14 Facts About Henry Seekamp

Henry Erle Seekamp was a journalist, owner and editor of the Ballarat Times during the 1854 Eureka Rebellion in Victoria, Australia.

Henry Seekamp tried prospecting for gold, presumably meeting with some success as he was able to afford a printing press and the not inconsiderable cost of its transport to Ballarat in 1854.

Henry Seekamp served as secretary to the committee that planned to build a hospital for the miners of Ballarat, and was a great supporter of The Ballarat Reform League in their lobbying to improve conditions for the men working at the diggings.

Henry Seekamp was responsible for printing the Ballarat Reform Charter and the many flyers advertising speakers and dates for the "monster meetings" organising support prior to the rebellion.

At first Henry Seekamp was hopeful of change from new Victorian Governor Sir Charles Hotham, who had told the miners he would not neglect their interests, and wrote an approving editorial after the Governors visit to the goldfields.

Henry Seekamp was arrested in his office, all copies of the newspaper were confiscated, and he was charged with sedition for a series of articles published in the Ballarat Times.

Certainly Henry Seekamp claimed that he had not written them, and had been away from Ballarat on business when they were printed as part of his defence.

Henry Seekamp was tried and convicted of seditious libel on 23 January 1855, after the judge directed the jury that as a point of law, an editor was liable for the contents of his newspaper and stated that in his opinion, the articles were seditious.

Henry Seekamp was released from prison on 28 June 1855, three months early, after public outcry and a 3,000 signature petition organised by Clara Seekamp.

Henry Seekamp was the only man to spend time in prison as a result of actions during the rebellion.

Henry Seekamp returned to Ballarat after he was released and continued to edit the Ballarat Times.

In 1856 Henry Seekamp wrote a scathing review in the Ballarat Times of visiting actress Lola Montez and her erotic Spider Dance, criticising her for immorality.

Henry Seekamp died of "natural causes accelerated by intemperance" at the Clermont gold diggings in Queensland on 19 January 1864, at the age of 35.

Henry Seekamp was inducted into the Melbourne Press Club's Hall of Fame in 2012.