WILL, COPY, ARCHIBALD PAULL BURT

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1873

Overview

Unsigned copy of the will of Sir Archibald Paull Burt executed 9th August 1873, the original of which appears to have been lodged with London solicitor William Hawkins Herbert. Handwritten on a single sheet of white paper which has been folded in half vertically, the bulk of the text appearing on the two inside pages. The will has a further three lateral folds to close it and on the reverse when folded the title of the document has been handwritten at top, 'Copy Will of Sir Archibald Paull Burt, Knight' and at the bottom 'W. A. Herbert, 6a Vigo Street, Regent Street, W'.
Burt named his sons Septimus and Octavius as executors in Western Australia and his son Frederick as executor in St Christopher [St Kitts]. He mentions the division of his moveable assets equally among his children. He also nominates his friend Frederick Palgrave Barlee to assist with the sale of real estate in order to distribute the proceeds among his children. The will was witnessed by Fred Stone and Fred Spencer.

Historical information

This document is an unsigned copy of the 1873 Will of Archibald Paull Burt, executed six years before his death. The Will appears to have been produced around the time of his departure from Western Australia on twelve months leave of absence when he travelled to England to receive a knighthood and also to the West Indies to undertake personal business. The knighthood was bestowed in December 1873; the document refers to Burt to as "Sir Archibald Paull Burt, Knight" indicating this copy was produced after this date, most likely in 1883 as per Bill of Costs (2022.36).
The original Will appears to have been lodged with a London solicitor which probably indicates the preference of Burt not to engage a Perth-based practitioner in the case of private family matters.
The document is complete and in original condition.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-46-1976.44

Item type

Documents

Material

Ink

Paper

Width

200 mm

Height or length

330 mm

Contextual information

It is believed the following Old Court House Law Museum records are linked:-
1976.44 WILL, COPY, ARCHIBALD PAULL BURT
1976.46 CASE FOR OPINION & NOTES, WILL OF AP BURT, WARMINGTON, 1883
1976.47 CASE FOR OPINION, WILL OF AP BURT, STOKES, 1883
2022.36 BILL OF COSTS, SEPTIMUS BURT RE WILL OF H.B. BURT [AP BURT]

In 1883 Septimus Burt sought advice from the London solicitor WH Herbert about a particular point in his father’s will. The will is assumed to have been lodged with this solicitor due to copies having been made of it in 1883 (1976.44) by the same solicitor to follow up on Septimus Burt's query. This was whether his two sisters Louisa Emily and Mina Eliza could make claims on him after the sale of real estate inherited from his father. In 1873 (the date of the original will) Louisa was about 17 years of age and Mina was about 12, and in the will, they were referred to as “infants”. Today it is assumed the term used in this context would be “minor”.

In 1883 they were both of age and reportedly married. At this time there were limitations for married women in the area of financial management so any bequests going to them from an inheritance would probably be transferred to their husbands who would act on their behalf.

It is assumed all the documents listed above were generated by the London solicitor, WH Herbert, with additional notes added to two (1976.46 and 1976.47). The London solicitor sought advice from a senior barrister (Warmington) and his junior associate (Stokes) who had chambers at Lincoln's Inn, London. The advice was recorded in the form of notes on the bottom of the document addressed to Warmington (1976.46) and the note on the other document (1976.47) referred to that advice. It is currently unknown who made these notes; the Bill of Costs (2022.26) refers to a conference meeting with Stokes. It does seem a casual way to respond to a request for advice. Perhaps both Warmington and Stokes provided a written responses to WH Herbert which were held on to by the London solicitor. Or perhaps the advice given was verbal with notes made by a clerk.

It should be noted that in the copy of the will (1976.44) sometimes Mina is written as Nina. This mistake also appears in 1976.46, the Case for Opinion sent to Warmington.
Another apparent error is on the Bill of Costs (2022.36) which is titled HB Burt. There are too many references in this document to the other three in this group for it not to pertain to costs associated with the will of AP Burt.

Place made

Australia

Year

1873

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Scientific or research significance

Comparative significance criteria

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Links to additional resources

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25447/page/884/data.pdf