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Archives Office of Tasmania GOVERNOR's OFFICE Archives Office of Tasmania GUIDE TO THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF TASMANIA SECTION TWO GOVERNOR’S OFFICE by P.R. Eldershaw HOBART ARCHIVES OFFICE OF TASMANIA 1958 (Reprinted 2000) © STATE of TASMANIA, ARCHIVES OFFICE OF TASMANIA Other Guides in this series Section One, Colonial Secretary’s Office Section Three, Convict Department Section Four, Records Relating to Free Immigration CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................I THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE ............................................................................................................................. I NOTE ON TRANSFERS............................................................................................................................ XXXIX PART 1 – DESPATCHES, 1818-1932 ............................................................................................................ 1 A. - DESPATCHES RECEIVED.......................................................................................................................... 4 B. - DESPATCHES SENT ................................................................................................................................ 13 PART 2 - CORRESPONDENCE RECORDS, 1820-1932.......................................................................... 19 A. - CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED.............................................................................................................. 21 B. CORRESPONDENCE SENT ....................................................................................................................... 26 PART 3 - MISCELLANEOUS SERIES, 1816-1933 ................................................................................... 29 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................................ 32 SUCCESSION OF GOVERNORS ETC,.............................................................................................................. 32 APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................................................ 34 SUCCESSION OF PRIVATE SECRETARIES..................................................................................................... 34 APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................................................ 36 SUCCESSION OF SECRETARIES OF STATE ................................................................................................... 36 APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................................................. 37 SUCCESSION OF LAUNCESTON COMMANDANTS ......................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX E ................................................................................................................................................ 38 LOCATION OF COPIES OF DESPATCHES RECEIVED AND SENT ..................................................................... 38 i. Public Record Office, London............................................................................................................. 38 ii. Historical Records of Australia, Series III.......................................................................................... 39 iii. Mitchell Library, Sydney.................................................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX F................................................................................................................................................. 44 CONVERSION TABLE OF OLD CLASSIFICATION NUMBERS TO NEW .......................................................... 44 Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania – Section Two – Governor’s Office Record Group ii Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania – Section Two – Governor’s Office Record Group INTRODUCTION The Governor's Office Distance, and its attendant delay in communication was a powerful factor in shaping the position of the man on the spot in the formative years of Australian colonial history; the discretion and authority of the Governor of Van Diemen's Land was perhaps greater because of this distance (first between England and Australia, secondly between Sydney and Hobart) than it would have been if this Colony had been closer to the sources of power. When he had to expect delays of twelve months (in the case of London) or four months (in the case of Sydney) in receiving replies to requests for instructions, the Governor was forced to rely on his own discretion, and to hope that his decisions would eventually meet with approval. In any case, a decision once made, whether it is subsequently fully approved or not, gains weight as a fait accompli the longer it has currency. In an undated, unsigned memorandum, originating in the Colonial Office probably in 1803, certain suggestions were made for the scope of the powers to be granted to the Lieutenant- Governor of the proposed settlement at Port Phillip, which Collins was to decide to abandon in favour of the Derwent. The whole establishment, civil and military was to be under his authority: he should be given power to make regulations for the good of the settlement: it should be laid down how far he should be allowed to charter ships, and whether he should correspond direct with London or through the Governor-in-Chief.1 The impulse to settle the island sprang from a desire simply to extend the limits of New South Wales in order to make effective the claim to British sovereignty in the face of probable French pretensions, and there was never any question of the establishment of a separate colony; from the outset it was intended that the new settlement should be entirely subordinate to New South Wales.2 The fact that Bowen with his Commission as Commandant from Governor King, was superseded by Collins, with his Royal Commission and Instructions as Governor, was a fortuitous result of the latter's dissatisfaction with Port Phillip, and did not affect the status of the outstation in any formal way. Nevertheless, the higher rank and position of Collins no doubt did have its effect in initiating the tendency towards independence from New South Wales achieved twenty-one years later. Collins's Commission appointed him Lieutenant-Governor and charged him to receive instructions both from the Crown and the Governor of New South Wales. In the event of vacancies he was empowered to make appointments until the Royal pleasure was known, and on his death or absence, the command would devolve on the senior military officer. He was directed to make returns to the Secretary of State to the Treasury, as well as to the 1 “Suggestions for Instructions for Lieutenant Governor.” Historical Records of Australia, Series III, vol. I, p.3. 2 Hobart-King, 14 Feb. 1803, No.1. H.R.A., I, iv, 8. i Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania – Section Two – Governor’s Office Record Group Governor; in several instances his Instructions mentioned the alternative of orders either direct from the Secretary of State or from the Governor.3 The channels of communication, in these early years, were not strictly laid down. Governor Hunter, in August, 1798 deplored the fact that the officer-in-charge at Norfolk Island, Captain Townson, should have written direct to the Secretary of State rather than through him.4 Norfolk Island was then an out-station of New South Wales, in much the same position as Van Diemen's Land was to be until 1825. The Secretary of State’s ruling was that, while it was the duty of the officer-in-charge of a subordinate settlement to communicate through the Governor-in-Chief, it was also his duty to report to England whenever opportunity should be offered.5 The precedent was noted, and became practice.6 Although Collins’s Instructions were silent on the matter, in 1805 he was informed that all his despatches were to be addressed to the Governor-in-Chief, and that it would be unnecessary for him to correspond with the Secretary of State except insofar as he was to send him copies of his correspondence with Sydney.7 However it appears that it was not until the end of his period that Collins was informed, through Macquarie, of these instructions,8 for he wrote despatches to London throughout the whole of his period, and 9 was surprised and discomforted at never receiving a reply. He explained to the Secretary of State in 1808, after the deposition of Bligh, that he conceived it his duty to write direct instead of through the “regular Channel”,10 and it may be that after that date his persistence in writing direct to London is to be explained by his knowledge of the instability and temporary nature of the New South Wales Government, There is a record of only two despatches from England to Collins in Van Diemen’s Land, and neither was from the Secretary of State.11 In Governor King’s Instructions to Paterson, however, there was mention of the possibility of his receiving instructions direct from England;12 and in any case, his position as Commandant at Port Dalrymple was different from Collins’s; he was Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales and, after the deposition of Bligh, he had a right and a duty to communicate direct to the Secretary of State.13 The progress of settlement and Macquarie’s
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