LETTERS PATENT, SEPTIMUS BURT AS ATTORNEY GENERAL

Letters Patent appointing Septimus Burt Attorney General upon A.P. Hensman being granted a Leave of Absence “from this day”. Dated 17 June 1886. This Letters Patent follows on from the 30 March 1866 Warrant issued by Governor Broome when he initially appointed Burt as Attorney General after Hensman’s “interdiction” (suspension of powers).
Handwritten on a single sheet of cream paper. The paper is folded in half vertically (like a book), the text appearing on the front page and on the first inside page to the left of the fold. Near the top left of the front page of the document the red wax Public Seal of the Colony of Western Australia is affixed. A stain from the seal is on the lower left, apparently occurring when the document was folded in half again for storage.
The document was created by Acting Colonial Secretary Matthew Skinner Smith on behalf of Governor Frederick Napier Broome. Smith’s signature is at the bottom of the second page and Broome’s signature is at top left of the front page.
By early September that year Burt indicated his wish to resign from his role as Attorney General. (See the Acting Colonial Secretary's 7 Sept 1886 response to Burt's resignation letter) His successor, Charles Warton (former member of the House of Commons, London) was appointed in October and arrived in Perth on 30 November 1886.