CHAPTER II. 



THE REVOLT OP THE DIGGERS. 



IT was in August, 1851, that the sylvan solitudes of Ballaarat were 

 first invaded by the advance guard of the army of gold-seekers. 

 Within twelve months the indications of permanence were so 

 manifest that the Government caused a township to be surveyed, 

 and the first sale of allotments was held in Geelong on 24th August, 

 1852. The prices realised were very high, and a further sale took 

 place in November, at which the competition was even keener. 

 But most of the buyers were town speculators, and it was far into 

 1853 before the local residents began to erect anything but the 

 most flimsy structures, for the cost was prohibitory, the freight of 

 material from Geelong being 80 per ton. The Camp of the 

 Government officials was mainly of canvas, surrounded by rough 

 palisades. The Court-house was of solid square timber flanked 

 by a few ponderous-looking log huts for military stores and for 

 prisoners, of whom there seemed to be a perennial supply under 

 restraint. 



By the winter of 1854, however, the town had begun to take on 

 shape. There were branches of three important banks, doing a 

 large and profitable business in very makeshift premises ; fully a 

 dozen licensed hotels ; a number of substantial stores, and a few 

 scattered weather-board private residences. The affairs of the 

 inhabitants, now some 20,000 in number, were discussed by a local 

 journal, the Ballaarat Times, of which a notorious firebrand, named 

 Seekamp, was editor, and though there was only one regular place of 

 worship, there were two theatres and four or five music halls in 

 the main street. But perhaps of greater importance than the 

 transfer from canvas to brick and stone was the amelioration of 

 the social conditions, resulting from the increasing number of 



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