Charles Alphonse Doudiet (1832 – 13 June 1913) was aSwiss-bornCanadian artist and digger present at theEureka Stockade,Ballarat, in the BritishColony of Victoria (nowAustralia), in 1854. His sketchbook, discovered by his descendants in 1996, has provided contemporary images of events connected to theEureka Rebellion, that were important for the authentication of the originalEureka Flag.
Charles Doudiet was born inGeneva, Switzerland.[1] In 1844, at the age of twelve, Doudiet migrated from Switzerland to the predominantly French-speakingCanada East portion of the British colonyProvince of Canada. His father, Reverend Jacques-Frederic Doudiet, worked with the French Canadian Missionary Society, a job that required much travelling, which the Reverend documented in a series of sketchbooks.
When 20-year-old Charles Doudiet left his home in Belle Riviere nearMontreal, he carried a sketchbook like his father, to document his travels. By riverboat, train, then the clipperMagnolia, Doudiet travelled toMelbourne, attracted by theVictorian Gold Rush. Onboard the clipper, Doudiet metHenry Ross, from the neighboringUpper Canada portion of the Province of Canada, who was also headed to the gold fields.
On the diggings at Ballarat, Doudiet continued to document events, including the burning of Bentley's Pub on 17 October 1854.
Doudiet's drawingSwearing Allegiance to the "Southern Cross" is an important historical work because it documents the meeting onBakery Hill on 1 December 1854. Prior to the discovery of the sketchbook, there was no certain proof that the flag held by theBallarat Fine Art Gallery was the original Eureka Flag, as there were several different southern cross flag designs used on the gold fields at that time.
His workEureka Slaughter shows the troops lined up attacking the stockade on 3 December 1854. Accompanying the sketch is a descriptive passage with the footnote: "Joyce, Penny and Fletcher along with myself carried Ross to the Star where he died in great pain at about 2am on the 5th". This refers to fellow Canadian CaptainHenry Ross, whom many believe to be the Eureka Flag's designer, who was carried to the Star Hotel after he was mortally wounded in the battle at dawn on 3 December 1854.
Doudiet's Melbourne sketchbook ends in 1855, and soon after, Doudiet returned to Canada and married in March 1857. After several years, he studied theology atQueen's College,Kingston, Ontario, and was ordained as a minister in Montreal in 1869. He served several congregations before dying inHallowell, Maine, on 13 June 1913.[citation needed]
After descendants found Doudiet's sketchbook in an attic in 1996, it was put up for sale by auction atChristie's. Money was raised by the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, whose successful bid ofAU$220,000 (equivalent to $420,000 in 2022) allowed them to add the sketchbook to its historical collection connected to Ballarat and the Eureka Stockade.[2]
In January 2012, an article inThe Age newspaper discusses an unsupported accusation, brought forward to the reporter by an unnamed person who claimed that his own poor health made him unable "to pursue this matter" himself, thatSwearing Allegiance to the Southern Cross may be a forgery.[2] The accusation was not backed with any evidence, nor even a suggestion of something particular having been revealed to the accuser, and the reporter concluded "I don't for a minute believe that Doudiet's watercolours are fake...".[2]
