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Sydney City Council

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Registers of Letters Received, 1853-1913

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Letters Received, 1843-1899 [Municipal Council of Sydney]

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Town Clerk's Department

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Letters Received from the Colonial Secretary, 1842-1859

Description

Unique IDAS-0025Start dateBetween 22nd November 1842 and 21st December 1859Start date qualifierexactFormatVolume - Leather BoundShort descriptionThis series consists of letters received from the Colonial Secretary,1842-1859, which were kept separately from other correspondence received by Council.DescriptionThis series consists of letters received from the Colonial Secretary from 1842 to 1859, which were kept separately from other correspondence received by Council. This other correspondence was placed in Letters Received (AS-0026) 1843 - 1899. The letters were registered in the registers of Letters Received (AS-0002) 10/01/1854 to 21/12/1859.

Apart from the Colonial Secretary's correspondence, this series also contains of copies of committee reports, Council and meteorological statistics, street plans, copies of legal records, including some acts and proceedings of the Executive Council, memoranda from the Solicitor-General, financial grants, abstracts of revenue and expenditure, and a few letters from the City Engineer, the City Surveyor, the Colonial Treasurer, the Colonial Architect, the Auditor-General and the Town Clerk.

The volumes are not indexed although Volumes 1, 2 to 4, 6 and 8 have a listing of correspondence at the front with a brief summary of the subject matter. A volume listing created by volunteers is below.

From 1854, incoming letters from the Colonial Secretary were registered in Registers of Letters Received (AS-0002) 1853-1913, along with other letters received by the Council. They were also given a single number sequence when they were placed in the guard books so that each letter has more than one registration number written on it.

From 1860, all communications received by Council, including letters from the Colonial Secretary, were treated as a single sequence and are found in Letters Received (AS-0026) 1843-1899.

Volume 1: 22/11/1842- 6/09/1859

Letters received from the Colonial Secretary. First section: Correspondence between the Government and Council relating to a site for a Town Hall 4 April 1843 to 6 September 1859. Second section: Letters received from the Colonial Secretary 22 November 1842 to 22 December 1843. Also includes letters from the Auditor-General, Colonial Engineer and Colonial Treasurer. Subjects include: style and title of Mayors and Aldermen; leases of George Street and Cattle Markets; transfer of office of Superintendent of Slaughter Houses to the Corporation; quarries at Darlinghurst and Pennant Hills; qualifications of electors; private office for Commissioner of Police; proclamation of Pottinger Street; street alignments; oaths required to be taken by Mayor; confirmation of John White as Superintendent of Water Works at Soldiers Point; offer of iron pipes; street alignments; request for prisoners of the Crown stationed at the Pipes, on the Race Course, at Solders Point, and at the Tunnel to be returned to Hyde Barracks following the ceding of the Sydney Waterworks to council; list of powers of the Commissioner of Police and responsibility of Council; sketch by Colonial Engineer of land at Soldiers Point, at the end of Erskine Street, to be used for breaking metal for streets; request for grant of land in the Domain and Hyde Park, and the Old Burial Ground to use as a site for the Town Hall; requests for reimbursement of election expenses; Colonial Secretary unable to advance any further sums towards maintenance of Police; return of expenses defrayed from the Colonial Treasury on account of the Police for July to September 1843 [includes salaries, coal, fire fighting; interpreting, postage etc].

Volume 2: 08/01/1844- Nov 1846

Colonial Secretary 1844 – 1846. Includes Return of expenses deployed from Colonial Treasury on account of the Police from January to June 1843 [includes a list of policemen paid as firemen and names of police paid extra in course of duty conveying prisoners and searching for bushrangers at “Balmain, Pyrmont and Bedlam Ferry”]; correspondence regarding Police accounts; by laws; application for part of site of Old Burial Ground for Town Hall; permission to house fire engines in Police Office yard; supply of water to Legislative Council stopped; suspension of part of the Act relating to the estimating and levying of the Police rate from 1 January 1847.

Volume 3: 18/01/1847-31/12/1849

CRS 25/3 Colonial Secretary 1847 – 1849. Includes: Transmission of land at Lachlan Swamp; filth deposited in Darling Harbour; By laws for regulating proceedings of Council and hackney carriages; request for land at rear of Hyde Park Barracks for Town Hall; City in unprotected state in case of hostilities between Great Britain and Foreign Power; proclaiming certain streets; removal of wooden stocks from York Street; requesting land at Bent Street for a Town Hall.

Volume 4: 02/01/1850-22/12/1852

Colonial Secretary’s Letters 1850 - 1852. Includes: removal of gravel from Domain; grant of land for public baths in the Domain; improvement of fountain at Hyde Park; water reserve at Lachlan Swamp granted [includes a coloured hand-drawn sketch of the Swamp]; proclamation and alignment of streets; grant of land for Town Hall; Crown land known as Old Race Course Reserve in Alexandria has been fixed as place for destroying diseased cattle; report and coloured hand drawn plan by T L Mitchell of proposed baths for Men at the Domain; report of the Hackney Carriages Committee on proprietors and drivers licensed for hackney cabs 1853.

Volume 5: 14/02/1853-07/11/1853

Colonial Secretary’s Letters 1853. Petition from merchants, traders and other inhabitants of Sydney objecting to recent Act relating to management of the Goldfields; poor water supply to Government House; complaint that shores of Darling Harbour are lined with dead dogs; problems with water supply of Sydney; waste of water at Fort Macquarie; petition requesting a Bill for the well-ordering of common Lodging houses (30 August 1853); observations on the epidemic of Scarlett Fever in Launceston 1853 and 1854.

Volume 6: 10 Jan 1854-30 Dec 1854

Colonial Secretary 1854 Volume 1. Removal of Dennis Guerin from office of Messenger; site for public baths; appointment of G R Nichols as City Solicitor and W B Rider as Chief Engineer; proclamation of streets; suggestion to divert Tank Stream as part of construction works for Semi Circular Quay; desirability of erecting a Dead House on a portion of the Market Wharf; metal from Pennant Hill quarries; revision of electoral lists; approval of hackney carriages by law; permission for shot and shell practice for military at Water Reserve; place of deposit for night soil at the Sand Hills; sketch of Pennant Hills Wharf; proposal for public baths in Hyde Park; petition for public pound to be established at Darlinghurst due to great loss of property caused by stray cows and goats; supply of water; list of streets throughout the City not proclaimed; copy of Act for Licensing and Regulation of Carters plying for hire within the City of Sydney 30 November 1854; list of officers appointed by the City Commissioners in 1854; Sydney Markets by laws approved.

Volume 7: 05/011855-28/12/1855

Colonial Secretary 1855: approval of appointment of City Commissioners; sewerage of the City; water carrier by laws; water reservoir at Grose Farm; by laws for regulation of omnibuses; street works; stand for omnibuses and hackney carriages at Macquarie Place and Bridge Street; payment for removal of dead animals; Old Burial ground in George Street set aside as place of public recreation – Commissioners appointed as Trustees; permission to excavate gravel from the Governor General’s private garden in the Domain; proposed bridge to Pyrmont; copy of Act to provide for Paving certain streets in the City of Sydney 12 October 1855; precautions to be taken against waste of water from the tunnel; amended by laws for regulation of hackney cabs; list of sites for notices under the Census Act; copy of Act for taking an account of the population of NSW.

Volume 8: 08/01/1856-15/11/1856

Colonial Secretary 1856. Rules to be observed in taking the census; hackney carriage by laws approved; taking census on ship board; land at Botany required for water works; appointment of Edward Bell; payment of census collectors; granting Wynyard Square as place of public recreation 9 May 1856; removal of Old Watch House in George Street; payment for covering over Tank Stream; resignation of Mr Darvall as Commissioner.

Volume 9: 28 Jan 1857-21 Dec 1859

Colonial Secretary 1857 – 1859. Detailed report on the covering over of Tank Stream; formation of streets through Crown land; requesting further land at Lachlan Swamp; copy of Government Gazette 28 April 1857 fixing the Title and Style of the Mayor and Councillors of the City; confirmation of appointment of Isaac Aaron as Officer of Health for the City of Sydney; register of fall of rain from 1850 to 1855; deed of grant to Soldier’s Point Wharf; site for a Town Hall; site of old St Phillip’s Church for public recreation; erection of ornamental ventilation shaft for sewers of Hyde Park at eastern end of Bathurst Street [Thornton’s Obelisk Monument], includes a description of the Obelisk by Edward Bell; nuisance caused by overflowing of cesspool near Darlinghurst Gaol; site for public baths in the Domain; payment for formation of streets; approval of by laws for regulating issue of licenses for vehicles plying for hire; approval of plans for public baths in the Domain; grant of site for Town Hall bounded by Bridge, Elizabeth, Phillip and Bent Streets; arrangements for City elections; deputation from unemployed men to Colonial Secretary; distribution of blankets to Aboriginal people; report on assisting unemployed to find work by relocating to different parts of the country; alteration to George Street Markets; occupation of Pennant Hills Quarry; laying out of Wynyard Square; deputation to Colonial Secretary re site for Town Hall; proposal to erect Necropolis near Lachlan Swamp.
Relationship summaryRELATED TO: Sewerage services AY-0045 (05/01/1855 to 28/12/1855)
RELATED TO: Levying and collection of police rates AY-0076 (22/11/1842 to 16/11/1846)
RELATED TO: Traffic regulation and control AY-0053 (18/01/1847 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Management of sports facilities, swimming pools, recreation and community centres AY-0037 (02/01/1850 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Drafting of By laws AY-0034 (18/01/1847 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Letters Received AS-0026 (21/1/1843 to 29/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Management of parks and reserves AY-0084 (05/01/1855 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Financial management AY-0071 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Hackney cab licenses and inspections AY-0062 (18/01/1847 to 21/12/1859) RELATED TO: Administration of municipal elections AY-0052 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Construction and repair of bridges, overpasses and tunnels AY-0049 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Road construction and maintenance AY-0047 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Water supply AY-0044 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Issue of general administrative instructions AY-0038 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859) RELATED TO: Disposal of waste by punting, tipping or destruction AY-0008 (10/01/1854 to 21/12/1859)
RELATED TO: Regulation of produce, fish and livestock markets AY-0002 (22/11/1842 to 21/12/1859) LanguageEnglish (eng)

Item

Letter from Colonial Secretary returning, duly approved, the By Laws for Regulating the Management

Letter from Colonial Secretary respecting the request from City Council that the Government Resume

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising of a Representation to Government that a Building now in

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising that the letter from City Council respecting certain Land

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising City Council that Copies of the Rolls of the Electoral

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the letter from City Council on the

Letter from Colonial Secretary transmitting a Copy of a Report from Acting Surveyor General

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the Application from City Council for

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the letter from City Council Renewing the

Letter from Colonial Secretary: 1) acknowledging receipt of letters from City Council stating that

Letter from Colonial Secretary referring to the letter of 29th March last from City Council

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of a Certified Statement of the amounts

Letter from Colonial Secretary referring to the request of 25th March last from Municipal Council

Letter from Colonial Secretary referring to the Application from City Council for Issue of £5,000,

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the letter from City Council respecting the

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the Application for Issue to Municipal

Letter from Colonial Secretary referring to the amount voted (£150) by the Legislative Assembly for

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising that the Deputation from Municipal Council of Sydney, on

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising that the letter from City Council respecting the Formation

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the letter from City Council respecting

Letter from Colonial Secretary advising that: 1) Executive Council has considered the request from

Letter from Colonial Secretary acknowledging receipt of the letter from City Council respecting the

Box

CSA045338

CSA045337

CSA045336

Series

Letters Received, 1843-1899 [Municipal Council of Sydney]

Access

Public access statusOpen to public access

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID25System of arrangementChronological

Digitisation

Digitisation statusFully digitised

Data Quality

Authenticity & integrityThese are the original Letters Received from the Colonial Secretary by the Municipal Council of Sydney. The record has been held in the Council’s custody and has a high level of authenticity. Users should be aware that this is an historical record and the language used within the record was the language of the time it was captured, and may not reflect current community values or expectations.

Relationships

OrganisationSydney City CouncilControlled by seriesRegisters of Letters Received, 1853-1913Related seriesLetters Received, 1843-1899 [Municipal Council of Sydney]Creating agenciesTown Clerk's DepartmentRelated activitiesRegulation of produce, fish and livestock marketsDisposal of waste by punting, tipping or destructionIssue of general administrative instructionsWater supplyRoad construction and maintenanceConstruction and repair of bridges, overpasses and tunnelsAdministration of municipal electionsHackney cab licenses and inspectionsFinancial managementManagement of parks and reservesDrafting of By lawsManagement of sports facilities, swimming pools, recreation and community centresTraffic regulation and controlLevying and collection of police ratesSewerage services

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Letters Received from the Colonial Secretary, 1842-1859