Robert William Rede

Rede was in the invidious position of having to enforce this unpopular and inequitable tax, having charge of both civilian police and militia and with no guidelines as to how to deploy them except "use your discretion".

By October 1864, on the orders of Sir Charles Hotham, these raids were being conducted twice weekly, and the level of discontent rose among the diggers, many of whom daily carried pistols.

[1] On 29 November the diggers, some 12,000 in number, held a meeting at Bakery Hill, condemning the treatment they had suffered at the hands of the Victorian government.

Johnstone/Johnston?, led a party of police to the "Gravel Pits" diggings in a determined raid to apprehend unlicensed miners, and were met with a shower of stones and the occasional pistol shot.

On 3 December Captain John Wellesley Thomas and his men attacked the stockade, resulting in the death of 22 miners and nearly as many severely wounded.

Knowing that his actions against the miners made him a likely target,[1] Rede requested a transfer, and was given the post of deputy sheriff of Geelong.