13 Facts About Duncan Gillies

Duncan Gillies, was an Australian colonial politician who served as the 14th Premier of Victoria.

Duncan Gillies was sent to the high school until he was about 14, when he entered an office in Glasgow.

Duncan Gillies was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Ballarat West in 1861, holding that seat until 1868.

In both the first and second governments of Service, Duncan Gillies was Commissioner for Railways and Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works.

Duncan Gillies assisted the passage of a bill to allow the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company monopoly rights to operate a cable tram network in the city and suburbs.

Service retired before the 1886 elections and Duncan Gillies succeeded him as Premier, forming a coalition government with the liberal leader Alfred Deakin, and winning a comfortable majority over a divided opposition at the elections.

The Duncan Gillies ministry presided over the climax of the long economic boom which Victoria had enjoyed since the gold rushes of the 1850s.

Duncan Gillies was not himself responsible for that, although his government did nothing to prevent it.

The Duncan Gillies government was easily re-elected in 1889, but the Boom collapsed after 1890 and a sharp recession followed.

In 1891, the recession turned into a depression, and Duncan Gillies was among the many speculators and shareholders who were wiped out in the crash.

In 1893, Duncan Gillies withdrew from active politics, reluctantly accepting the post of agent-general in London.

Duncan Gillies had always been considered to be a bachelor but, after his death, it was disclosed that, in 1897, he had married Harriett Turquand Fillan, a widow of 37, while in London.

Duncan Gillies had been persuaded by Gillies' friends to return to her nursing in Johannesburg without announcing herself to Melbourne society.