In April 1855, four months after the violent clash at the Eureka Stockade and following on from thirteen highly publicisesd high treason trials, an open letter appeared in the popular Melbourne newspaper The Argus. It’s author was none other than Peter Lalor, the commander-in-chief at Eureka, who was in hiding in Geelong with a £200 reward on his head. He opens with the bold claim that he is writing as he feels “bound to justify to [the colonists], and to the world, the course I then pursued; and, as the insurgents placed so much confidence in me as to elect me their leader, honor compels me to justify their conduct.”
It’s an account of Eureka that bristles with righteous anger and white-hot indignation. No one can doubt that Lalor was a passionate man who believed in his cause (at least initially) and this letter has become an indispensable primary source for anyone studying the Eureka Stockade. In fact, it’s almost become the Holy Gospel of Eureka, in some corners of academia, and this view is justified because it was written by Lalor himself: a central player in the saga of Ballarat in 1854.
Lalor would be delighted to know that his skills as a spin doctor have remained just as sharp, even after 170 years.
Peter Lalor, 1856.
Sketch by Ludwig Becker. Lalor lost his left arm at the stockade, and developed a distinctive way of wearing his coat for the rest of his life, to conceal his disability.
The problem with taking this letter as truth is that it is riddled with errors and omissions. Lalor claims to have been places he wasn’t, or to have been a direct participant in events when he was, in fact, a mere bystander. He ignores any event in the lead up or aftermath of the stockade that does not fit with his narrative that the stockaders (and, by extension, himself) were wronged men seeking justice, and that they were compelled to take up arms to “defend their rights and liberties.” It is not entirely a lie (nothing ever is), but nor if the case as simple as Lalor puts it, and there are plenty of instances where he does just outright lie. He’s clever about it though: he never lies openly when he knows it could be immediately disproved by public knowledge, and often targets those he knows cannot respond or rebut his arguments, such as the soldiers or police at Eureka. He downplays the work of others before, during and after the fight, positioning himself constantly at the forefront of the movement when, in reality, he joined very late. He also takes care to ensure that blame is deflected at every turn. He was not responsible for anything – everything was either someone else’s fault, or it was inevitable.
In short, this is not a letter about the truth, nor it is even one man’s side of the story! It is a political manifesto from a man who is hell-bent on being elected to the Victorian Parliament before the year is out, and has the skills and know-how to manipulate even the most tragic and traumatic event to suit his purposes. Peter Lalor was a manipulative liar, who bears as much responsibility as any other commander in 1854 for the carnage at Eureka. He and his stockaders were not innocent, and his letter should be read with a healthy dose a skepticism!
You can hear a full break down of his letter in “To the Colonists!” – A Letter from a Liar?” on The Skeptical Historian. Part I is now available now wherever you get your podcasts, and Part II will be released on 7 June 2024. While you’re waiting, feel free to read the letter yourself, right here.