LETTER, APPOINTMENT OF SEPTIMUS BURT ATTORNEY GENERAL

This document pertains to the first of two appointments of Septimus Burt to the position of Attorney General in Western Australia. This first appointment was a temporary one, in an acting capacity after the resignation of AP Hensman, and lasted six months. The vacancy was a consequence of a feud between Governor Broome and Attorney General Hensman and is associated with a turbulent era in West Australian politics. The letter is complete and in original condition.
(Burt later served as WA Attorney General from 1891 to 1897)

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.