Colonial Secretary's Correspondence

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the John Oxley Librarian negotiated with the Archives Authority of New South Wales to undertake a filming program to copy all correspondence relating to the Moreton Bay settlement and the area which after December 1859 became known as the Colony of Queensland.

As the correspondence commenced in 1822 and continued until late 1859 (this continuing project currently covers to 1852 plus 1859), the material is of particular interest to researchers of the years of penal settlement followed by the period after 1842 when the district was opened to free settlers. In many cases annotations on the back of letters indicate the decision taken by the Governor and the course of action taken. On occasions, earlier or later documentation between the settlement and headquarters which concerned the same subject was batched and filmed together.

Letters were sent by well-known personalities such as Commandants Miller, Logan, Clunie, Fyans, Cotton, Gravatt and Gorman to Governors Brisbane, Darling, Bourke, Gipps and Denison. Also reports appear created by Surveyor Generals Oxley and Mitchell, Master Attendant John Nicholson, Doctors Cowper, Murray, Robertson, Ballow and Cannan, the Reverends John Vincent, Johannes Handt and John Gregor plus other eminent pioneers. Contrasting with official circulars and despatches can be found convict petitions, applications by early settlers and listings of land sales.