Peter Lalor
Christine Ntais
Peter Lalor was born on the 5th of February 1827 in Queen's County, Ireland. Peter survived the Great Potato famine in Ireland which went from 1845-1847. Growing up in his home town, Peter worked as a civil engineer. Peter had 7 brothers of which 1 died. A few of his brothers went to America whilst Peter and his brother Richard migrated to Victoria after hearing about the gold discoveries. Peter and Richard arrived in Melbourne in 1852, this being a year after the good discoveries had already began. On arrival, Peter landed himself a job at the Melbourne-Geelong railway.
Although, after a couple years of working there, Peter moved to Ballarat after gaining more interest on the gold discoveries and going to try his luck out. At this time, Peter's brother Richard moved back to Ireland after not having much success in Victoria.
On the 30th of November, a meeting was held of which Peter Lalor was elected to lead the Eureka Stockade following a fight between the miners and the troops over a license hunt. Lalor led the men gathered under the flag in the swearing of an oath – ‘We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other, and fight to defend our rights and liberties’. |
After the swearing of the oath the rebels marched off to the Eureka diggings where they built a stockade. Over the next two days, troops from Melbourne headed to Ballarat to fight the diggers and this is when the diggers began building the stockade. On December 3rd, the battle occurred with the troops winning easily, many diggers were killed and arrested as a result of this. The battle only lasted 20 minutes but caused a great deal of trouble. Peter Lalor had managed to escape from being arrested and was in hiding. It was said whoever captured him would receive a reward.
Peter was seriously wounded in the shoulder, and had his arm later amputated this resulting in him wearing a cape over his shoulder. In the end, the miners lost the battle but won their rights for justice. After a while, the Government dropped charges against the rebels and Lalor became a hero. In November, 1855, Peter Lalor became a member of Victorian parliament. After three successful years, Peter lost his daughter and wife after they died shortly after each other and as a result, he lost his interest in politics and resigned. Peter died in Melbourne on 9 February 1889.
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