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Richard Cobden, apostle of Free Trade, was the relentless crusader for the repeal of the Corn Law – a protectionist device which, he said, “took from the poorest of the poor to add to the richest of the rich”. In their battles for the “under dog” against the “top dogs”, he and O’Connell found themselves brothers in arms, joined in fierce hostility to Peel, the conservative pillar of the ruling classes. Sir Robert Peel was a keyman in the Tory government of 1828. By the next year, however, the threat of civil war had generated enough steam to blow through his traditional opposition to Catholicism, and he put through a Bill for Catholic Emancipation. Protestant Oxford saw to it that he had lost his seat. Corn law Back in 1843 as Prime Minister, convinced at last by Cobden’s arguments, he repealed the Corn Law. He fell from power immediately, and never regained it. Denounced as twice traitor to his party, he replied that he preferred the general interests of the community to those of party. The Irish certainly gave North Melbourne something to live up to when they hoisted their green banner at its front door.(1) Cobden Street North Melbourne …

Daniel O’Connell, pacifist champion of Catholic emancipation and of all Ireland’s troubles, was hailed in his day as “liberator” of his “most distressful country”. Free Trade In the battles for the “under dog” against the “top dogs”, O’Connell found himself brothers in arms, with Richard Cobden joined in fierce hostility to Peel, the conservative pillar of the ruling classes. Sir Robert Peel was a keyman in the English Tory government of 1828. By the next year, however, the threat of civil war had generated enough steam to blow through his traditional opposition to Catholicism, and he put through a Bill for Catholic Emancipation. Protestant Oxford saw to it that he had lost his seat. Corn law Back in 1843 as Prime Minister, convinced at last by Cobden’s arguments, he repealed the Corn Law. He fell from power immediately, and never regained it. Denounced as twice traitor to his party, he replied that he preferred the general interests of the community to those of party. The Irish certainly gave North Melbourne something to live up to when they hoisted their green banner at its front door, and named O’Connell Street North Melbourne in honour of Daniel O’Connell.(1) Source. (1) Northern Advertiser, …

In 1828, at Upton, Devonshire, a son was born to Thomas Reynolds and Frances Partridge, noted breeder of Devon cattle and Leicester sheep. The baby was named William. About the same time, his cousin Frank, who became the celebrated Hereford breeder in the Hunter River district of NSW, was born. Caught up in the rush to Australia, William Reynolds landed in Victoria in October, 1852, and went to the Mt. Blackwood goldfields, where he did much to improve the method of sluicing. In 1858 he set up as a produce merchant in Tarradale. He soon became a Councillor, being twice mayor and the first territorial JP in the district. He later came to Melbourne and worked as a salesman in the City Meat Market for three years. Irked by Melbourne council’s short-sighted policy, he joined others in forming the Victoria Meat Market in leased premises in Elizabeth Street North. Reynolds carried on there for seven years. Foreseeing the time when even this market could not cope with needs of a growing meat trade, Reynolds bought three quarters of an acre in Courteney Street North Melbourne. A few years later the Metropolitan Meat Market was built on this site, with William …

(1) Charles Ager Atkin, “chymist” — as then spelt, arrived in Melbourne in September 1853, from Nottingham England, at the age of 25. He came to try his luck on the goldfields, but an accident on board ship prevented this. In March 1854 he set up as a “chymist” in Errol Street North Melbourne. His small garden of rare plants, and the antics of a pet monkey he kept on a pole at the shop attracted many customers. His pharmacy is still there, now owned by W. H. Wallace. Atkin became famous for his Quinine Wine Tonic, which won medals at various exhibitions, and sold at the rate of 3000 gallons a year in the State and beyond. The first wine used was made from grapes grown by his father at their other “chymist’s” shop at 96 Spencer Street. Later, the wine came mainly from Rutherglen. Until 1945, 24 Atkin Street North Melbourne was a storage depot for the tonic. Other chymists ran a rival tonic — Hop Bitters. Typical of the fantastic lengths to which they had to go to compete is an item from the (North Melbourne Advertiser, September 1883), headed “The Brazen Serpent.” It reads: “Like the …

(1) John Dennistoun Wood, the son of Captain Patrick Wood of the East India Company’s military service, was born at Dennistoun, Tasmania, in 1829. At the age of 11 he was sent to England to complete his education. At 16 he was a student of the Middle Temple, and six years later he was called to the Bar. He came to Victoria in 1853 and entered practice before the Supreme Court. Four years later he was elected to the Legislative Assembly, and during the next six years Wood held the office of Solicitor-General, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in three successive governments. Retiring from politics, Wood went to live in London, practicing mainly before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in colonial appeal cases. In 1889 he returned to Victoria and practiced at the local Bar. He admitted frankly that his main object was “to make money” Geoffrey Serie, The Golden Age, classifies Wood as a “liberal opportunist — a smart, city lawyer, with influence in high places, who could wrangle favors for constituencies”. An impressive speaker and keen debater, Wood and others often turned debates in the House into squabbles of “rowdyism, violence and spite“. In the gold …

(1) William Mountford Kinsey Vale came to Victorian from London in March, 1853. After working on various goldfields, he settled in Ballarat as a newsagent bookseller. A handsome man, with boundless and vivacious energy, a ringing mellow voice, and a fluent command of words, he quickly came to the front as a lay preacher of the Congregational Church, a staunch and voluble democrat, and an open-air orator for temperance and other social questions. Ballarat West sent him to Parliament in 1865, where he soon rose to ministerial rank. The scandal that broke in 1868 and Vale’s reaction to it put him in the limelight. C. E. Jones, Minister for Railways, was expelled from the House for bribery and corruption. He sought re-election from Ballarat West. When it seemed that he would be returned unopposed, Vale, who was Minister for Customs, resigned his seat to oppose him. He lost the election by 559 votes, but won greater respect than ever from all who put integrity above success. In 1874 Vale went to England on a board of advice to the Agent-General. While there he qualified as a barrister, and on returning was admitted to the Victorian Bar. He shared a room …

(1) When Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, visited Victoria officially in 1867, Viscount Canterbury was Governor of Victoria. His family name was Manners-Sutton. He came from a distinguished family. His paternal grandfather was Archbishop of Canterbury (1805-1828), his father eight times speaker of the House of Commons, and he himself had been a member. After vice-regal apprenticeships in Bermuda and Trinidad, he was sworn in as Governor of Victoria on August 15, 1866. It was a time of political crisis, when ministries changed quickly, and a fierce antagonism between the two Houses of Parliament had reached a bitter deadlock. The new Governor soon made up his mind. “My first duty,” he wrote to the Colonial Office in London, “is to abstain from taking any step which would identify me with either, or any, of the con-tending political parties“. He adhered to this throughout the long crisis. His experience of parliamentary procedure, knowledge of British law and precedent, and strict impartiality enabled him to bring the ship through the storm. Though he had a deep dislike of radicals, he never allowed himself to be guided by personal prejudices. Manners-Sutton was not a colorful or dynamic personality, but he was a …

(1) Charles Doyl Straker came to Melbourne, in January 1856, and set up as a butcher. Ten years later, he took over the Parkside Hotel, on the corner of Flemington Road and Villiers Street North Melbourne, adding catering to hotel-keeping. Five years later — he became lessee of the Three Crowns Hotel, in Victoria Street West Melbourne, and soon afterwards bought the freehold. He continued as caterer as well as hotelier. Three Crowns as a hotel name came from Britain, where there are at least 10 pubs of that name in Staffordshire alone, and others in London. The name was a favorite for inns in the Middle Ages, representing the three “kings” led by a star to Bethlehem. These were also known as the Three Kings of Cologne. Legend has it that the Empress Helena brought their bones to Constantinople. They were removed later to Milan, and thence to Cologne, which city still has three crowns in its arms. Cologne merchants, who did a big linen business in England , took three crowns as their sign, and this made them more popular still as the name for a pub. In the days when a five shilling (50 cent) piece was …

(1) Born Edinburgh and trained as an engineer. Before migrating John Buncle was chief draftsman and designer at the London and North-Western Railway workshops, Crewe, Cheshire. He arrived in Melbourne, December 1852 and quickly found work at Langland’s foundry, where he soon became general foreman. During this time, he installed the peal of bells in St. James Old Cathedral. Before long Buncle set up his own business as pattern-maker, woodturner and carver, sign-writer, general engineer and contractor, with hardware as a side line. From the factory he built in Wreckyn Street North Melbourne, Buncle provided the iron work for several large bridges in Melbourne, including the Johnston Street bridge across the Yarra. He gradually concentrated on the design and construction of agricultural implements and machinery. “He became a prominent member of that extraordinary group of men whose inventions put Australia in a notable place in the history of the evolution of ‘extensive’ farming techniques in the nineteenth century.” John Buncle was a public spirited man, being President of the Chamber of Manufacturers, a Commissioner of the Melbourne International. Exhibition in 1880, and the Centennial Exhibition 1888. He was elected as a councillor at the foundation of the Municipality of Hotham …