Peter Lalor was the leader of the Eureka rebellion. He was born at Tenakill, Raheen, Queen's County, Ireland in 1827. He was the youngest child of Patrick and Anne (Dillon) Lalor. He emigrated to Australia in 1852 along with his brother, Richard. Richard returned home to Tenakill. It is reported that he was educated at Carlton College and Trinity College Dublin and studied to become a civil engineer. After first working on the Melbourne-Geelong railway line he went to the diggings in the Ovens district, and then to Ballarat. In 1852 a license fee of £1 10s. a month had been imposed on the diggers which caused great dissatisfaction. Parliament consisted of a single chamber, of which one-third of the members were nominated by the crown, the remainder were elected under a much restricted franchise, and the diggers being unrepresented had no means of having their grievances redressed in a constitutional way. In December 1853 the fee was reduced to £1 a month, but the law was administered tyrannically, and even brutally and unjustly. Several incidents excited the indignation of the diggers, who publicly burnt their licenses and decided to resist the police and military which had been sent from Melbourne to Ballarat. Peter Lalor was appointed their commander-in-chief. The men began to drill, and the Eureka stockade was built. On the morning of Sunday 3 December 1854 the stockade was stormed by the military, and Lalor was wounded in the shoulder and subsequently had to have an arm amputated. A reward of £200 was offered for information that would lead to his apprehension, but his friends were loyal to him, and he remained in hiding until after several other insurgents had been tried and in every case found not guilty by the jury. In 1855 Peter Lalor began his political career as representative for Ballarat in the old legislative council. Soon after he was appointed an inspector of railways, and held this position until the passing of the "Officials in Parliament Act". In 1856 under the new constitution he was elected to the legislative assembly for South Grant and held this seat until the election of 1871. He was re-elected for this constituency in 1875 and continued to represent it until his death. He was postmaster-general and commissioner of trade and customs in the Berry (q.v.) ministry from August to October 1875, and held the second of these positions in the second Berry ministry from May 1877 to March 1880. He was a capable chairman of committees for several years, and on the retirement of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (q.v.) in 1880, was elected speaker. In this position he was completely impartial and was one of the best speakers the Victorian parliament has ever had. A severe illness compelled him to resign on 29 September 1887, and parliament voted him a retiring allowance of £4000. Lalor came into his own, and clearly declared his unreserved commitment. "I shall not shirk, I mean to do my duty as a man. I tell you, gentlemen, if once I pledge my hand to the diggers, I will neither defile it with treachery nor render it contemptible by cowardice."