buying land in suburban Melbourne at hugely inflated prices. Gillies was not himself responsible for that, although his government did nothing to prevent it. The Gillies government was easily re-elected in 1889, but the Boom collapsed after 1890 and a sharp recession followed. In October, Gillies was defeated in a confidence motion when a section of his own followers led by James Munro turned against him. In 1891, the recession turned into a depression, and Gillies was among the many speculators and shareholders who were wiped out in the crash. In 1893, Gillies withdrew from active politics, reluctantly accepting the post of agent-general in London. On his return to Victoria, he successfully contested the seat of Toorak in 1897. In 1902, he was elected Speaker, a post he held until his death the following year. He had always been considered to be a bachelor but, after his death, it was disclosed that, in 1897, he had married Harriett Turquand Fillan (née Theobald), a widow of 37, while in London. She had been persuaded by Gillies' friends to return to her nursing in Johannesburg without announcing herself to Melbourne society. He had declined the offer of a K.C.M.G. in 1887. A portrait of Gillies by Josephine Muntz-Adams hangs in Parliament House Victoria. References Bibliography Geoff Browne, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900-84, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985 Don Garden, Victoria: A History, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984 Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856-1900, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972 Raymond Wright, A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856-1990, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992 Margot Beever, 'Gillies, Duncan (1834 - 1903)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp. 250–252. 1834 births 1903 deaths Premiers of Victoria Australian federationists Victoria (Australia) state politicians Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Politicians from Glasgow Speakers of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople Victorian Ministers for Agriculture Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Treasurers of Victoria