Ferdinand von Mueller

The letter is numbered C85/6411 within the file.

According to the rules of the Public Service Act 1883, which in this respect maintained the provisions of the previous Act of 1862 regulating the Public Service, M, who was about to turn 60, was required to retire; however, the Act also provided that 'the Governor in Council may nevertheless on the recommendation of the [Public Service] Board require any officer who would otherwise so retire notwithstanding his age to continue to perform his duty'. On 6 July 1885, Berry recommended that M 'continue to perform his duties until it shall be further ordered'. The Public Service Board replied on 22 July, saying that M's continued employment 'must be determined not upon individual claims but solely upon public grounds'. The public grounds, sent to the Board on 28 August, included M's 'altogether unique and exceptional knowledge of Botany', which, along with his many previous and ongoing publications, enabled him 'to point out from time to time such plants, trees, &c as can be usefully introduced and grown here for economical or other purposes: … He is also continuing in the interests of the Colony his extensive correspondence with the Scientific Botanists all over the World, … [and] he is still quite fit to continue in the discharge of his duties.' On 15 September the Board recommended that his services be retained until 30 June 1886 (C85/7423, unit 170, VPRS 3992/P, Public Record Office, Victoria).