Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/145

 The Legislators ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 119 The records for the years immediately following these deal principally with civic expenditure, and have no interest for the general reader. In 1854 the powers of the Corporation were extended by an Act of the Legislative Council, mostly providing for street improvements, for the adoption of regulations referring to the erection of buildings, and for the effectual scavenging of the city. But other powers usually reposed in a municipal council were withheld, and were not extended until the year 1861. At the elections of 1854 Mr. J. Hall was appointed Mayor, Mr. J. H. Fisher, one of the most esteemed and patriotic of citizens, having retired from the Council. From 1855 to 1858 Mr. J. Lazar was Mayor. The progress of the city is evidenced in the increased value of the assessments — 1855, ^148,504; 1856, ^160,598; and 1857, ^189,514. The population in 1855 was 18,259. In the municipal year 1854-5 expensive litigation took place on a claim made by Bishop Short, the Anglican Bishop of Adelaide, to a portion of Victoria Square as a site for a cathedral. An early plan of the city showed at the southern end of the square a small vignette, which was "intended apparently to mark a site for a church." The plan was destroyed in the fire which took place in the Government Hut in 1839, but early settlers did not consider that the acre had been intended for the Church of England. In March, 1848, Governor Robe conveyed the acre in Victoria Square to the Bishop. The Municipal Act of 1849 vested in the Corporation all the park lands and public reserves within the city bounds, but the squares were not scheduled. The Corporation, having received no notice that the cathedral acre had been alienated by the Crown, took charge of Victoria Square, as of the rest of the vacant spaces known as squares. In 1854 the Corporation spent ^1,106 13s. 8d. in improving this particular square; but in 1855 Dr. Short claimed the land, and demanded possession. The Corporation refused to recognise his right, b'our barristers of the Supreme Court gave a written opinion that the Anglican Bishop's claim was just, and, fortified with this, the latter brought an action of tresj^ass against the Corporation in the Supreme Court, after having ineffectually offered to refer the matter to arbitration. The case was tried on June 28 and 29, and the jury " returned a special verdict to the effect that the land had been originally set apart for the use and recreation of citizens, thus rejecting the Bishop's claim." Although Dr. Short would have been justified in carrying the case to Her Majesty in Council on appeal, he allowed the matter to drop, after having pursued the claim with moderation and good feeling. By this finding of the jury one of the prettiest prospects in Adelaide was retained to the citizens. In the same year an Act was passed which reserved 40 acres of ground at the eastern end of North Terrace for a Botanic Garden, the reserve made in the original survey manifestly being too small for such a purpose. Mr. G. F"rancis, P'.H.S., was appointed the first Director, and he framed the general plan which the charming gardens now follow. Numerous improvements were effected or suggested during the years 1854-7. Up till 1852 there had been three bridges inside the boundaries of the city, and two outside; and all these, except one at Thebarton, had been washed away by tloods. Traffic was