The Ballarat flats
Eugene Von Guerard and his gold digging partners concentrated their search on the Ballarat area. The company they had formed broke up within a few weeks of their arrival at Ballarat in January 1853, but von Guerard stayed on, staking claims with several of his mates from the group as well as men he met on the diggings. He staked several claims during his two year stay, starting at Eureka Hill and Gravel Pit, then moving on to other areas around Ballarat including Warrenheip, Canadian Gully, Little Bendigo, Black Swamp, some of which can be seen in the sketch below.
Diary entries written by von Guerard during his first week on the diggings in 1853 describe the scene:
Jan. 18th.
After travelling for a week we have arrived at Ballarat... Ballarat consists of a camp of tents, and some buildings constructed of boards. One building, made of the trunks of trees, constitutes the prison, and is often the temporary abode of bushrangers, and also of diggers who can't - or won't - pay their licence.Jan. 25th.
Yesterday we went to peg our our claims at Eureka Hill. Our nearest neighbours are Chinamen, Englishmen and Americans. We afterwards went on towards Gravelpit, and repeated our pegging there. Two of our company remained at each claim. Digging was begun in four-hourly shifts, to continue day and night.from A pioneer of the fifties : leaves from the journal of an Australian Digger, 18 August 1852-16 March 1854 by Johann Joseph Eugen von Guerard DLMSQ 41
Von Guerard made many drawings of the Ballarat flats while on the diggings. Several were later worked up into evocative oil paintings which he displayed in Melbourne in 1855 at the Mechanics' Institute.
Old Eureka Hills, Red Hill Flat, Red Hill, Warrenheip Hill, c. 1854, from A pioneer of the fifties : leaves from the journal of an Australian Digger, 18 August 1852-16 March 1854 by Johann Joseph Eugen von Guerard
Ink sketch in bound volume DLMSQ 41
