W. C. Wentworth - Signed copy of a petition by Daniel Cooper, Henry Dangar, James Martin and George Nichols to the Privy Council in England, suggesting amendments to the proposed Australian Colonies Government Bill, 1849

MLMSS 6052

fonds

1849

105085

Microfilm : CY 4731, frames 1-18 (MLMSS 6052)

1 folder - 0.01 Meters
Textual Records - (manuscript)

In 1849, a Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Plantations was set up to enquire into the constitutional position of the Australian colonies. The report of the Committee, which accompanied a despatch from Earl Grey to Sir Charles Fitzroy dated 24 May 1849, formed the basis of the proposed Australian Colonies Government Bill - a Bill for the better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies. The Act was passed in 1850, known as the Australian Constitutions Act (No.2). It separated the Port Phillip district from New South Wales (to be known as the Colony of Victoria) and enabled Legislative Councils to be established in Van Diemen's Land and South Australia. It also gave to New South Wales and to the other Australian colonies the power to draw up their own constitution bills which were to be reserved for the royal assent.
Daniel Cooper, Henry Dangar, James Martin and George Nichols were members of the Legislative Council of New South Wales when they sent this petition. Although not a signatory to the petition, W. C. Wentworth was also involved in constitutional matters, particularly in the drafting of the Australian Constitutions Act (No.1) of 1842 and in chairing the Select Committee that drafted the New South Wales Constitution in 1853.

The petition outlines the clauses of the Bill which the undersigned considered to be "objectionable" and concludes with their suggestions for the Colony's constitution.

This collection was listed as part of the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW 1856-2006 Project.