interruption, would have enabled them to have got away with some .£3000 or ,£4000, the then daily working cash ofthe branch. T h e attempt was never repeated, and from that night Highett never more joked McArthur about his " bull-dogs." In 1840 the Bank was thus manned :—Local Directors, Messrs. William Highett, William Lonsdale, and W . F. A. Rucker; Managing Director, Mr. W . Highett; Accountant, Mr. F. Wigan; Teller, M r . Nigel Gresley ; Sub-Accountant, Mr. Thomas Prosser ; Clerks, Messrs. John Murdy, John M'Lachlan, and W . Cohen. After some time, what was deemed to be a commodious banking-house, yvas erected on the same corner in the form of a plain, two-storied, brick building. People of the present Melbourne generation yvould probably smile if they saw a model of the new bank as then built to order. Yet the business went on in it comfortably and profitably for some years. Mr. Highett yvas for many years known as a quiet, attentive, conscientious and highly Conservative M e m b e r of the Legislative Council. H e was elected to the Eastern Province in 1856, and continued in that representation until 1880, when he retired from active political life, leaving behind him a mint of money, yvhich, though umvilled to anyone, soon found plenty of legal ovvners. Having obtained a two years' leave of absence, Mr. Highett visited England, and never after resumed the managership, though he long continued a member of the Directory. H e died soon after retiring. Mr. Highett was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Elder Boyd, who, many years after, died in harness as Manager of the Colonial Bank. In seasons of " tightness," Mr. Boyd had the good or evil reputation of being a thorough " pincher." The interest of his bank was Mr. Boyd's sine qua non of every financial consideration, and if squatter, or trader in the bank-books showed symptoms of "going," the screw was put on with the rigour of an Inquisitor. Therefore the bank passed through some severe colonial crises, with fewer losses than if there had been a softer " m a n at the wheel." It was stated in a neyvspaper of 1844, that on Mr. Boyd's retirement from the management, to be succeeded by a Mr. William Fletcher, the salary of the office was raised from ,£600 to .£800 per annum. The Union Bank, after a time, went back to the spacious building at the same corner (Queen and Collins Streets), where the Derwent Agency yvas originally opened; and the Cpieen-cum-YxttXe Flinders Street tenement was turned into yvhat was for many years known as the Woolpack Lnn which had a series of landlords, good, bad, and indifferent. T h e Bank has again removed into the stately structure in the heart of Collins Street, where the old Royal Hotel, and the mediaeval Criterion successively flourished. T h e ground originally bought for ,£19, now cost ,£33,000, and ,£44,000 was expended on the building Perhaps there are no tyvo facts in the whole history of Victoria, more illustrative of the wonderful progress. of its capital, than the " now " and the " then " of the Bank of Australasia and the Union Bank. T o turn the mind's eye back to the two two-roomed brick cottages and their managerial " skillions," in which these banks began the world, so to speak, and then in the flesh to look, not only on the two striking edifices of thesefinancialestablishments in Collins Street, but on other kindred Institutions foremost amongst the architectural ornaments of the Metropolis of to-day, one regards with wonder its marvellous progress and development yvithin the memory of many persons still living. THE PORT PHILLIP BANK.
The colonists took it into their heads to set up a bank of their own ; but the maiden essay at bank-making though not terminating in a smash, after a short life and a merry one, died a natural death. A meeting of the projectors was held on the 25th June, 1839, and the following basis of operations was agreed on :— It was to be known as " T h e Melbourne and Port Phillip B a n k " with a capital of ,£60000 in ^ o o .£40 shares. A Prospectus was approved, and the following Provisional Managerial Board was
