Intercolonial and international exhibitions

People, exhibits and prizewinners at key intercolonial and international exhibitions 1854-1889, and the buildings that housed Victorian exhibitions.

Melbourne. Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition 1875

This exhibition was prepatory to the Philadelphia Exhibition the following year.  It opened 2 September 1875 and closed on 16 November 1875. There were exhibits from Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Tasmania, South Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Netherlands-India.

Online resources

Official record: containing introduction, catalogues, official awards of the Commissioners, reports and recommendations of the experts and essays and statistics on the social and economic resources of the Colony of Victoria
Begins with a general introduction and the catalogue of exhibits followed by reports and awards of the jurors, pages 159-404. The rest of the publication consists of essays on various aspects of the colonies. There are no illustrations and no index to individuals.  

Newspaper reports

Account of the Victorian Exhibition of 1875 an 8 page supplement in The Argus, 3 September 1875.

The closing ceremony, The Argus, 17 November 1875. Report of the closing ceremony and general reports of the jurors for each category, with some award winners mentioned.

A number of images of this exhibition are available to view on the Library catalogue.

Photograph, intercolonial exhibition, 1875. View of Main Hall. Looking south, depicting glass cases containing objects of display, and paintings hung on walls

Intercolonial exhibition, 1875. View of Main Hall. Looking southH5068

Resources at the Library

Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition, 1875, preparatory to the Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876, opened 2nd September, 1875: official catalogue of exhibits

Philadelphia. Centennial Exhibition 1876

The exhibition opened on 10 May 1876 and closed on 11 November 1876.

Resources at the Library

Official record: containing introduction, catalogues, official awards of the Commissioners, reports and recommendations of the experts and essays and statistics on the social and economic resources of the Colony of Victoria
The second separately paginated half of this volume is a Catalogue of exhibits from Victoria at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition 1876. There is an index to exhibitors pages 1-3. This index does not include the names of growers with facsimiles of various types of fruit displayed in the Horticulture Department. Catalogue of exhibits in each class pages 5 to 255.

Philadelphia international exhibition, 1876: official catalogue of the British section. Pt.1-2
Includes information about, and listing of exhibits from Queensland, pages 336-384; Tasmania, pages 385-392; Victoria, pages 401-418

Online resources

A descriptive catalogue of rocks, minerals, & fossils, illustrative of the geology, mineralogy & mining resources of Victoria, Australia: exhibited for and on behalf of the Government, under instructions from the Hon. William M'Lellan, M.P., Minister of Mines

Newspaper reports

Preliminary list of awards, The Argus, 13 November 1876, pages 5 and 6.

List of supplementary awards, The Argus, 7 December 1876, page 6.