1875 NSW Australia Cover ties 2d Dl Violet mauve Bell stamp Kyneton to Robert Hoddle Vic

                                                         











                                                          Unframed KYNETON VICTORIA JA 13 75 ((57)) Duplex cancel at top right across 2d Dull Violet mauve

                                                         











                                                          Bell Design stamp. MELBOURNE receiving cancel at left of stamp (faint) and at back..

                                                         











                                                          BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES KYNETON Albino Impressed logo on backflap.

                                                         











                                                          Cover was sent to Robert Hoddle Esq in Melbourne. Robert Hoddle was born in 1794 in'Westminster in London.

                                                         











                                                          In 1812 he became a cadet-surveyor in the army and for nearly ten years in the Ordnance Department

                                                         











                                                          and took part in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain.

                                                         











                                                          He then left for Cape Colony, where he worked as assistant engineer on military surveys.

                                                         











                                                          He sailed in the William Penn in April 1823, and arrived in New South Wales in July.

                                                         











                                                          Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane appointed him assistant surveyor under the surveyor-general, John Oxley,

                                                         











                                                          In 1824 he accompanied Oxley on an expedition to Moreton Bay where he assisted with the

                                                         











                                                          initial survey and the establishment of the site of Brisbane. He spent the next twelve years

                                                         











                                                          surveying several country districts of New South Wales, including the sites of Berrima

                                                         











                                                          and Goulburn. Governor Sir Ralph Darling called him 'one of the most competent men in the department',

                                                         











                                                          but Oxley's successor, (Sir) Thomas Mitchell, unjustly criticized the governor for recommending Hoddle

                                                         











                                                          as deputy surveyor general,a man who 'can scarcely spell '.

                                                         











                                                          Hoddle arrived at Port Phillip with Governor Sir Richard Bourke in March 1837, and was appointed

                                                         











                                                          senior surveyor over Robert Russell and his assistants, D'Arcy and Darke. Whether Hoddle planned

                                                         











                                                          planned Melbourne or used Russell's ideas has been a subject of controversy.

                                                         











                                                          Russell himself claimed to have laid out the township before Hoddle's arrival,

                                                         











                                                          and Hoddle severely criticized Russell for neglect of duty. In a detailed study

                                                         











                                                          H. S. McComb concludes that Hoddle designed both Melbourne and Williamstown

                                                         











                                                          and gave the first sketch of them in his field book, but that Darke assisted him with the lay-out,

                                                         











                                                          while Hoddle drew the first plan of Melbourne on Russell's feature plan of the settlement.

                                                         











                                                          William Lonsdale appointed Hoddle auctioneer at the first sale of crown land on 1 June 1837,

                                                         











                                                          at which he sold half-acre (0.2 ha) allotments averaging just over £35 an acre. His commission was £57 12s. 7d.,

                                                         











                                                          and he bought two allotments for himself costing £54.

                                                         











                                                          By 1838 Hoddle had surveyed and planned Geelong, and later he surveyed many country areas of Victoria.

                                                         











                                                          Next year he clashed with Governor Sir George Gipps and, threatened with ill health, planned to retire

                                                         











                                                          but he recovered and was reinstated some months later. In 1842 he became alderman for Bourke

                                                         











                                                          ward in the first City Council of Melbourne.

                                                         











                                                          After the separation of the colony in 1851 he became Victoria's first surveyor-general.