Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition
The Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition world's fair
was held in Melbourne, Colony of Victoria between 2 September and 16 November 1875.
Commission
The original commission comprised Sir Redmond Barry, acting chief justice; members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly : J. J. Casey, J. F. Sullivan, C. J. Jennor, J. Munro; James Gatehouse ; the former mayor J. McIlwraith; and J. I. Bleasdale.And later the following became additional commissioners: John O'Shanassy ; James McCulloch, J. A. Macpherson, J. T. Smith, J. Bosisto ; S. H. Bindon; the Count de Castelnau; L. J. Sherrard; and J. Danks.
G. C. Levey who had experience with the Victorian Exhibition of 1872, and the London International and Vienna Exhibitions of 1873 was appointed secretary.
Location
The exhibition was held in the Public Library along with a specially constructed 190 ft by 60 ft iron and wood building.Contributors
There were exhibitors from the colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory, along with Singapore and Japan.Displays
Displays included two beer exhibits from Yarra Bend Asylum, three copper engraved maps of Victoria organised by Alexander John Skene and A C Allen and engraved by Slight and The Lord's Prayer in 50 different kinds of shorthandThe Victorian Academy of Arts organised the Fine Arts section which included paintings by Louis Buvelot, Eugene von Guerard, Isaac Whitehead and Henry Leonardus van den Houten.