Charles Doudiet

Charles Alphonse Doudiet (1832 - 13 June 1913) was a Swiss-born Canadian artist and digger present at the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat, in the British Colony of Victoria (now Australia), in 1854.

Doudiet's drawing Swearing Allegiance to the "Southern Cross" is an important historical work because it documents the meeting on Bakery Hill on 1 December 1854.

Accompanying the sketch is a descriptive passage with the footnote: "Joyce, Penny and Fletcher along with myself carried Ross to the Star where he died in great pain at about 2am on the 5th".

This refers to fellow Canadian Captain Henry Ross, whom many believe to be the Eureka Flag's designer, who was carried to the Star Hotel after he was mortally wounded in the battle at dawn on 3 December 1854.

[2] In January 2012, an article in The Age newspaper discusses an unsupported accusation, brought forward to the reporter by an unnamed person who claimed that his own poor health made him unable "to pursue this matter" himself, that Swearing Allegiance to the Southern Cross may be a forgery.