Guide 3 to NSW State Archives relating to Responsible Government - OCR - Flipbook - Page 11
A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Responsible Government
The electronic version of this guide will eventually be made available on State Records'
Web site at
. This version will be updated when, and if,
further records are identified.
Structure
The Guide
The main body of this guide is divided into four parts corresponding to four time periods:
1824-1855, moving towards responsible government; 1856-1906, the first fifty years of
responsible government; 1907-1956, reaching one hundred years of responsible
government; and 1957-2006, towards the Sesqui-Centenary. Each part commences with
a general section providing an overview of the period, and is followed by more specific
sections about significant events, occurrences or movements, such as the separation of
Port Phillip from the Colony of New South Wales and reform of the Legislative Council. All
sections contain brief historical information followed by the record series or record items
arranged more or less chronologically under the names of the relevant Government
agencies.
The entries
Archives are usually part of a series of items created or maintained by an organisation,
institution or individual. The State archives described in this guide are arranged
according to the Government agency that created and maintained them. The record
entries either list record series or individual record items. Each gives the title and,
usually, the date range of the record series or record item. This is followed by a
description of its contents. In the right hand column the series number and the individual
item numbers are given. Where the item numbers have been imposed they appear in
square brackets. (The series number and individual item numbers are required when
requesting records from State Records or citing them in written work and publications.)
Where the records have been microfilmed or are available in photocopied format (COD)
the microform fiche, reel and/or COD numbers are also provided. Where records are in
microform, they are available in both State Records' reading rooms. Where records have
been filmed and form part of the Archives Resources Kit (*ARK), this is also indicated.
The *ARK is widely available at 40 Community Access Points in New South Wales and
the Australian Capital Territory. For details of institutions holding parts of the *ARK see
Archives in Brief No. 46.
Some record series are Special bundles that contain correspondence and papers on a
particular topic which, because of its significance or because of the quantity of papers
generated on the matter, were extracted from the main correspondence series. They
were often given a general title that may belie the diversity of material contained in the
bundle. While our descriptions have focused on matters relating to parliamentary
government, the bundles may in some instances contain information on other matters.
The contents of many Special bundles have not been described previously.
Principal archival sources
There are primarily four agencies in which records relating to responsible government
are likely to be — the Colonial Secretary's Office or Department (later Chief Secretary);
the Executive Council; the Governor and the Premier's Department. Other records not
included in this guide — letters, documents, minutes etc — which may be of interest to
those researching responsible government will be located among the records of these
agencies.
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State Records Authority of New South Wales