Document information

Physical location:

Unit 733, VPRS 3181/P Town Clerk's file series 1, VA 511 Melbourne, Public Record Office, Victoria. 69.04.28

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Edmund FitzGibbon, 1869-04-28. 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/1860-9/1869/69-04-28-final.odt>, accessed June 15, 2026

28/4/69.
This day, dear Mr Fitzgibbon, it is reported to me, that at the boathouses, Princes Bridge, Rabbits are kept! These animals have been seen running loose about, and even if they were kept in enclosures, they would eventually escape into the reserve, & by undermining the trees &c cause the utmost destruction! I hope, that I not in vain implore your powerful aid to get rid of such a pest, as these animals are, and that therefore you will at once issue peremptory order, forbidding the maintenance of such creatures on the grounds of the City Council. This is the only way, to root out the evil at the commencement.
There ought most certainly a clause to be inserted in all the cases, to occupy public grounds, that animals such as rabbits, cows, asses, goats, fowl &c are not to be kept.
Feeling sure you will for the protection of the ground, in which we have a mutual interest, act as promptly as usual in this matter, I remain
your regardful
Ferd. von Mueller
1
MS file annotation: 'And. [Answered]'; i.e. E. FitzGibbon to M, 3 May 1869.