Australian Historical Medals (1788-1885)

Lot 772    SESSION 3 (John Chapman Collection, 2.30pm Tuesday)    Australian Historical Medals (1788-1885)

Estimate $1,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

PUBLIC CHARITIES OF VICTORIA, 1862, handcrafted uniface medal in silver (48mm), silver disc enclosed in a cast ornamental frame with a decorative bracket and suspension ring, engraved on obverse 'J.V.A.Bruce / to / W.G.Baillie / for / assisting to raise the Sum of / Å‣3,000 / for the Public Charities of / Victoria / 1862', impressed on reverse in relief 'J T'. Good very fine.

John Vans Agnew Bruce (1822-1863) was born in Edinburgh and arrived in Victoria in 1854 where he tendered for road construction contracts. In 1857 a group of Gisborne residents petitioned him to stand for the Legislative Assembly seat of West Bourke but he was far too busy to enter politics. With W.C.Cornish he successfully contracted for the first 13 sections of the Melbourne-Murray River railway. The job was plagued with strikes (Bruce being a tough employer) so he imported 400 German masons to compete with local labour. In 1859 a select committee proved that Bruce was using inferior materials in an effort to maximise his profit out of the colonial government. The committee recommended that a closer watch be put on Bruce. He helped finance the Burke and Wills expedition and promoted Burke as the leader. Despite his merciless handling of labour he was to some degree philanthropic acting in 1863 as Chairman of the Irish Relief Committee. On completion of the railway contract he returned to Melbourne but died after an attack of apoplexy on 5 April 1863 aged 41.