Letterbook, December 1849-April 1856

 
Component identifier:
File 5
Content Summary:

The volume contains copies of Denison's personal and confidential letters to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and letters to a wide range of correspondents in Australia and New Zealand. The subjects include the anti-transportation leagues and the proposed cessation of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, the transfer of convicts to Norfolk Island, the treatment of the Irish political prisoner W. Smith O'Brien, constitutional changes in the colonies, the 1850 Australian Constitution Bill, appointments to the Legislative Council, government and ecclesiastical appointments, economic conditions in the colony, prices and wages, public finance, land policy, agriculture, the education system and the teaching of religion in schools, the effects of the gold rushes, Van Diemen's land as a colony for immigrants with capital, the affairs of the late Charles Stanley, Denison's private secretary, collections of botanical and ornithological specimens, paintings of John Glover, the Hobart observatory, the death of the Colonial Secretary, J. Bicheno (1851), the resignation of the Chief Justice, Sir John Pedder, the proposed transfer of the Pitcairn Islanders to Norfolk Island, the possibility of a federal government (1854), Denison's move to Sydney in 1855, early impressions of New South Wales, and the establishment of responsible government.

The recipients include Lord Grey (1849-52), Sir John Pakington (1853), the Duke of Newcastle (1852-54), H. Labouchere (1855-56), H. Merivale, Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, Capt. Owen Stanley, Bishop F.R. Nixon, Rev. F. Marriott, Bishop R. Willson, E. Bisdee, W.R. Allison, Rev. T. Reibey, J. Leake, Sir John Pedder, C.J. La Trobe, Sir Charles Hotham, Bishop C. Perry, Sir George Grey, E. Deas Thomson and S. Donaldson. Some of the recipients are not identified.

The volume also contains three original letters from Lord Grey to Denison.

At the end of the volume are lists of letters written and received.

Processing information:
M607

Online content

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Available for Access.
Parent Terms of Access:
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
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