Peter Lalor
Whitness the golden adventures from 1852 with Peter Lalor!
Peter's Timeline:
1827-Peter Lalor was born, 5th of February
1852-Lalor and his brother Richard emigrated to Australia after hearing about the gold discoveries.
1853-Peter Lalor left Melbourne for the Ovens gold diggings, Peter Lalor began the career of a gold digger.
1854-James Scobie was murdered 7 October, Peter Lalor famously led the Eureka rebellion in Ballarat, ended his mining career, and decided to become a general merchant.
1855-Peter married Alicia Dunne, finished his job as a general merchant, and was appointed as a member of the upper house.
1856-Lalor left the upper house and was made member of the lower house
1868-without giving up his membership of the lower house, Lalor became a land agent
1871-Peter gave up his place in the lower house and finished his work as a land agent
1874-Lalor reclaimed his membership in the lower house
1889-This year brought the end of his career and the end of his life, as Peter died on the 9th of Febuary, aged 34 years
Peter's Role
He was the leader of the Miners in the Eureka Rebellion of 1854 during which he was shot and had his arm amputated and in Nov 1855 became a parliamentary representative in the state of Victoria.
They were led by the Irish with their green banner with the harp and shamrock on it, accompanied by the pick and shovel. The delegation reported that Governor La Trobe had refused all requests; in Melbourne meetings were held with dissatisfaction spreading against the Government, attributing it to the fact that the goldfields residents were denied their political and social rights. La Trobe was forced to resign and return to England. The position of Governor was taken by another Englishman, Charles Hothan. He had as little success as La Trobe in dealing with the dissatisfaction of the population of the goldfields. The Government again answered the diggers demands with an increase in military force; to the mass of diggers this was an open provocation
Pictures above...
2- The eureka stockade
3- Eureka flag
4- Peter's mother, Ann Lalor
Challenges and achievements
Peter had many achievements. He was a father to 3 children, was a leader in the Eureka Stockade and survived it, and found plenty of gold.
Peter also had to face a lot of challenges. He lost his wife and daughter, lost an arm, had to keep the miners together and ran into bushrangers here and there.