RARE artefacts of the Eureka Stockade have been tracked down by a Ballarat collector and made available to help celebrate the 160th anniversary of the battle that changed the nation.
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Antik owner and operator Ben Smith has loaned a “very rare” shako with a shako plate and a document signed by Captain Wise, who was killed at Eureka, to the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka.
He said it took him 20 years to track down the objects.
“It’s a collection that has come from very old collections throughout Australia and sold on to collectors,” he said.
“It’s a matter of tracing, following leads of finding out who’s got what.
“They are items that have never been on public display; they’ve taken many years of searching high and low to find them. They are the sort of objects that come up once every 20 to 30 years.”
M.A.D.E curator Jennifer Forest said the museum was pleased to display Mr Smith’s items.
“... especially the original shako, which would have been worn by officers on this site 160 years ago,” she said.