Summary
Among the Art and Heritage Collection’s formal portraits of individuals associated with the City of Melbourne is this head-and-bust photographic portrait of Torrington George Ellery (1872–1923).
Born in Mt Gambier, South Australia, Ellery was town clerk of Adelaide before being appointed to the Melbourne role in May 1915, serving until soon before his death, in 1923. The ‘Adelaide Advertiser’ voiced some regret at losing one of its own to Melbourne, but also a quiet pleasure in the fact that Melbourne would come to its little sibling to fill such a key position.
Ellery distinguished himself in public health and sanitation in Adelaide and brought his passion for this area of city administration to Melbourne, spearheading the destruction of rats and the reduction of noxious city trades. As well as lecturing on sanitation, he was vice-president of the Institute of Hygiene and Bacteriology and a fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute, London. Recognised as a progressive administrator, the ambitious Ellery could not be faulted on his understanding of municipal law and management nor on his commitment to civic service. But he had, however, a fierce reputation for despotic people-management style and excruciating intolerance for anything less than his exacting standards.
