Glorious news! Separation at last!!, poster printed as a special edition of the Melbourne Morning Herald, 11 November 1850, letterpress, H25978

Calls for the Port Phillip region to become a colony independent of New South Wales began as early as 1840, when the settlement was only five years old. Supporters of separation petitioned the British Government and eventually Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, announced that a bill would be proposed – suggesting that Queen Victoria would look favourably upon a new colony named in her honour. The bill was passed on 5 July 1850, but it took more than four months for the news to reach Melbourne.