A ledger from the Eureka Hotel on the day it burned, 17 October, 1854

Image Caption:
A pale blue handwritten ledger from October 17, 1854, showing financial accounts between Jo George Mugleston and the owners of the Eureka Hotel, the Bentleys. This ledger is dated the same day of the historic Eureka Hotel riot that saw the hotel burned down.

October, 1854

A document (ephemera) recorded by a man whose name reads: Jo [John] George Mugleston addressed to Mr J. F. Bentley [James Francis Bentley].

The pale blue paper document (25.5 x 20.5cm) lists financial incidentals, service fees and monies loaned to Mr James Francis Bentley and to Mrs Catherine Bentley, on 17 October, 1854; the same date that saw more than 5,000 diggers rioting outside the Eureka Hotel – owned by the Bentleys – objecting to the acquittal awarded to James Bentley by authorities, in relation to the murder of James Scobie on Oct 6.  This riot resulted in the destruction of the Eureka Hotel by fires set in the hotel’s bowling alley, which then spread to the rest of the hotel building.

Jo George Mugleston’s involvement with the Bentleys is unclear, as his history is not well documented. However, he has recorded the account of monies loaned to the Bentleys in this ledger:

Cash lent to Mrs Bentley for the Bar
Cash lent Mr Bentley at the Camp Oct 17/54 …
Cr. Owing for Bowling in Bowling alley

The information in the document could create the assumption he was supportive of the Bentleys and was the one who loaned the monies and services. Or he could merely be accounting for these transactions that were perhaps conducted by someone else.

Perhaps he was an official, residing in the police Camp? Or someone with educated authority with the means to offer financial loans and services to the Bentleys? Or perhaps he is someone who has been employed by the Bentley’s to undertake particular work?

The document also records monies owed for services rendered to the Bentleys:

2 Weeks Services @ 5 £ … 10-0-0
1 Weeks Services @ 6 £ …  6-0-0

About James Bentley:

James Francis Bentley was born in Surrey England [1818 – 1873].

Aged 25, after being convicted of forgery, he was sentenced to 10 years hard labour and transported first to Norfolk Island aboard the ship, The Blundell, in March, 1844. The ship arrived at Norfolk Island on 12th July 1844, and James Bentley spent 12 months on the Island before being sent to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).

He was granted a conditional pardon in 1851 and started a business in Hobart, Tasmania, producing and selling lemonade and ginger beer. James Bentley sold the business to an ex-Waterloo soldier before relocating to Melbourne, where he established a successful confectionery business in Elizabeth Street. He married Catherine on 10 March 1853 at St Peter’s church in Melbourne before moving to the Ballarat goldfields the same year, where they first operated a general store.

In 1854, Catherine and James Bentley applied for approval to establish a hotel in Ballarat, and in May, a “grand building covering half-an-acre was built in an area where the gold diggers were housed in tents and log huts. The hotel could sleep about 80 people, had a bowling alley, three bars, a billiards room and a Bagatelle room with two large Waterford crystal chandeliers.” [State Library Victoria]

The hotel was supported by prominent men in the area, including Police Magistrate and Senior Sergeant of Police at the goldfields official’s camp, John D’Ewes. Records show D’Ewes, along with many members of the police and authorities at the camp, accepted bribes from James Bentley and other miners. Police corruption was rife.

Despite its original grandeur, the hotel became known for inviting disrepute and attracting individuals who used ‘deeds of violence’ to resolve matters. Outside the front door of the hotel after closing time, Scobie was killed by a shovel over the head trying to enter the hotel, on October 6^th. Records indicate the Bentleys and two others were allegedly involved.

A coronial inquest on Scobie’s death was held thereafter, and a judicial inquiry conducted on 12th of October 1854 – presided over, by Gold Fields Commissioner Robert Rede, Police Magistrate John D’Ewes, and Assistant Commissioner, Johnson – found insufficient evidence against James Bentley and they adjourned the matter.

Therefore, the riot at the Eureka hotel on October 17, 1854 was a result of offense felt by the diggers and the mistrust of authorities in this matter, believing Bentley to be guilty of Scobie’s murder. The diggers’ set the hotel’s bowling alley on fire which consequently spread to the rest of the hotel, destroying it completely.

This riot – occurring on the same date in which monies were loaned to the Bentley’s, as recorded by Mugleston – was a precursor to the Eureka Stockade weeks later.

References:

O’Crowley, Andrew, 2006, Eureka Stockade Incident Saga 1854-2015, Retrieved: 14 August, 2025, from https://docs.google.com/document/d/19E8s_Bt3EZCXSpGcSLfYR5NhfydfSoBr2YcNvjd-X9E/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.aea157bb9bf5

Public Record Office Victoria, 2025, Eureka Stockade – Historical Collection, Retrieved: 13 August 2025, from https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/VPRS5527/about

State Library Victoria, 2025, Gold miners and mining, Retrieved: 14 August 2025, from https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/gold/people

Hardy, Arthur James, 1928, “Battle of Eureka – 74^th Anniversary of Ballarat Riots”, Sunday Mail, Brisbane Qld., 2 December, pp. 30, Retrieved: 15 August, 2025, from TROVE

Researched by Briony Pettigrew