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 Grey was returned by a large majority, and Mr. Foster on a subsequent occasion declined to stand. Ultimately, however, he was elected, to sit in the Sydney Parliament till he left for England on a visit in 1849. In 1853 Mr. Foster returned, with the appointment of Colonial Secretary of the colony of Victoria, which had in the meantime been constituted. He was thus virtually Premier during the difficulties caused by the discovery of gold and the rigid enforcement (which he deprecated) of the unpopular diggers' licences. The troubles culminated in the Ballarat riots, of which Mr. Foster was made the scapegoat. Aware of the hostile feeling against him, he tendered his resignation to Sir, by whom it was accepted on the ground that the Queen's government of the colony was endangered, and with the implied pledge that compensation should be given Mr. Foster for the pecuniary loss which he would sustain by his retirement from the public service. Mr. Foster, however, failed in all attempts to obtain any recognition of his claims to compensation. During his tenure of office he introduced and passed the measure which embodied the new constitution of Victoria, and which for the first time included the principle of an elective Upper House. In 1854 he turned the first sod at Williamstown of the great system of railways which has since been developed, and was also instrumental in introducing telegraphs into the colony. Considerable difference of opinion existed as to some of the measures proposed by him; but it is remarkable that every one of them has since been adopted by subsequent legislative action under the new constitution—as, for instance, the abolition of the gold diggers' licence, and the appropriation of the Land Tax to purposes of general utility instead of expending it on immigration. The contracting of loans for public works, which he proposed as the necessary complement of his policy, has since been largely developed. When his conciliatory policy with reference to the diggers' licences was reversed by the Governor, Sir Charles Hotham, and unfortunate results ensued at Ballarat, he retired from office. Subsequent legislative inquiry proved that for such results he was in no way responsible. After the concession of responsible government he sat in the first Legislative Assembly as member for Williamstown, and acted as Treasurer in the first Administration of Sir from March to April 1857 soon after which he returned to England, where he has since resided. In accordance with the will of his uncle, the last Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci, he assumed the name of Vesey and Fitzgerald in addition to his own name of Foster, by which latter he was known in Australia. Mr. Fitzgerald married in 1851 Emily, daughter of Rev. J. J. Fletcher, D.D., and administered the government of Victoria from May to June 1854, during the interval between the departure of Mr. and the arrival of Sir Charles Hotham. Several of his relatives achieved distinction in Australia. Of these it is only necessary to mention his three first cousins—the late Sir, Mr. Justice of New South Wales, and the late Mr. of Victoria, notices of each of whom will be found elsewhere.

Fitzgerald, Hon. Nicholas, M.L.C., eighth son of the late Francis Fitzgerald, a well-known brewer in the west of Ireland, and brother of Sir Gerald Fitzgerald, K.C.M.G., Accountant-General of the Navy, was born at Galway in 1829. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he took honours, and also won a scholarship at the Queen's College, Galway, in 1849. After spending some time in legal studies, he embraced commercial pursuits, and in 1859 arrived in Victoria, where he started the Castlemaine brewery, and did an extensive business throughout the Australian colonies. Mr. Fitzgerald, who is also largely enraged in squatting, has been a member of the Upper House for the past five-and-twenty years, and is regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of the Catholic body in Victoria. He married in Sept. 1863 Marianne, eldest daughter of the late Sir, K.C.M.G. He was one of the representatives of Victoria at the Federation Convention held in Sydney in March 1891.

FitzGibbon, Edmond Gerald, C.M.G., Chairman of Metropolitan Board of Works, Melbourne, Vict., is a native of Cork, Ireland, and was employed under the Committee of the Privy Council on of Education in England. Having decided 164