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No. 283/5/68, unit 14, p.191, VPRS 4025/P Town Clerk's letter press copy books, VA 511 Melbourne, Public Record Office, Victoria. 68.05.22bPreferred Citation:
Edmund FitzGibbon to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1868-05-22 [68.05.22b]. 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//letters/1860-9/1868/68-05-22b-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026
Temporary Town Hall
Western Market Melbourne
22nd May 1868
Sir
Referring to your letters of the 3rd and 6th instant suggesting that for the safety
of passengers at night over the Botanic Gardens footbridge a lamp should be erected,
and offering the services of a person to cleanse and light it, I have the honor to
inform you that the Council of the City of Melbourne has directed that two lamps suitable
for use with kerosene oil be erected, one at each end of the bridge, and that upon
being informed by the City Surveyor of their being fit for use I shall be happy to
place under your kind care and direction a supply of oil and wick and shall be thankful
for the cleansing trimming and lighting of the lamps which you have been so good as
to offer to undertake.
I have the honor to be
Sir Your most obedient servant
E. G. FitzGibbon
Dr Mueller
&c &c &c
1
M's letter was read at a meeting of the Melbourne City Council Public Works Committee,
12 May 1868: ''City Surveyor instructed to erect at the bridge two of the old lamp
pillars & to fit them with lanterns suitable for use with kerosene oil. Chairman instructed
to report asking authority for these instructions and for having the requisite oil
and wick supplied and placed under the care of Dr Mueller who has promised to furnish
labor for the lighting and cleansing of the lamps' (Unit 6, pp. 463-4, VPRS 4037, Public Record Office, Victoria). At a meeting of the Public Works Committee on 19 May 1868, the City Surveyor was 'instructed to have two of the lamp pillars erected, one at
each end of the Botanical Gardens Bridge and fitted with lanterns and appliances for
lighting with kerosene oil' (Unit 6, p. 470, VPRS 4037, Public Record Office, Victoria).
Thanks for the supply of lamps and kerosene were included in M to E. FitzGibbon, 1 June 1868
(in this edition as 68-01-01a).