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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The Eureka Stockade. The story is one of Australia’s foundation legends, but until now it has been told as though only half the participants were there.
'What if the hot-tempered, free-wheeling gold miners we learnt about in school were actually husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? And what if there were women and children inside the Eureka Stockade, defending their rights while defending themselves against a barrage of bullets?
'As Clare Wright reveals, there were thousands of women on the goldfields and many of them were active in pivotal roles. The stories of how they arrived there, why they came and how they sustained themselves make for fascinating reading in their own right. But it is in the rebellion itself that the unbiddable women of Ballarat come into their own.
'Groundbreaking, absorbing, crucially important—The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka is the uncut story of the day the Australian people found their voice.' (Publisher's blurb)
Adaptations
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y
We Are the Rebels : The Women and Men Who Made Eureka
Melbourne
:
Text Publishing
,
2015
9056457
2015
single work
biography
young adult
children's
(taught in 1 units)
'The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka is the most talked-about work of Australian history in recent years. Now here is Clare Wright's groundbreaking, award-winning study of the women who made the rebellion, in an abridged edition for teenage readers.
'Front and centre are the vibrant, adventurous personalities who were players in the rebellion: Sarah Hanmer, Ellen Young, Clara Seekamp, Anastasia Hayes and Catherine Bentley, among others.
'But just as important were the thousands of women who lived, worked and traded on the goldfields—women who have been all but invisible until now. Discovering them changes everything.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Epigraph:
'That dreadful Eureka episode seems more like a disturbed dream than an actual historical reality.' Age, 12 September, 1856
'Every history of every country is a mirror of the author's own interests and therefore selective rather than comprehensive.' Geoffrey Blainey, The Tyranny of Distance, 1966
'Well-behaved women seldom make history.' Professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University, 2007
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Dedication: For my children, Bernard, Noah and Esther
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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[Review Essay] The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
2015
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: Victorian Historical Journal , December vol. 86 no. 2 2015; (p. 387-390) 'The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka is an attractive book with an easy narrative style that readers will generally enjoy. The book comprises twelve chapters in three parts, with an introductory preface, conclusion and epilogue. Part One, ‘Transitions’, provides firsthand descriptions of travelling to the goldfields and concludes with a portrayal of goldfields life in December 1853, one year before Eureka. Part Two, ‘Transformations’, begins with Martha Clendinning who came to Ballarat in 1853, and whose journals have previously been used extensively. It tells of life on the Ballarat diggings and gives a vivid account of the birthing experience of one woman, Sarah Skinner. Part Three, ‘Transgressions’, continues the Eureka story, describing the murder of James Scobie, the subsequent burning of Bentley’s hotel and the Eureka battle itself. The Conclusion, titled ‘A Day at the Races’, suggests that ‘things go on regardless’ and gives an account of the aftermath from 1855 to 1858.' (Introduction) -
Goldfields Come to Life
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , December vol. 11 no. 3 2014; (p. 240-242)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Review : The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Good Reading , February 2014; (p. 58)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Review : Eureka: The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , September vol. 38 no. 3 2014; (p. 361-363)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
BWF at UQ : Clare Wright
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: One Page : Brisbane 2014; (p. 15)
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Story of Eureka's Women
2013
single work
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 2 November 2013; (p. 27)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Digging for Eureka's Gold
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 3 November 2013; (p. 12)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright
2013
single work
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 31 October 2013;
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Eureka Moment
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23-24 November 2013; (p. 30-31)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Digging Into Life in the Goldfields
2013
single work
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 23 November 2013; (p. 22)
— Review of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka 2013 single work biography -
Flashers, Femmes and Other Forgotten Figures of the Eureka Stockade
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 3 December 2013; -
Writing Women Back into the Story of Eureka
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 3 March 2014; (p. 5) -
Stella Winner Shines Light on Dark Past
Eureka! Feminist History of Rebellion Nabs Book Prize
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30 April 2014; (p. 2) The Age , 30 April 2014; (p. 11) -
Eureka Women's Tales Bring Historian a Stella
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 30 April 2014; (p. 3) -
A Cup of Tea With...Clare Wright
2014
single work
interview
— Appears in: Inside History , July-August no. 23 2014; (p. 13)
Awards
- 2014 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — History Book Award
- 2014 longlisted Walkley Award — Best Non-Fiction Book
- 2014 shortlisted Prime Minister's Literary Awards — The Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History
- 2014 winner 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature — The Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize
- 2014 winner Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature