The Red Ribbon Activists and the Birth of Australian Democracy

Marjorie Theobald explores an intriguing event in Australian democratic history: the 1853 Red Ribbon Rebellion. While the 1854 Eureka Stockade quickly emerged as a foundational story in Australian folklore, on closer examination this legend needs to be placed in the context of gold miner activism that occurred in numerous protests across the Victorian Goldfields. One of most impactful of these agitations for democratic reform was Bendigo’s Red Ribbon Rebellion.

In August 1853, Bendigo miners organised around compelling reform issues, seeking better conditions for gold miners: affordable miner’s licenses, an end to brutal policing, as well as the right to vote. So extensive was the support for the protest that Governor La Trobe set up a committee to draft the new democratic Victorian constitution. The constitution was on its way to Westminster to be ratified before the Eureka Stockade took place. In her talk, Marjorie positions the Red Ribbon Rebellion activists as crucial, albeit historically unsung, political agitators that had a lasting impact on Australia’s democratic system.

Marjorie Theobald completed her PhD at Monash University and joined the staff of the University of Melbourne. Her recent works include ‘The Accidental Town: Castlemaine 1851-1861’, ‘Mount Alexander: Mountain of Gold: the gold rush generation and the new society, and ‘The Goldfields Re-imagined: militant miners, miscreants and poor Maryanne’.