Lomography

Ballerat Drummer Boys

There is a gravestone in Ballarat Cemetary erected recently in memory of John Egan, drummer boy of the 12th Regiment of foot, killed in line of duty 28th of November 1854 "This tombstone stands on the same consecrated land as the monument to the military who lost their lives at the Eureka Riots.However John Egan did not die in the line of duty at Eureka. Despite the popularly held belief in the Death of the Drummer Boy, current research in official records reveals that he was alive in 1855 .In 1856 he was transferred with the 12th regiment to Tasmania and remained there up to 30 of June 1860 almost six years beyond Eureka uprising. With each turning of the spade, more questions arose, accounts of Eureka including Soveriegn Hills Blood on the Southern Cross, claim that the little drummer boy was fatally wounded, in some accounts, trampled to death, This article demonstrates that he was not killed at Eureka, possibly wounded. Ballarat in 1854 was a relatively stable mining area, aluvial surface mineral gold had been worked out and deep shafts had to be dug by Cornish miners to extract further deposits of gold. This required the Cornish pattern of working in small gangs of men, resulting in a better codependency.The grievencies of the Ballarat Miners were legitimate, they had received harsh treatment unjustly measured by the mine authorities. The government thought it therefore neccesary to quell the unease. Pasley the government engineer described the crises in a letter to his father as a very grave one., on the night of the 28th about nine o clock or ten We got into the diggings. We had drays and it being quite dark and the horses jaded we were marching very slowly. As soon as we got into the diggings a mob of diggers collected and assailed us with with cries of with cries of Joe, Joe, We were pelted with bricks and bottles... John Egan was "shot in the leg",w