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Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition


The Adelaide International Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne on 20 June 1837, held in Adelaide, South Australia in 1887. It was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Proclamation of South Australia which occurred around six months earlier, on 28 December 1886.

The idea of South Australia hosting an international exhibition as a patriotic gesture was promoted in the early 1880s, culminating in a Bill which was passed by Parliament in 1883. Subsequent opposition to the scheme on the grounds of the expense involved saw the Bill being repealed in 1884, and Sir Edwin T. Smith pushed for a less grandiose celebration, which resulted in the Act of 1885, and the voting of ₤32,000 for a permanent Exhibition Building, as well as an adjacent temporary building. The cost of running the Exhibition, expected to be met by entrance fees, was underwritten by a handful of wealthy guarantors. A railway line was constructed from the Adelaide railway station to the Exhibition Building.

J. F. Conigrave was Secretary, William Alfred Robinson was on the committee; Robert Dalrymple Ross was a promoter. H. C. E. Muecke was Executive Commissioner for Germany; C. L. Meyer (1849–1916) for Austria-Hungary. Sir Herbert Sandford R.A. (1826–1892) visited as British Commissioner, enlisting J. C. Wharton as secretary. John Neild was the popular and hard-working commissioner for New South Wales.

A London Committee was formed under Chairman the Duke of Manchester, with secretary George Levey contributed largely to the Melbourne, London, Philadelphia, New York and Paris press, and wrote various important official reports.


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