Lalor, Peter (1827-1889), was the leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion by gold miners in Victoria, Australia, in 1854. He later became a politician.
Lalor was born on Feb. 5, 1827, in County Laois, Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin. Lalor immigrated to Australia in 1852 to seek his fortune.
Lalor became a gold miner and a merchant during the Victorian gold rush. The Victorian gold rush began in 1851, when gold was discovered in the Australian colony of Victoria. At the time, gold miners were resentful because they had few rights and no political representation in the colonial government. They also had to pay large fees for licenses to mine gold. For most of the miners, the fees were higher than the profits they earned from mining. Miners at the Ballarat goldfield staged protests against the licenses. The government of Victoria sent troops to put an end to the disturbances.
Following a conflict at the Eureka Hotel and the imprisonment of three diggers (miners) for burning down the hotel, the miners formed the Ballarat Reform League. On Nov. 29, 1854, some 12,000 miners gathered for the league’s first meeting, to unite against the unfair laws. The miners burned their mining licenses in protest. The next day, Victorian government troops again clashed with the miners, who chose fellow miner Lalor as their leader. Lalor advised the men to take up arms.
Under Lalor, the miners built a stockade at Eureka. On Dec. 3, 1854, troops attacked the Eureka stockade, killing about 30 miners. Lalor escaped, but he was wounded in his left arm and had to have it amputated. A reward was offered for his capture, but the public sided with the miners and Lalor remained safe.
The government eventually abolished the license fee, acquitted the leaders of the rebellion, and granted the miners representation in the colony’s Legislative Council. Lalor became one of the miners’ two elected representatives in the Legislative Council in 1855, beginning his political career. In 1880, he was elected speaker of the Victorian House of Assembly. He retired from politics in 1887. Lalor died on Feb. 9, 1889.
