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No. 3974, unit 23, p. 662-3, VPRS 1187/P outward correspondence, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office Victoria. 70.12.21aPreferred Citation:
William Odgers to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1870-12-21 [70.12.21a]. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/70-12-21a>, accessed September 11, 2025
Chief Secretary's Office
Melbourne 21st December 1870
Sir
I am directed by the Chief Secretary to inform you that the Governor-in-Council has
been pleased to appoint a Board consisting of the gentlemen named in the margin
to inquire into the best mode of re-organizing the Department of the Botanic Gardens
1
W. Hammill Chairman, W J Grieg, W Sangster, J. Mitchell.
The members of the Board of Inquiry were formally appointed by the Governor in Council
on 12 December 1870, but the file indicates that proposed members had been sounded
out earlier as to their willingness to serve, with Odgers writing to Hammill, Greig
and Mitchell on 26 November and to John Carson, then President of the Horticultural
Society of Victoria, on 29 November. Hammill, Greig and Mitchell promptly agreed to
serve but Carson declined, leading to a note being added to the file, probably by
Odgers: '? D. C. Macarthur if he wd act'. However, no letter to either MacArthur or
William Sangster who was eventually appointed has been found.
2
The Board's terms of reference were to 'enquire into and report on the changes that
may be necessary to bring into operation an organization which will secure the Botanical
Gardens at Melbourne being kept in the best possible condition, without in any degree
interfering with the valuable services rendered to the Colony by Dr Von Mueller as
a botanist' (Minute 88, unit 12, pp. 352-3, VPRS 1080, Public Record Office, Victoria).
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedient servant
W. H. Odgers