Police Camp Ballarat

James McKain Meek
Police Camp Ballarat 1852
Pen and ink.
17 x 13cm
Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Melbourne.

The location of Ballarat’s original Police Camp and Camp Tree has been much debated. The tree was used by police to secure prisoners, including unlicensed diggers, before lockup facilities were built, and it became a symbol of the harsh licensing laws that played a significant part in the conditions that led to the Eureka Stockade of 1854. This image by Meek was drawn in 1852 before the Government Camp moved to a new site in present-day Camp Street.

James McKain Meek Police Camp Ballarat 1852 pen and ink 17 x 13cm Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Melbourne The location of Ballarat’s original Police Camp and Camp Tree has been much debated. The tree was used by police to secure prisoners, including unlicensed diggers, before lockup facilities were built, and it became a symbol of the harsh licensing laws that played a significant part in the conditions that led to the Eureka Stockade of 1854. This image by Meek was drawn in 1852 before the Government Camp moved to a new site in present-day Camp Street.