Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne botanic Garden

20th September 1862

Sir

I have the honor to inform you, that at a Meeting of the Trustees of the Royal Park held this day, I was instructed to state in reply to your letter dated 30th August,

1

This reply to C. Hodgkinson to M, 30 August 1862, was constructed by the Trustees at their meeting of 20 September 1862 (A345, pp.121-2).

that the grazing fees hitherto raised by the Trustees at the Park have nearly been expended in improvements of the fences roads & of the extensive ground and that the remaining balance as well as any other fees which may be received there will be expended in the same manner.

I have further been instructed by the Trustees to transmit to you for the consideration of the honorable the Board of Land & Works a copy of the rules and regulations hitherto in force at the Park, and this document I have now the honor to annex.

2

Annex not found.

The Trustees desire me also to state, that whenever circumstances will render any alterations of these rules desirable, that these previous to their introduction will be submitted for the consideration of the Board of Land & Works.

3

Regulations for the management of the Zoological Reserve at Royal Park were published in Victoria government gazette, 28 October 1864. No earlier regulations have been found.

I have further the honor to solicit on behalf of the Trustees, that the Board of Land & Works may be pleased to take into consideration the propriety of conveying the area of the Royal Park in a Crown lands Grant to the Trustees.

4

When the Royal Park was permanently reserved from sale, the notice specified that the land would be granted to the Trustees, subject to rules and regulations for the management of the reserve being submitted (Victoria government gazette, 25 March 1862, p. 529). In an order of 24 July 1873, the land was 'vested in the Board of Land and Works conjointly with the trustees of the said Park' (Victoria government gazette, 8 August 1873, p. 1416).

Clem. Hodgkinson Esq.

Assistant Commissioner of Lands & Survey