Saturday, October 25, 2014

100 years ago this week - Rabbit Inspector resigns

A report in the Bunyip Free Press of October 22, 1914 said that Mr Kelleher, the Rabbit Inspector had resigned,


Bunyip Free Press October 22, 1914
I believe that Rabbit Inspectors were first appointed under the 1884 Rabbit Suppression Act. The Department of Crown Lands and Survey was the overseeing Government Department. The duties included rabbit extermination on Crown Land and serving notices on land owners who failed to eradicate rabbits on private land.   Rabbits were first introduced into Australia in 1859, when 24 wild rabbits were released near Geelong. They soon became a major problem throughout Australia and in 1950 there were 600 million rabbits in Australia.

Michael Kelleher was officially appointed on December 17, 1912 and his resignation dated from November 15, 1914 according to the State Government Gazette, where all Government appointments were listed.

State Government Gazette December 27, 1912


State Government Gazette  November 4, 1914



It appears that the life of a Rabbit Inspector was not  always a happy one and some land owners were against them and their methods as this article from the Pakenham Gazette attests.



Pakenham Gazette November 11, 1914
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89082964

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