Government Printing Office
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Government Gazettes for 1887 online
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Government Gazette, dated 27 January 1887, with notification of the appointment of Septimus Burt as a representative of the State at the Colonial Conference to be held in London, March 1887.
18-page booklet made up of sheets of paper folded in half and printed on both sides. The pages nest inside each other to form the booklet. There are three more lateral folds indicating it was folded into quarters at one point. At top right of the cover there is a handwritten inscription in ink, “S. Burt Esq” and above that a pencil notation, "26 Feb £ 5 (?)". The booklet is in worn condition with the top edge of the pages fraying and some foxing and staining on the front cover, particularly along the top two folds.
The notice about Burt is located on page 48, which in this publication is the first page after the cover page. It is in the right-hand column at the top and reads,
'Colonial Secretary's Office, Perth, 24th January 1887.
HIS Excellency the Governor directs it to be notified, for general information, that he has been pleased to appoint the Honorable JOHN FORREST, C.M.G., Surveyor General and Commissioner of Crown Lands, Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils of the Colony, and SEPTIMUS BURT, Esquire, Barrister-at-Law, to represent the Government of this Colony at the Conference appointed to meet in accordance with the terms of the above dispatch.
By Command, MALCOLM FRASER, Colonial Secretary.'
This is the fifth Government Gazette of Western Australia published in 1887.
The Gazette is complete and in original condition. The first page of this publication is numbered 47, due to the practice of sequential numbering of all the Gazettes throughout a single year. For instance in Gazette no. 4 published on 20 January 1887 the pages were numbered 27-46. The Government Gazette was the primary means by which the Government of Western Australia communicated decisions it had made, appointments, regulations and other legal matters.
Septimus Burt - recipient of apppointment published in Government Gazette under notice no. 2931-C.S.O.
Macolm Fraser, Colonial Secretary, Perth 1883-1890 - authorised appointment published in Government Gazette under notice no. 2931-C.S.O.
Richard Pether, Government Printer, Perth, 1870-1901 - publisher of Government Gazette no. 5. January 27, 1887
Handwritten inscription on front page "S Burt Esq"
The inscription on the front indicates this publication was Septimus Burt's personal copy and it is assumed it has been saved (presumably by Burt himself) due to the notice about his appointment as one of Western Australia's representatives at the first Colonial Conference in London later that year. The appointment shows the regard Governor Broome held for Burt at the time, considering him a worthy representative of Western Australia in London.
The Honourable Septimus Burt KC (1847-1919), son of Sir Archibald Paull Burt, was born in St Kitts Island (formerly known as St Christopher in the West Indies) and came to Western Australia in 1861. S Burt became a prominent lawyer, politician and grazier. His political work was central to the achievement and development of the Western Australian constitution as the first Attorney General after self-government was achieved. The Hon Septimus Burt rejected knighthood and offers to be a Supreme Court Judge.
Government Printing Office
Government Printing Office history
Government Gazettes for 1887 online