Melbourne bot Garden
19/5/71
Allow me, dear Mr Fitzgibbon, to remind of your kind promise (a long while ago) that by letting the toll again at the St. Kilda road, the likelihood of a drive being thrown open through Gov. House Reserve should be taken into consideration, and provision be made accordingly either by a small special tollhouse or by other arrangements.1
2, You will agree with me that the old close paling concern around the tollhouse at the St Kilda road should be done away with, and something more sightly be substituted on a place otherwise so nice and so frequented.
3, Pray let a clause be introduced into the new lease, that the tollhouse-keeper should not be allowed to keep fowl or domestic animals such as goats &c of any kind of that sort, as constant losses and injuries arise to my plants now in the vicinity.2
Always your regardful
Ferd von Mueller.
M is probably referring to correspondence about restricting acess by 'carriage gates' if a drive through Government House Reserve was opened; see M to E. FitzGibbon, 12 November 1869, and E. FitzGibbon to M, 4 December 1868.
M had long complained of the damage caused by fowl kept by the tollhouse operator; see, for example, M to E. FitzGibbon, 13 July 1869.
E. FitzGibbon to M, 20 May 1871 answered each point in explaining the difficulties of effecting changes, which required the consent of many parties.
Please cite as “FVM-71-05-19a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on