The Diary of Rosa Aarons, Ballarat Goldfield, 1854. In 1854, Rosa Aarons travelled with her family from London to the diggings on the Ballarat goldfield, where she met the Governor of the Colony, the leader of the diggers, Lady Macbeth, and a dog called Bonaparte. This is her story of how she makes new friends and learns to pan for gold, tolerate school, avoid snakes and survive the Eureka stockade.