Charles Doudiet

Who was Charles Doudiet?

Charles Alphonse Doudiet was a Canadian artist and digger present at the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat, Victoria, in 1854. His sketchbook, discovered by his descendants in 1996, has provided contemporary images of events connected to the Eureka Stockade, that were important for the authentication of the original Eureka Flag.

Charles Doudiet was born in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1844, at the age of twelve, Doudiet migrated from Switzerland to Canada East. His father, Reverend Jacques-Frederic Doudiet, worked with the French Canadian Missionary Society, a job that required much travelling, which Jacques-Frederic Doudiet documented in a series of sketchbooks.

When 20-year-old Charles Doudiet left his home in Belle Riviere near Montreal, he carried a sketchbook like his father, to document his travels. By riverboat, train, then the clipper Magnolia, Doudiet travelled to Melbourne, attracted by the Victorian Gold Rush.

On the diggings at Ballarat, Doudiet continued to document events, including the burning of Bentley's Pub on 17 October 1854.

Swearing Allegiance to the "Southern Cross" is an important historical work because it documents the meeting on Bakery Hill on 1 December 1854. Prior to the discovery of the sketchbook, there was no certain proof that the flag held by the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was the original flag, as there were several different southern cross flag designs used on the gold fields at that time.