Hi to all, After a little hiatus, I have completed the transcription and tidying of the 1856 work by Capt. Henry Butler Stoney ... VICTORIA: WITH A DESCRIPTION OF ITS PRINCIPAL CITIES, MELBOURNE AND GEELONG: AND REMAKES ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COLONY; INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE BALLAARAT DISTURBANCES, AND OF THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN WISE, 40TH REGIMENT. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Victoria:_with_a_description_of_its_principal_cities,_Melbourne_and_Geelong Contents Introductory Chapter, Page. 1 CHAPTER I. Melbourne and its Environs in 1855, 16 CHAPTER II. Victoria in 1855, 35 CHAPTER III. Routes to Ballaarat, 71 CHAPTER IV. The Gold Fields, 90 CHAPTER V. The Ballaarat Disturbances, and their Cause, 101 CHAPTER VI. The Emeute, 113 CHAPTER VII. Character and Death of Captain Wise, 129 CHAPTER VIII. General State of the Colony in 1856, 139 Appendix, 185 Stoney writes:— THOUGH many works, and some of considerable repute, have appeared before the public, relating to Victoria, there still remains such a vast field for further exertion, abounding in information interesting and instructive, and fraught with incidents deep and perilous, that it cannot be said the subject is too hackneyed, or ourselves accused of following a beaten track. The principal object we have in view is to do honour to the memory of a friend, one much beloved, and who gloriously fell whilst gallantly and honourably leading his men on to that victory, which, however inglorious, was at his country's commands, and in obedience to the voice of duty. Our second object is, to give a correct account of Victoria at the period alluded to, interspersed with adventurous anecdotes which have come under our own immediate notice, or derived from reliable sources. We arrogate to ourselves no style beyond the "plain unvarnished tale," in which we have hitherto appeared before the public; yet, the politician may gather facts from our narrative suggestive of thoughts, at least worthy of reflection; the future emigrant may derive hints for his guidance; the settler will find a record of the first great convulsive throe which disturbed the harmony of Australia's progress; the memory of the tourist will become refreshed with the place of action of many a spirit-stirring scene; and the fireside reader, in the perusal of our pages, will feel a pleasing animation as we depict the unquestionably picturesque beauties of many of our rambles, or from the recital of anecdotes thrilling with interest, yet of such frequent occurrence in our Antipodean possessions ... ---- Stoney was of the regiment that was involved in the Eureka Stockade and it involves a rendition from the side of the combatants, though from one not involved. It has a very eclectic Appendix. Seems to be things that he had collected and thought relevant to put into a put for sale in the old country. There are surely still some typos in the work, feel free to correct them or get back to me with chapter and page. Enjoy. Regards, Andrew ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using iSage/AuNix webmail http://www.isage.net.au/

Congratulations on completing this work Andrew. It looks great and this will be a wonderful resource for those interested in our early history or to put their early family members into context of the times. Cheers Beth On 12/12/2010 10:06 PM, Andrew Billinghurst wrote: > Hi to all, > > After a little hiatus, I have completed the transcription and tidying > of the 1856 work by Capt. Henry Butler Stoney ... > > VICTORIA: WITH A DESCRIPTION OF ITS PRINCIPAL CITIES, MELBOURNE AND GEELONG: > AND REMAKES ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COLONY; > > INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE BALLAARAT DISTURBANCES, AND OF THE DEATH > OF CAPTAIN WISE, 40TH REGIMENT. > > http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Victoria:_with_a_description_of_its_principal_cities,_Melbourne_and_Geelong > > Contents > > Introductory Chapter, Page. 1 > > CHAPTER I. > Melbourne and its Environs in 1855, 16 > > CHAPTER II. > Victoria in 1855, 35 > > CHAPTER III. > Routes to Ballaarat, 71 > > CHAPTER IV. > The Gold Fields, 90 > > CHAPTER V. > The Ballaarat Disturbances, and their Cause, 101 > > CHAPTER VI. > The Emeute, 113 > > CHAPTER VII. > Character and Death of Captain Wise, 129 > > CHAPTER VIII. > General State of the Colony in 1856, 139 > > Appendix, 185 > > > Stoney writes:— > > THOUGH many works, and some of considerable repute, have appeared > before the public, relating to Victoria, there still remains such a > vast field for further exertion, abounding in information interesting > and instructive, and fraught with incidents deep and perilous, that it > cannot be said the subject is too hackneyed, or ourselves accused of > following a beaten track. > > The principal object we have in view is to do honour to the memory of > a friend, one much beloved, and who gloriously fell whilst gallantly > and honourably leading his men on to that victory, which, however > inglorious, was at his country's commands, and in obedience to the > voice of duty. > > Our second object is, to give a correct account of Victoria at the > period alluded to, interspersed with adventurous anecdotes which have > come under our own immediate notice, or derived from reliable sources. > We arrogate to ourselves no style beyond the "plain unvarnished tale," > in which we have hitherto appeared before the public; yet, the > politician may gather facts from our narrative suggestive of thoughts, > at least worthy of reflection; the future emigrant may derive hints > for his guidance; the settler will find a record of the first great > convulsive throe which disturbed the harmony of Australia's progress; > the memory of the tourist will become refreshed with the place of > action of many a spirit-stirring scene; and the fireside reader, in > the perusal of our pages, will feel a pleasing animation as we depict > the unquestionably picturesque beauties of many of our rambles, or > from the recital of anecdotes thrilling with interest, yet of such > frequent occurrence in our Antipodean possessions ... > > ---- > > Stoney was of the regiment that was involved in the Eureka Stockade > and it involves a rendition from the side of the combatants, though > from one not involved. It has a very eclectic Appendix. Seems to be > things that he had collected and thought relevant to put into a put > for sale in the old country. > > There are surely still some typos in the work, feel free to correct > them or get back to me with chapter and page. Enjoy. > > Regards, Andrew > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message was sent using iSage/AuNix webmail > http://www.isage.net.au/ > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Beth Codling 03 98594891 bcodling2@bigpond.com

There is another excellent source of general historical information in the web site <http://www.archive.org> This site has all sorts of books/music/pictorial media etc. of anything that is not copyrighted and someone has either scanned and uploaded. Completely free of charge but a word of warning, is that when I came across this site I blew my broadband "allowance" to pieces. It is very addictive like Trove. I just admire people who do this sort of thing so that people like myself and the future generations can enjoy and have an appreciation of our predecessors. Andrew a huge thank you. Doug and Val Norton Hamilton New Zealand