George Higinbotham and Eureka : the struggle for democracy in colonial Victoria / Geraldine Moore.

North Melbourne, Vic. : Australian Scholarly, 2018.

1st edition

89401

Higinbotham, George, -- 1826-1892.

Judges -- Victoria -- Biography.

Politicians -- Victoria -- Biography.

Journalists -- Victoria -- Biography.

Labor movement -- Victoria -- History -- 1834-1900.

Eureka Stockade (Ballarat, Vic.) -- 1854.

Democracy -- Victoria -- History -- 1834-1900.

Victoria -- History -- 1834-1900.

1. Arrival in Victoria

2. Marriage and career in troubled times

3. Reporting the battle at Eureka

4. A philosophical watershed

5. Awaiting the new Constitution

6. The first Constitutional crisis

7. Challenging the new Constitution

8. Higinbotham, Duffy and the Irish legacy

9. The Argus, Duffy and the 1856 election

10. Metamorphosis

11. The member for Brighton

12. Attorney-General George Higinbotham

13. The struggle for the public purse

14. The aftermath of the struggle

15. Last years in Parliament

16. Supreme Court Judge

17. Chief Justice Higinbotham.

George Higinbotham was a highly influential politician in colonial Victoria. One of his contemporaries described him as a man of 'dash and daring' who 'won from privilege and class ground that they have never since been able to recover.' Even today debate rages about his character and his legacy. Some see him as a visionary who fought for responsible government free of Colonial Office interference and obstruction by an undemocratically elected Legislative Council. Others see him as a flawed character whose legacy was turmoil. As a journalist with the Melbourne Herald, Higinbotham influenced the course of events as agitation mounted on the goldfields and culminated in the battle at Eureka. A year afterwards, in the storm that erupted following Governor Hotham's claim to unconstitutional powers, he led a press campaign of opposition. Later, as Attorney General of Victoria, his daring leadership of the Legislative Assembly's struggle against the Legislative Council led to constitutional crises in 1865 and 1867. And as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, his public donation to the strike fund during the Great Maritime Strike of 1892 created controversy, even outrage. Despite humiliations and defeats, he championed democracy and the public interest as he saw it. - Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 318-354) and index.

9781925801491

xx, 381 p., [16] unnumbered plates : ill., port., genealogical tables ; 23 cm