BILL OF COSTS, SEPTIMUS BURT RE WILL OF H.B. BURT

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Herbert, William Hawkins

1883

Overview

Handwritten Bill of Costs dated 16 January 1883 to Septimus Burt re will of Sir H.B. Burt, Knight, Deceased.
Prepared by W.H. Herbert, a solicitor from London who also appears to have received AP Burt's 1873 will.
Itemised list of expenses for work undertaken such as providing advice, drawing and copying of will, writing letters, attending meetings and fees payable to Mr. Stokes and his clerk.
White paper with red margin lines, folded in half vertically with lateral parallel folds to create three horizontal folds. Writing in black ink on front page. Ink stain to back page below solicitor's address; minor insect damage on this side to quarter of page above where addressee is written.
Paper watermark 'Stowford Mills, 1881'.

Historical information

Sir Archibald Paull Burt (1810-1879) was born into a plantation-owning family on St Kitts Island (formerly St Christopher in the West Indies). Burt accepted the position of Civil Commissioner and Chairman of Quarter Sessions in Western Australia in 1860. In January 1861 he arrived in Western Australia with his family. Burt was instrumental in establishing the Supreme Court Australia in 1861 and became the first Chief Justice of Western Australia. Knighted for his contributions in 1873, he maintained a secluded life to ensure impartiality and professional detachment as sole judge in the colony until his death in 1879. Archibald Paull Burt’s impact and lasting legacy in Western Australia continues through his family members who have held governmental and legislative roles in the state for multiple generations.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-46-2022.36

Item type

Documents

Material

Ink

Paper

Inscriptions and markings

Paper watermark 'Stowford Mills, 1881'.

Contextual information

The identity of Sir H.B. Burt, Knight, Deceased and the connection of that person to Septimus Burt (to whom the account has been sent) is currently unknown. This account has been sent by the same London solicitor that also received Archibald Paull Burt's will in 1873. This may indicate the preference of the Burt family in Western Australia during the 1870s-1880s to engage a London solicitor rather than a local practitioner in the case of private family matters.
(Note: there is a document dating from 1881 that has been lodged with the National Archives, Kew, UK titled "Testator: Burt, Sir Archibald Paull" which could possibly indicate an updating of the 1873 will.)

Keywords

Burt, HB, Sir

Burt, Septimus

Herbert, William Hawkins

Place made

London, Middlesex, United Kingdom

Year

1883

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Scientific or research significance

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