John Basson Humffray (17 April 1824 – 18 March 1891) was a leading advocate in the movement of miner reform process in the British colony of Victoria, and later a member of parliament.
Humffray was born in Newtown,
Montgomeryshire
, HQ= Montgomery
, Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start=
, End= ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. He was
articled
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
to a solicitor, and became active in the Chartist movement, but abandoned his legal studies and migrated to
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on the "Star of the East" on 19 September 1853, and moved to Ballarat two months later to try his hand at gold digging. At a protest meeting of over 10,000 diggers at
Bakery Hill
Bakery Hill is an inner city suburb of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. It is the smallest suburb in the city of Ballarat in terms of both area and population, which at the was just 180 people. The area is a mix of residential and commercial ...
on Saturday, 11 November 1854, Humffray was elected secretary of the
Ballarat Reform League
The Ballarat Reform League came into being in October 1853 and was officially constituted on 11 November 1854 at a mass meeting of miners in Ballarat, Victoria to protest against the Victorian government's mining policy and administration of the g ...
. In his view, the diggers' grievances were the result of an unrepresentative political system, which he felt could be changed by
moral suasion
Moral suasion is an appeal to morality, in order to influence or change behavior. A famous example is the attempt by William Lloyd Garrison and his American Anti-Slavery Society to end slavery in the United States by using moral suasion. In ec ...
.
Humffray was a member of the three-person delegation which met the
Governor of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...
,
Sir Charles Hotham
Sir Charles Hotham, KCB, RN (14 January 180631 December 1855)B. A. Knox,Hotham, Sir Charles (1806–1855), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 429-430.
was Lieutenant-Governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, A ...
, in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on Monday, 27 November 1854. The miners' demands for economic and political reforms were rejected. After a particularly vicious licence hunt, a meeting of the Ballarat Reform League was held on Thursday, 30 November 1854 at which the miners rejected "moral force" as advocated by Humffray. They embarked on the path of "physical force" by electing
Peter Lalor
Peter Fintan Lalor (; 5 February 1827 – 9 February 1889) was an Irish-Australian rebel and, later, politician who rose to fame for his leading role in the Eureka Rebellion, an event identified with the "birth of democracy" in Australia. ...
as their leader, and deciding to meet force with force by building the
Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...
.
Humffray was not part of the rebellion and played the role of peacemaker in the lead up to the battle at the
Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...
on 3 December 1854. He represented the interests of aggrieved diggers at the Commission of Enquiry into the discontent on the goldfields,Corfield, Justin; Wickham, Dorothy; & Gervasoni, Clare, Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004, pg 281 and was a vocal defender of the 13 miners who were charged with
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
for their role in the rebellion. He was in 1855 an organiser of Ballarat's first eisteddfod (fore-runner of the South Street competitions), editor of the short-lived Ballarat ''Leader'', first president of the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute, and passed first-year law,
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
(1860). As a result of losing money in mining speculations, Humffray became dependent on charity in his last years. After a long illness, he died a pauper on 18 March 1891.
Political career
When the miners were granted the right to vote and representation in 1855 Humffray was elected unopposed as the member of the
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative C ...
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne.
The presidin ...
for North Grant (1856-1859) then Ballarat East (1859-1871). He served as Minister for Mines (November 1860 to November 1861) and Chairman of the Royal Commission on Mining (1862).
Legacy
Humffray Street, one of the major roads in Ballarat, is named after him, with that being sometime prior to 1858.
Humffray was an Anglican, and was buried in the
Ballaarat Old Cemetery
Ballaarat Old Cemetery is a cemetery located in the rural city of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. The cemetery dates back to 1856, although records show burials took place in the area from the late 1840s.Serle, Geoffrey, ''The Golden Age: A history of the colony of Victoria 1851-1861'', Melbourne, MUP, 1977, p. 164.
Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion