Eureka Stockade Memorial Park

Following an earlier meeting on 22 November 1855 held at the location of the stockade where calls for compensation were made, Raffaello Carboni returned to the rebel burial ground for the first anniversary of the battle and remained for the day selling copies of his self-published memoirs.

In 1857, the anniversary was much more low-key and was marked by "some of the friends of those who fell to decorate their tombs with flowers ... the occasion will be passed over without any public demonstrations".

[1][2][3] In the late 1860s, after lobbying by locals, the mayor of Ballarat East, Emanuel Steinfeld, requested that the state government proclaim a reserve around the area where the Eureka Stockade was erected.

Following a formal request to the District Surveyor in November 1869, the Town Clerk identified an area of land that was officially gazetted in April 1870.

That year, it was officially gazetted as the "Eureka Park and Garden" and made the responsibility of the Ballarat East Council.

[5] In the sesquicentenary year, there was a procession on Sunday, 4 December 1904, from Sturt Street to the Eureka Stockade Reserve.

[6] Frank Penhalluriack convened a meeting at the Ballarat East Town Hall on 7 February 1912, attended by forty-seven people concerned about the poor state of the Eureka Stockade Reserve.

[citation needed] In 1913 there was a statement of "Objects" adopted as follows: a.To create a national spirit and patriotism by enlisting the sympathy of the Government and Citizens of the Commonwealth; b.The annual celebration of the fight for liberty which took place at eureka on 3 December 1854; c. the beautification and maintenance of the Eureka Stockade Reserve.

[13] The swimming pool was used until 1964 when considerable faecal matter was discovered in the unchlorinated water, and immersion was forbidden as possibly hazardous.

Due to ongoing mining activity, the site of the battle was so extensively transformed that the original landscape became unrecognisable, making pinpointing the historical location of the stockade virtually impossible.

It contains the dated signatures of Redmond Barry (four times), and on the reserve side, there is a cartoon figure and the words "one of the volunteers" and William a Beckett's initials "W.A.B.".

At the trials, Amos, Webster, Langley, Hackett and Richards all agreed that the map exhibit was generally true and correct.

Government surveyor Thomas Burr, draftsman James Gaunt, and Eugene Bellairs, whose party was fired upon from the area a couple of days prior, all knew the location of the stockade but were not examined as to the fidelity of the trial map when called as witnesses.

This stockade encompassed three sides of a parallelogram, leaving one end completely open, and it enclosed a number of tents; some of those tents were vacated at once, but in others some of the men remained, some of them sympathising with those men...[31] Ian MacFarlane notes that the defence counsels never directly called the accuracy of the trial map into question.

[35] Cr Jack Chisolm, president of the Ballaarat Historical Society, prepared a paper in May 1974 to stimulate discussion on the site of the Eureka Stockade Monument.

He tentatively reached the conclusion that "personally, I am inclined to the view that Rodier St is nearer the exact site".

[36] The historical society convened a forum the following year where similar views were expressed, with Chisholm reiterating that he "considered the site to be only a short distance away from the present one [i.e. the monument]".

[37] In a submission to the Victorian Archaeological Society in 1983, he stated that the most likely location of the stockade was "between a point 50 metres east of Rodier St and a point 50 metres east of Belford St."[37] However in 1993 Bate, in consideration of further evidence, stated "To my mind, the contemporary contour map used by Mr Harvey to pinpoint the gully running up to the stockade is the clincher".

[37] In April 1993, in response to submissions from Bob O'Brien, among others, John Parker, Victorian Surveyor-General and Director of Mapping, said that: taking particular attention to (sic) a report dated 1884 in which the general belief of the day was that the proposed site was to be about 200 yards east of the stockade ...

[42] Based on an examination of the trial map, Ian MacFarlane has concluded that the government forces could have reached the Eureka Stockade in complete silence in one hour if it was located as shown near the gravel pits.

He concludes that it is not feasible and the results will be inclusive due to "the ephemeral nature of the stockade, the subsequent major disturbances of the ground in the area by mining and other activities, and the extent of the excavations required".

[44] In 1991, the Officer in Charge, Historical Archaeology Unit, Victoria Archaeology Survey, stated that whilst any ground disturbances in and around the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park should be investigated for evidence of the Eureka Stockade, "an excavation to settle the issue is not warranted".