CHAPTER LXIV. THE
STORY
OF
SEPARATION, AB
OVO
USQUE
AU
MALUM.
SYNOPSIS:—First Petition to the Imperial Parliament.—Death of Mr. H. F. Gisborne.—Appointment of Committees.— Further Petitions and Addresses.—Mi-. A. Cunninghame, the First Home Delegate.—Proposed Scheme of Separation Rejoicings.—Passing of the Separation Bill.—Receipt of Nexus in Melbourne.—Mr. Latrobe Appointed First Lieutenant-Governor. —The Public Announcement. — The General Illuminations.—A Day of Prayer and Play. — The Separation Procession. — Opening of Prince's Bridge. — The Printers' Excursion to Geelong. — The Separation Fancy Dress Ball.
f F all the historiettes of which these Chronicles are comprised, not the least interesting, though | certainly the most important, is that in which will be described the persistent and / anxiously-agitated struggle for the territorial severance of Port Phillip from N e w South Wales, wj? and its provincial transformation into the independent colony of Victoria. T o the end of 1839 the Port Phillipians bore, almost without a murmur, the supercilious contempt of the Sydney Executive, by which their province was nearly as m u c h ignored as if it had no existence on the m a p of Australia; but, by the beginning of 1840, the population had been strengthened by a stream of emigration from Great Britain and other places, which included several colonists who afterwards made their mark in the history of their adopted country, and worked for her prosperity with unquestionable ability and patriotism. The First Separation Meeting was held at the Scots' School, on the Eastern, or Church Hill as then called, on the 13th May, 1840, with Major Mercer presiding. T h e speakers were Messrs. H . F. Gisborne, A. M . M'Crae, C. H . Ebden, James Montgomery, Arthur Kemmis, Arthur Hogue, J. L. Campbell, P. W . Welsh, A. Bolden, R e d m o n d Barry, J. C. Riddell, W . Verner, T. Arnold, W . Meek, W . Ryrie, R. H . Browne, Dr. M'Crae, and Dr. Greeves.
FIRST PETITION TO THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
This document, prepared by Mr. H. F. Gisborne, states thus:— "Your Petitioners beg to call the attention of your Honourable House to the present advanced and rapidly advancing state of the District and Capital of Australia Felix, and to point out what must be its future position among the Australian Colonies. It is entirely undeniable that Melbourne possesses natural advantages far superior to any other seaport in V a n Diemen's Land or N e w South Wales. She has as fine a harbour and as healthy a situation, with a more genial climate, and a greater average of more productive soil in her immediate vicinity. For proofs of this last assertion w e have only to refer your Honourable House to the Returns of the Sales of Waste Lands effected since the official occupation of Port Phillip on the 1st of June, 1837, amounting in all to ,£280,000, being a greater amount than was obtained from the sale of Waste Lands in the entire territory of N e w South Wales (exclusive of Australia Felix) during the five years 1832-3-4-5-6, immediately following Lord Kipon's Order-in-Council restricting thenceforth the disposal of such lands to sale by public auction. Thus it appears that the funds hitherto derived from this source if applied to emigration, would introduce into this colony 7000 adult couples, while it has been employed in supplying deficiencies in the revenues of the Sydney Government. But your Petitioners have further to remark that weighty as are n o w the claims of this district on the ground of wealth and population, still they probably will have increased at least two-fold before an answer can be received to the Prayer of this Petition. F r o m the central situation of Melbourne, as well as from the richness of the lands of Australia Felix, the extraordinary influx of stock and population must soon render it one of, if not quite, the most populous of provinces in this Hemisphere. M o r e particularly as it appears to be one of the few places in N e w South Wales where the soil will bear a concentrated population, while on the other hand a boundless extent of territory is ever opening its fresh fields of labour for the hand of m a n .
