page_title: 1894 Australian shearers' strike
hierarchical_section_title: 1894 Australian shearers' strike
caption_attribution_description: English: Troopers at w:Dagworth Station during the Shearer's Strike in 1894 Shown is the temporary shearing shed used after the main shed was burnt by unionists; note the heavy fortifications. On the left in the dark tops are three policemen; the middle one is Senior Constable Michael Daly who was involved in the shoot-out when the main shearing shed was burnt down at the station. Beside them are the squatters who owned the station, Angus Macpherson, Gideon Macpherson, Robert (Bob) Macpherson, and Jack Macpherson. At image right are Weldon Tomlin who was the shed overseer, and Henry Dyer. These men were also involved in the altercation at the burning of the shed. The three policemen and Bob McPherson are thought to be the three troopers and the squatter referred to in the poem/song w:Waltzing Matilda. (Reference: O'Keeffe, Dennis (2012). Waltzing Matilda: The Secret History of Australia's Favourite Song. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74237-706-3.)
context_page_description: After the 1890 Australian maritime dispute and the 1891 Australian shearers' strike both of which were long, drawn out affairs in which trade unions were defeated, running out of funds, actions by increasingly militant and desperate unions led up to perhaps the most violent shearers' strike, in 1894.
  Particularly due to falling wool prices in London, pastoralists were motivated to cut pay rates and hire non-union labour, which was plentiful due to mass unemployment during the 1890s depression. In May 1894, the Amalgamated Workers Union rose to the defence of the shearers' wages.
  By October 1894 the Queensland Amalgamated Workers Union conceded defeat and called off the strike in the colony of Queensland. However, the strike continued in New South Wales, where possibly 16,000 workers gathered in strike camps. Police were mobilised against them.
  The most famous incident during the strike was the burning and sinking of the steamer Rodney, which was transporting non-union labour up the Darling River.
context_section_description: After the 1890 Australian maritime dispute and the 1891 Australian shearers' strike both of which were long, drawn out affairs in which trade unions were defeated, running out of funds, actions by increasingly militant and desperate unions led up to perhaps the most violent shearers' strike, in 1894.
  Particularly due to falling wool prices in London, pastoralists were motivated to cut pay rates and hire non-union labour, which was plentiful due to mass unemployment during the 1890s depression. In May 1894, the Amalgamated Workers Union rose to the defence of the shearers' wages .
  By October 1894 the Queensland Amalgamated Workers Union conceded defeat and called off the strike in the colony of Queensland. However, the strike continued in New South Wales, where possibly 16,000 workers gathered in strike camps. Police were mobilised against them.
  The most famous incident during the strike was the burning and sinking of the steamer Rodney, which was transporting non-union labour up the Darling River. When the boat was moored in a swamp 23 miles (37 km) above Pooncarie, a few miles above the Moorara shearing shed, unionists boarded, took control, offloaded all passengers, then soaked the hold in kerosene and set it alight. The burning boat drifted away and sank after several hours.
  In September 1894, on Dagworth Station, north-west of Winton), striking shearers fired their rifles and pistols in the air, setting fire to the woolshed. The owner of the homestead and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also known as "French(y)". Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole. It has been widely accepted that the lyrics of Waltzing Matilda are based the incident.
caption: A fortified temporary shearing shed at Dagworth Station following the 1894 arson of the main shed. The three troopers at left are thought to be those referred to in Waltzing Matilda, while the squatter was Bob Macpherson, fourth from right[1]
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