Colonel William A. Phillips

This article is part of a series on the
Eureka Rebellion
Eureka Stockade Riot by John Black Henderson, 1854
Timeline Military leaders Siege
Origins Australian gold rushes Chartism Revolutions of 1848 Thomas Hiscock Victorian gold rush
Ideologies Chartism and the Eureka Rebellion Loyalism and the Eureka Rebellion Republicanism and the Eureka Rebellion
The Eureka Rebellion Anti-Gold Licence Association Ballarat Reform League Bendigo Petition Charles Doudiet Charles La Trobe Edward Thonen Eureka Flag Eureka Stockade (fortification) Forest Creek Monster Meeting Fredrick Vern Henry Ross James Scobie John Basson Humffray John King John Manning (journalist) Miner's licence Nationalities at the Eureka Stockade Peter Lalor Robert William Rede Captain Henry Christopher Wise Sir Charles Hotham Suffolk Regiment William Wright 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
High Treason trials Archibald Michie Butler Cole Aspinall Henry Samuel Chapman Henry Seekamp John Joseph John Manning Raffaello Carboni Sir Redmond Barry William à Beckett William Stawell 1855 Victorian High Treason trials
Legacy Australian nationalism Eureka Jack Mystery Eureka Rebellion in popular culture Eureka Stockade Memorial Park Eureka Stockade Monument Len Fox The Eureka Stockade (1855 novel) William Bramwell Withers
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The Bendigo Petition was an attempt by miners in the colony of Victoria (now part of the Commonwealth of Australia) to demand reasonable limits to taxation and improved access to land from Governor La Trobe, a representative of the British Government. In particular the miners requested reform of license fees applicable to miners on the gold fields. The Bendigo Petition built on the earlier demands enunciated by miners at the Forest Creek Monster Meeting of 1851.

The Anti-Gold Licence Association was formed by G E Thomson, Dr Jones and Edward Brown at Bendigo on 6 June 1853. Over 23,000 signatures were gathered for the Association's petition.^{[citation needed]} An additional 8000 signatures from the nearby McIvor (Heathcote) diggings were lost as a result of the robbery of a gold escort in July 1853. By 1 August the petition, 30 metres long, was sent to the Governor in Melbourne.^{[citation needed]}

The petitions demands included:

1. To direct that the License Fee be reduced to 10 Shillings a Month.
2. To direct that Monthly or Quarterly Licenses be issued at the option of the applicants.
3. To direct that new arrivals or invalids be allowed on registering their names at the Commissioners Office fifteen clear days residence on the Goldfields before the license be enforced.
4. To afford greater facility to Diggers and others resident on the Goldfields who wish to engage in Agricultural Pursuits for investing their earnings in small allotments of land.
5. To direct that the Penalty of Five Pounds for no possession of License be reduced to One pound.
6. To direct that the sending of an Armed Force to enforce the License Tax be discontinued.

Most of the petition's demands, including the reduction in the licence fee, were rejected.

References

• "Bendigo Petition 1853 Australian Manuscripts Collection". Treasures. State Library of Victoria. 2005. Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
• "Bendigo Petition 1853 Australian Manuscripts Collection (page 2)". Treasures. State Library of Victoria. 2005. Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
• "Image of Bendigo Petition". Australian Manuscripts Collection. State Library of Victoria. 2005. Archived from the original on 23 February 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2006.
• "Transcript of petition text". Bendigo Petition 1853 Australian Manuscripts Collection. State Library of Victoria. 2005. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
• "Index of names: Bendigo Petition". Australian Manuscripts Collection. State Library of Victoria. 2005. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2006.
• Delahunty, Victorian Minister for Arts, Mary (1 September 2004). "The Road to Eureka: Miner's Petition returns to Bendigo". Media Releases. Minister for Arts. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2006.