of State; but the same mail took remonstrances from the other two meetings, and the Corporation thunderbolt, though hurled, evaporated in a brv.tum fiulmen. In May, circumstances rendered it necessary for Councillor Armitstead to resign his seat for Lonsdale Ward, and the vacancy yvas contested by two new men, viz, Messrs. John Hodgson, and John Dinwoodie (saddler). T h e election was held on the 27th, when Hodgson polled 127, and Dinwoodie 82. Though one of the very early colonists, this was Hodgson's first entrance into public life. H e sat for several years in the Council, and passed through the grades of Alderman and Mayor.
THE WARD OF FITZROY.
At the Council meeting of the 29th May, Councillor Bowler presented a petition from 392 residents of Collingwood (a portion of Gipps Ward) praying that, for various reasons set forth, Collingwood might be erected into a separate and independent Ward of the City, under the name of Fitzroy, after the Governor of N e w South Wales. T h e petition was favourably considered at the next meeting, when the Council agreed to a Memorial to the Governor, advising the formation and proclamation of Collingwood as a separate Ward, but leaving the name blank. O n the 26th September, it was officially made known that Collingwood was to be a separate AVard, under the designation of " Fitzroy." T h e vacancy created by the resignation of Alderman Kerr, was contested by Councillors Nicholson and Stephen, when the former was elected on the 5th June by eight votes to four. Nicholson's emptied seat in Latrobe W a r d was also fought for by Messrs. D. S. Campbell (the resigned member of the original Councillors), and G. B. Hailes, a timber-dealer. Hailes was believed to be an unyvilling tool, and took no trouble to be returned. T h e whole thing was a farce, and the voting was—Campbell, 137 ; Hailes, 12. Sanitary, sewerage, and water became the orders of the day for some time, and on the 26th June a Committee formed of the Mayor, Alderman Nicholson, and Councillors Chambers, Annand and Smith, was appointed to co-operate with the City Surveyor in procuring a comprehensive survey of the several modes suggested for supplying the City with pure water, and a s u m of £ 3 0 0 was appropriated for the purpose. T h e City Surveyor set to yvork with a will, and on the 9th August, 1851, placed before the Council the result of his labours, which led to the construction of the noyv so universally known Y a n Yean reservoir. His report was distinguished by m u c h professional ability, and a fuller notice of it appears in another place in these C H R O N I C L E S . T h e Council (in August) were so considerate as to make the City Surveyor an annual allowance of £30 for horse-forage, but equally inconsiderate in refusing the same favour to the Building Surveyor. In September the Council adopted plans for the erection of the long-talked-of Toyvn Hall and the Public Works Committee were empowered to spend ,£2600 on the building. Councillors also bestirred themselves, on the motion of Councillor Hodgson, in pressing upon the Government the permanent reservation of " From Princes Bridge to the Eastern boundary of Richmond police paddock, as a place of public recreation." In 1845 the Superintendent had been asked for a similar reservation of Batman's Hill and through the action of Councillor Smith, the application was now repeated. T o the lasting credit of this gentleman it must be recorded that he exerted himself much on behalf of the early Charities; and it was owing to him also that on the 12th September, the Council memoralized the Governor for a grant of land whereon to erect an Orphan Institution, and a sum of money towards its erection. It was even contended to be the duty of the Government, not only to subsidize, but to wholly maintain such an Institution. T h e Corporation Balance Sheet for the year ended 31st August, 1850, showed the annual receipts from all sources to be £ 9 5 8 3 9s i o ^ d , and the expenditure £ 9 5 9 9 is. 7d, or a debit of ,£15 1 is. 8^d. In October it was intimated that the Government had acceded to the reservation of Batman's Hill and Richmond Park as places for public recreation, and also that a total area of 2560 acres yvould be reserved to the Northyvard of the city. These would include Carlton Gardens, the Royal Park, and other places, afterwards, as land increased in value, considerably reduced.
