Difference between revisions of "George Higinbotham"
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== Background == | == Background == | ||
| − | George Higinbotham was born | + | George Higinbotham was born 19 April 1826 in Dublin, [[Ireland]], into an Anglo-Irish family. His secondary education was at the Royal School of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. He arrived in the Colony of Victoria via the [[Briseis]] in March 1854. He died in Melbourne on 31 December 1892.<ref>Gwyneth Dow, 'Higinbotham, George (1826–1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/higinbotham-george-3766/text5939, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 4 September 2018.</ref> |
== Goldfields Involvement, 1854 == | == Goldfields Involvement, 1854 == | ||
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| + | While establishing himself as a barrister in Melbourne, Higinbotham wrote anonymously for the Melbourne Morning Herald from early April 1854 until March 1856. There is evidence that he visited Ballarat in mid-October 1854 at about the time of the burning of the [[Eureka Hotel]], and possibly also Castlemaine and Bendigo.<ref>Geraldine Moore, George Higinbotham and Eureka:The Struggle for Democracy in Colonial Victoria, Australian Scholarly Publishing, N. Melbourne, 2018, 22-27.</ref> His purpose was to investigate security at the Herald’s offices following two major burglaries at the Ballarat office. Following the trip, he wrote an editorial detailing the scandalous state of the administration of the law on the goldfields.<ref>''Law and Lynch Law at the Diggings'',(Editorial), 'Melbourne Morning Herald', 20 October 1854.</ref> He warned of imminent bloodshed if the Government did not immediately reform the administration of the Goldfields. | ||
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| + | His call resonated with [[William Mollison]], the member for [[Kyneton]] in the Legislative Council, who moved for an independent inquiry into these ‘prejudicial reports’.<ref>The Legislative Council: 31 October,’ Melbourne Morning Herald, 1 November 1854.</ref> The Government countered that it would establish its own enquiry, and Mollison withdrew his motion. Both the ''Herald'' and the ''Argus'' immediately denounced the Government’s enquiry as unsatisfactory. In late November Higinbotham wrote a lengthy leading article reviewing the sequence of events that had culminated in the violence in mid-October, including the murder of the miner, [[James Scobie]]. He argued that injustices to the mining population had caused the violence. He warned the Governor that ‘worse would follow if the diggers’ grievances were not addressed.’<ref>‘Why Diggers Riot,’ (Leading article), Melbourne Morning Herald, 22 November 1854.</ref> | ||
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| + | Five days before the battle at the Eureka Goldfield the miners sent three delegates to meet the Governor, the Attorney-General, William Stawell, and the Colonial Secretary, John Foster, to seek redress of their grievances. Their highest priorities were the arbitrary arrest of three men in connection with the burning of the Eureka Hotel, and the denial of the political rights of the goldfields population in the draft Constitution that had been sent to London. The Government refused to concede on either issue. | ||
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| + | The following day Higinbotham wrote an editorial praising the diggers as ‘the salt of the earth’, and defending their right to assemble, yet pleading with them to refrain from illegality. Two days before the battle at Eureka, Higinbotham warned that the goldfields were likely to become ‘the arena of a conquest of brute force and tyranny over reason and humanity.’ He urged the immediate discontinuation of the gold license fee ‘before many a poor fellow has been unnecessarily sacrificed.’ | ||
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| + | When the military conflict approached, Higinbotham was misled by someone whom he identified only as ‘the highest authority in Melbourne’. Relying on this person, he informed the Herald’s readers that, notwithstanding reports to the contrary from the freelance correspondent Frank Hasleham in Ballarat, the goldfield was tranquil. It is possible that, being young and inexperienced, he had been deliberately deceived so that the Herald would convey to its Ballarat readers no hint that the approaching troops knew of their preparations for armed conflict and were planning a surprise attack. This error of judgement was to be a source of painful regret to Higinbotham. | ||
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| + | Following the hostilities at Eureka, Higinbotham’s colleagues at the Herald, the barristers Archibald Michie and Butler Cole Aspinall, defended some of the prisoners from Eureka, and vocally attacked the Government for abandoning the rule of law and resorting to violence. Perhaps feeling indebted to Attorney General Stawell because he had benefited from a number of prosecution briefs, Higinbotham was more circumspect. Yet under cover of journalistic anonymity he advised the Goldfields Reform League of Sandhurst that the Government’s prohibition of a planned mass meeting at Bendigo was illegal. | ||
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| + | Higinbotham was deeply troubled by the conflict at Eureka and viewed it as a consequence of a seriously defective political system. He believed that the Governor had been motivated by a desire to please the Colonial Office in London rather than to serve the Victorian population. He devoted the rest of his life to advocating for a truly democratic form of colonial government, independent of the Colonial Office. | ||
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Revision as of 15:46, 17 January 2019
Contents
Background
George Higinbotham was born 19 April 1826 in Dublin, Ireland, into an Anglo-Irish family. His secondary education was at the Royal School of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. He arrived in the Colony of Victoria via the Briseis in March 1854. He died in Melbourne on 31 December 1892.[1]
Goldfields Involvement, 1854
While establishing himself as a barrister in Melbourne, Higinbotham wrote anonymously for the Melbourne Morning Herald from early April 1854 until March 1856. There is evidence that he visited Ballarat in mid-October 1854 at about the time of the burning of the Eureka Hotel, and possibly also Castlemaine and Bendigo.[2] His purpose was to investigate security at the Herald’s offices following two major burglaries at the Ballarat office. Following the trip, he wrote an editorial detailing the scandalous state of the administration of the law on the goldfields.[3] He warned of imminent bloodshed if the Government did not immediately reform the administration of the Goldfields.
His call resonated with William Mollison, the member for Kyneton in the Legislative Council, who moved for an independent inquiry into these ‘prejudicial reports’.[4] The Government countered that it would establish its own enquiry, and Mollison withdrew his motion. Both the Herald and the Argus immediately denounced the Government’s enquiry as unsatisfactory. In late November Higinbotham wrote a lengthy leading article reviewing the sequence of events that had culminated in the violence in mid-October, including the murder of the miner, James Scobie. He argued that injustices to the mining population had caused the violence. He warned the Governor that ‘worse would follow if the diggers’ grievances were not addressed.’[5]
Five days before the battle at the Eureka Goldfield the miners sent three delegates to meet the Governor, the Attorney-General, William Stawell, and the Colonial Secretary, John Foster, to seek redress of their grievances. Their highest priorities were the arbitrary arrest of three men in connection with the burning of the Eureka Hotel, and the denial of the political rights of the goldfields population in the draft Constitution that had been sent to London. The Government refused to concede on either issue.
The following day Higinbotham wrote an editorial praising the diggers as ‘the salt of the earth’, and defending their right to assemble, yet pleading with them to refrain from illegality. Two days before the battle at Eureka, Higinbotham warned that the goldfields were likely to become ‘the arena of a conquest of brute force and tyranny over reason and humanity.’ He urged the immediate discontinuation of the gold license fee ‘before many a poor fellow has been unnecessarily sacrificed.’
When the military conflict approached, Higinbotham was misled by someone whom he identified only as ‘the highest authority in Melbourne’. Relying on this person, he informed the Herald’s readers that, notwithstanding reports to the contrary from the freelance correspondent Frank Hasleham in Ballarat, the goldfield was tranquil. It is possible that, being young and inexperienced, he had been deliberately deceived so that the Herald would convey to its Ballarat readers no hint that the approaching troops knew of their preparations for armed conflict and were planning a surprise attack. This error of judgement was to be a source of painful regret to Higinbotham.
Following the hostilities at Eureka, Higinbotham’s colleagues at the Herald, the barristers Archibald Michie and Butler Cole Aspinall, defended some of the prisoners from Eureka, and vocally attacked the Government for abandoning the rule of law and resorting to violence. Perhaps feeling indebted to Attorney General Stawell because he had benefited from a number of prosecution briefs, Higinbotham was more circumspect. Yet under cover of journalistic anonymity he advised the Goldfields Reform League of Sandhurst that the Government’s prohibition of a planned mass meeting at Bendigo was illegal.
Higinbotham was deeply troubled by the conflict at Eureka and viewed it as a consequence of a seriously defective political system. He believed that the Governor had been motivated by a desire to please the Colonial Office in London rather than to serve the Victorian population. He devoted the rest of his life to advocating for a truly democratic form of colonial government, independent of the Colonial Office.
Post 1854 Experiences
George Higinbotham was the third Chief Justice of Victoria from 1886 to 1892.
Obituary
Family
George Higginbotham married Margaret Foreman. They had two sons and three daughters.[6]
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Also See
Eureka 50, 1904
External Links
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/higinbotham-george-3766
- ↑ Gwyneth Dow, 'Higinbotham, George (1826–1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/higinbotham-george-3766/text5939, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 4 September 2018.
- ↑ Geraldine Moore, George Higinbotham and Eureka:The Struggle for Democracy in Colonial Victoria, Australian Scholarly Publishing, N. Melbourne, 2018, 22-27.
- ↑ Law and Lynch Law at the Diggings,(Editorial), 'Melbourne Morning Herald', 20 October 1854.
- ↑ The Legislative Council: 31 October,’ Melbourne Morning Herald, 1 November 1854.
- ↑ ‘Why Diggers Riot,’ (Leading article), Melbourne Morning Herald, 22 November 1854.
- ↑ Gwyneth Dow, 'Higinbotham, George (1826–1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/higinbotham-george-3766/text5939, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 4 September 2018.
