 men; and the foot police: 24 men.
There were no known casualties among the Victorian police contingent who led the way over the top as the forlorn hope in a bayonet charge at the Eureka Stockade. George Webster, the chief assistant civil commissary and magistrate, testified in the 1855 Victorian high treason trials that upon entering the stockade, the besieging forces "immediately made towards the flag, and the police pulled down the flag".[4] John King testified, "I took their flag, the southern cross, down – the same flag as now produced."[5] In his report dated 14 December 1854, Captain John Thomas mentioned "the fact of the Flag belonging to the Insurgents (which had been nailed to the flagstaff) being captured by Constable King of the Force".[6] King had volunteered for the honour while the battle was still raging. W. Bourke, a miner residing about 250 yards from the stockade, recalled that: "The police negotiated the wall of the Stockade on the south-west, and I then saw a policeman climb the flag pole. When up about 12 or 14 feet the pole broke, and he came down with a run".
Mounted police
Foot police
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Jeffreys Carter | Carter was a sub-inspector and served with the foot police at the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854. | ||
| Samuel Stackpole Furnell | Furnell was a sub-inspector and served with the foot police at the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854. | ||
| John Sadlier | Sadlier was a sub-inspector of police at Ballarat in 1854. | In his 1898 memoirs, he recalls being at the police headquarters in Flinders Street, Melbourne, on the day of the battle. Sadlier recalls his concern as small crowds gathered nearby as news of the armed uprising reached the capital. He was involved in the hunt for the Kelly gang in 1878-1880. As a police superintendent, Sadlier was in command for part of the siege at Glenrowan, where Ned Kelly was captured. | |
| Maurice Frederick Ximenes | Ximenes was a sub-inspector with the police at the Eureka Stockade. | He was present at the burning of the Eureka Hotel. He ordered some of his subordinates to hide inside the hotel and lent his horse to John Bentley so he could flee the scene. On 30 November 1854, Ximenes led the final provocative licence inspection four days before the fall of the Eureka Stockade. Inspector Henry Foster said it would be dangerous for Ximenes to be "seen alone on the diggings". John Sadleir wrote that Ximenes was also less than popular in the government camp. On one occasion, he went a few hundred yards from his tent, and when he returned, the sentry asked for the password, which Ximenes did not know. When the sentry persisted, Ximenes ran into his tent and drove his bayonet into a nearby tent pole behind him. Sadlier states, "it was all a bit of spite, but the police officer took good care in the future to learn the password. | |
Mounted police
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hussey Chomley | Chomley was a sub-inspector and second in command of a police detachment kept in reserve at the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854. | — | |
| Ladislaus Kossak | Kossak was a police sub-inspector at the Eureka Stockade. | He commanded the 70 Victorian police alongside Samuel Furnell, Thomas Langley, and Hussey Chomley during the battle. | |
| James Langley | Langley was a sub-inspector with the mounted police at the Eureka Stockade.[7] [8] | — | |
Mounted police
Foot police
Mounted police