A Blended House: The Legislative Council of Victoria 1851-1856
Colonial History Legal History Political Biography Australian Political History Parliamentary Reference Genealogical Reference Antiquarian Australiana
A Blended House: The Legislative Council of Victoria 1851-1856 by Ray Wright is the only detailed study of Victoria’s first elected parliament, a pivotal but often overlooked period that shaped Australia’s oldest legislative body. Published in 2001 and richly illustrated with rare portraits, maps and facsimile documents, this authoritative paperback unpacks how a council originally stacked with squatters and Crown nominees was transformed—almost overnight—into a partly elected “blended” house that pre-figured responsible government. Collectors and researchers value the book for its meticulous biographical entries on every member, complete with voting records, property holdings and factional alliances, making it an indispensable reference for anyone tracing colonial families, land ownership or early political networks.
What makes this copy especially appealing is its clean, unread interior: no previous-owner names, underlining or dog-eared pages, just light shelf wear to the illustrated covers that keeps the price attractive. Because the print run was modest and most copies sit in university stacks, the title is scarce in commerce; finding one in this tidy, ready-to-shelf condition is becoming harder each year. For genealogists, legal historians or collectors of Australiana, owning a physical copy means instant access to Wright’s index of every act passed 1851-56 and the speeches that framed Victoria’s gold-rush era land reforms—information still not available in full online.
Beyond the data, Wright’s narrative brings to life the drama of a chamber where diggers’ representatives debated squatter magnates, setting precedents for the robust Westminster-style politics Australians recognise today. Whether you are completing a run of Victorian parliamentary histories, sourcing citations for a family-history thesis, or hunting a gift for a lover of colonial politics, A Blended House delivers both scholarly depth and the tactile pleasure of a well-made, illustrated reference book that will not crack when you actually open it.
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