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Twenty-two miners and five soldiers died in an armed uprising at the Eureka goldfield at Ballarat, near Melbourne, Australia, in 1854, including Toronto-born Henry Ross, who had an important role in the rebellion. The event enjoys mythic status in Australian history for its unusual violence, its place in the development of democracy Down Under, and the debut of a miners’ flag incorporating the ‘Southern Cross’ and five stars. Ross is said to have designed the flag and had it made locally. His links with Fort York are interesting but less well known. Henry was the tenth of James and Elizabeth Ross’s eleven children, having been raised on a 200-acre farm which James, a former tailor in York (now Toronto), settled about 1821 in Lot 3, Con. 2 west of Yonge Street, York Township. Located in midtown Toronto today, the land runs from Bathurst to Dufferin Streets midway between Eglinton and Lawrence Avenues. It was largely undeveloped until after World War II, but is now blanketed by light industry and modest housing. Here Henry was born in 1829. Probably he was educated at a primary school within walking distance from home, and when he was older was expected to help his father on the farm. Unlike some of his other siblings he Henry Ross, c. 1852, in seems to have had neither a profession taken probably in Toronto. nor a trade, which may account in part Canadian relative of Henry for his going to Australia. With six older brothers, his chances of being given land or inheriting the farm were slim. Reports on Australia’s gold discoveries first appeared in Toronto’s Globe in April 1852, followed by dozens of notices for clipper ships and packets heading there from American ports. Groups of “merry Canadians” were said to be seen everywhere along the New York docks preparing to depart for what was described as “a new Jerusalem.” Ross left there on 27 July 1852 as a first-class passenger aboard the Magnolia, Mail: 260 Adelaide St. E., E-mail: fofy@sympatico.ca / Phone: 416-860-6493
arriving at Melbourne four months later. The ship’s manifest listed his occupation as “Farmer”; he brought with him two trunks. Presumably he went directly to the ‘diggings’ which spread across a huge kidney-shaped area 100 km northwest of Melbourne, and settled at Ballarat, the main camp. Some ten thousand miners had already preceded him there. The Colony of Victoria faced challenges maintaining order in the goldfields not unlike California before and the Klondike later. Matters were made no easier, however, by the Victoria government’s decision to administer the area through a quasi-military Gold Commission. The miners were angered by its unrepresentative makeup and heavy-handed efforts to raise revenues through Miners’ Licenses. Inspired by British Chartists, their protests were voiced at a series of ‘monster’ meetings held on Ballarat’s Bakery Hill in the Fall of 1854. Ross emerged as one of meetings’ principal speakers, addressing three thousand miners on November 1, and ten thousand on November 11. Another ex-Torontonian, Henry Bowyer Lane, Clerk of Works for building the Government Camp at Ballarat, left an eye-witness account of the latter meeting but took scant notice of Henry Ross’s speech. It is unlikely they ever met face-to-face. As events unfolded over the next two weeks Ross’s views hardened and became militant. Also, he seemed to develop an uncanny sense of where things were headed. For example, he had the huge (8 ft. by 12 ft.) flag made to be raised at a meeting on November 29 even before the gathering opted for more aggressive tactics. It was there too that he was elected a ‘captain’ of one of their twelve armed divisions, explaining the rank by which he is referred sometimes.
cemetery, let alone one that notes Henry’s passing. No fewer than five people writing later about the rebellion singled him out and paid him tribute. “A Canadian, bold, brave and trusty . . . one of the best loved of those who fell.” (W.B. Withers). “A gentleman in manners, and in appearance young, ardent.” (H.R. Nicholls). “Highly esteemed by all who knew him. He was beloved of the diggers for his good qualities and sterling character.” (Richard Allan). “Our lamented friend” (Frederick Vern) and “a fine man” (Thomas Pierson).
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