Media Release

The Bendigo Petition Goes On Display at the Library

The 1853 Bendigo Petition details the grievances of goldminers from the Bendigo area which culminated in the historic Eureka uprising. It bears more than 5000 signatures.

At the time of the original rebellion miners drew up the petition to protest conditions on the goldfields. The Bendigo Petition is almost 13 metres long and edged in green silk. 

The Petition was taken to Melbourne and presented to Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe on 1 August 1853, but its demands were rejected. A series of protests ensued, mostly non-violent, and the miners increasingly evaded payment of their licence fees. Eventually, their grievances led to the Eureka uprising on 3 December 1854.

In 1988 the State Library of Victoria acquired the Bendigo Petition. Since that time it has been conserved, transcribed and indexed. The size and fragility of the Petition has meant that it has been on public display in its entirety only twice, once at the Library in 1989, and again in Bendigo in 2004.

The display of the Bendigo Petition complements the exhibition Eureka revisited: the contest of memories, currently showing at the State Library.

Eureka revisited recounts the tumultuous events of 1854 and the legend of Eureka.  The exhibition features more than 150 works including artworks by Eugene von Guerard, Sidney Nolan, Garry Shead and Sally Smart, memorabilia and original documents.  An authentic reproduction Eureka flag is also on display. There are also fragments of the original Eureka flag on display. 

The Bendigo Petition will be on display in the State Library’s Cowen Gallery from
6 September until 9 October 2005. 

Eureka revisited: the contest of memories is a Ballarat Fine Art Gallery travelling exhibition at the State Library’s Keith Murdoch Gallery until 30 October. Entry is free.