The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ [Alteration in classification re Mr French necessary. Suggests that all employés in his Dept be styled "clerical"] ¶ M's letter was returned to him on 5 February 1885 minuted: 'Attach copy of your ...

Document information

Physical location:

No. 1106, vol. 1885 C, VPRS 1168/P inward correspondence registers, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 85.02.02

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Graham Berry, 1885-02-02. 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/1880-9/1885/85-02-02-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Letter not found. Item is a register entry only for an item dated 2 February 1885 and registered on 3 February.

[Alteration in classification re Mr French necessary. Suggests that all employés in his Dept be styled "clerical"]

M's letter was returned to him on 5 February 1885 minuted: 'Attach copy of your letter of 7.6.84' (letter not found). M complied on 6 February and the letters were forwarded to the Public Service Board on 9 February with the annotation: 'For consideration'.

It is unclear whether the register entry refers to Charles French Snr or his son Charles H. French; both were employed in M's department. It is more likely to have concerned the older French, who had been appointed from 1 March 1884; see T. Wilson to M, 14 March 1884 (in this edition as 84-03-14b).

The request was evidently unsuccessful; M to A. Deakin, 30 March 1889, was another attempt to have the staff reclassified, but the secretary of the Public Service Board reported that to be appointed to the clerical division would require the officers to pass the relevant examination, and then be appointed at a level with a lower salary than they already had.