In the Precincts of the Global City The Transnational Network of Municipal Affairs in Melbourne, Australia, at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The Victoria Room is a time capsule at the heart of old empire.' It is situated in the town hall of Melbourne-named in 1837 for the British monarch of the day-in the state of Victoria.2 The corner stone of the Melbourne town hall was laid by Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1867. Shoulder to shoulder with his fellow loyal Melburnians, journalist and author Marcus Clarke had "bunting on the brain" as he cheered and shouted, baked on veranda tops, was deafened by brass bands, and had his toes trodden on during the duke’s visit, which was the first by British royalty to Australian shores.3 Here Melbourne’s municipal authority was ensconced, at the heart of civic..