The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ [Recommg ¶ Recommending. ¶ ¶ that ¶ ¶ a holiday be granted to employés in Gardens on 8 hours Anniversary] ¶ His letter wasreturnedto Mon18 April 1871 minuted: 'no objection but no pay for the day...

Document information

Physical location:

No. 4224, vol. 1871 Y, VPRS 1168/P inward correspondence registers, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 71.04.11

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to James McCulloch, 1871-04-11. 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/1870-9/1871/71-04-11-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Letter not found; item is a register entry only, of a letter dated 11 April 1871.

[Recommg

Recommending.

that a holiday be granted to employés in Gardens on 8 hours Anniversary]

His letter was returned to M on 18 April 1871 minuted: 'no objection but no pay for the day'.

'The fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the eight hours system was celebrated yesterday [Friday, 21 April], with the customary procession through the city and fête at the Friendly Societies' reserve…The procession started at about 10 minutes to l1 o'clock. At the head was the band of the Carlton Rifles. Then came the committee of the association and the eight hours banner. The different trades, with their several banners, followed … The procession was a very long one, and must have numbered over 3,000 persons' (Argus, 22 April 1871, p. 7)

The building trades had agreed an 8-hour working day on 21 April 1856. Some trades had negotiated the one-day holiday without loss of pay, but it was not a statutory public holiday.