List of detainees at the Eureka Stockade

This is an incomplete list of the around 120 prisoners who were detained by the colonial forces at the time of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. A group of thirteen accused rebels were then committed to stand trial for high treason, with all either being acquitted or the indictment was withdrawn.

High treason committal hearings
It was reported that during the committal hearings held in Ballarat for the 1855 Victorian high treason trials, the following detainees had been discharged for either "no evidence against the prisoners, or they were only proved guilty of living in the neighborhood of the stockade, and giving no information as to its erection". A group of thirteen rebel prisoners were eventually committed to stand for trial for high treason at the Supreme Court in Melbourne.

11 December 1854 hearing

10 December hearing


 * Charles Adams
 * Nicholas Allaire
 * Thomas Barry
 * Henry Bazley
 * Thos. Bisk
 * Thomas Box
 * Charles Brown
 * Edmund Burn
 * John Cahill
 * George Davidson
 * John Delamere
 * Nicholas Edwards
 * Patrick Gilhooly
 * Joseph Gray
 * Francis Kent
 * Martin Kinnear
 * Joseph Hindon
 * Isaac Hinds
 * Richard Humphreys
 * Robert Leslie
 * Joseph Macknon
 * Dugald Magennis
 * Kennedy O'Brien
 * Matthew Orr
 * Joseph Penrose
 * John Powell
 * Peter Priaulx
 * Hen. Robilliard
 * John Quin
 * Alexander Ross
 * Martin Ryan
 * Walter Ryley
 * Wm. James Steer
 * Arthur Smith
 * Thomas Ferdinand Tighe
 * George Thompson
 * Henry Trynon
 * Robert Winkfield
 * Andrew White

High treason trials
The 1855 Victorian high treason trials took place between 22 February – 27 March in the aftermath of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. The Goldfields Commission recommended a general amnesty for all on the runs from the fallen Eureka Stockade. Instead, thirteen of the rebels detained were eventually indicted for high treason. The juries all returned a verdict of not guilty by a jury, and the indictment against Thomas Dignum was withdrawn. On 23 January, the trial of Ballarat Times editor Henry Seekamp resulted in a finding of guilt for seditious libel, and a month later, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six months. The trials have been described as farcical, and the colonial secretary would rebuke Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Hotham over prosecuting the Eureka rebels for the lofty offence of high treason.

The defendants were originally to be tried in the same order as they were listed in the indictments. However, due to the pre-trial legal chicanery and the unavailability of witnesses, Joseph, an African American, was the first accused man to go on trial. The jury deliberated for about half an hour before returning a verdict of "not guilty." The Argus reported that "A sudden burst of applause arose in the court," but it was instantly checked by court officers. The Chief Justice condemned this as an attempt to influence the jury, as it could be construed that a jury could be encouraged to deliver a verdict that would receive such applause; he sentenced two men (identified by the Crown Solicitor as having applauded) to a week in prison for contempt. Over 10,000 people had come to hear the jury's verdict. According to Richard Allan's account published in the Ballarat Star, upon emerging from the courthouse, Joseph "was put in a chair and carried around the streets of the City in triumph with the greatest demonstrations of joy".