History

The Eureka Rebellion took place in Victoria on 3 December 1854. A group of miners objecting to the introduction of mining licenses, taxation and lack of representation began a series of protests which escalated into the miners erecting a stockade on Bakery Hill near Ballarat. After a clash between the miners and colonial forces in which six soldiers and twenty-two miners died, the surviving stockade leaders were arrested and eventually acquitted of treason. The revolt arguably hastened new legislation in Victoria which, among other things, granted manhood suffrage and a level of responsible government.

This poster is probably a 20th century reproduction of a reward poster produced by the Victorian government for the arrest of key figures involved in the rebellion: Peter Lalor (incorrectly spelled as Lawlor, which is how the name is pronounced) and George Black. The original poster was issued in December 1854 in the wake of the Eureka Rebellion, but called for their arrest for seditious behaviour in November 1854 in the lead up to the Rebellion.