appointed Captain Lonsdale an interim mayor, and a number of 

 Government officers as acting aldermen and assessors, by whom 

 the electoral roll was prepared, and the first election of councillors 

 came off on the 1st of December, 1842, and that of the aldermen and 

 mayor on the 9th of the same month. There was no very great 

 excitement. In one ward there was no contest, but altogether 

 there were seventeen candidates for the twelve seats. The highest 

 of the successful candidates received only 136 votes, and the lowest 

 64. The election of the mayor, on the 9th of December, was con- 

 ducted " with closed doors," as directed by the Act, and resulted in 

 the return of Mr. Henry Condell, a brewer by trade. On the 13th 

 of December the whole Corporation, preceded by the town band and 

 supported by a large contingent of the Masonic craft in full re- 

 galia, marched in procession through the streets to the temporary 

 Supreme Court, where Judge Willis presided over the administra- 

 tion of the oath of office, and delivered a learned and impressive 

 oration on their duties. The Mayor, not having had time to pro- 

 vide himself with the recognised official robe, had borrowed for the 

 occasion a mysterious Masonic garment of crimson silk, which 

 struck the crowd dumb with amazement. The papers of the period, 

 with cynical banter, commented upon the risk incurred by the 

 drivers of the numerous bullock teams, which then frequented 

 Collins Street, as this unwonted spectacle burst upon their startled 

 cattle ! 



After receiving the blessing of Judge Willis, the Corporation 

 passed on to wait upon the Superintendent, who congratulated the 

 Mayor on his high office, and finally promised that the Government 

 would provide 2,000 to start operations with, on condition that at 

 least an equal sum was raised from the burgesses. 



The first two years of the existence of the Corporation, during 

 both of which Condell was mayor, was a period of almost con- 

 tinuous turmoil and bickering. It started life just at the time 

 when the financial troubles, already referred to, were beginning to 

 be acute. The first rate struck, Is. in the on an annual valuation 

 of 60,000, failed by a long way to produce the relative return. 

 Unfortunately, two out of the three local papers the Herald and 

 the Gazette indulged in scathing denunciations of the Council for 



