AGY-5024 | Newcastle Local Marine Board

Full description

Under the Navigation Act of 1871 the Steam Navigation Board and the Pilot Board were abolished and replaced by the Marine Board of New South Wales which was incorporated by the Governor by Letters Patent under the Seal of the Colony. The Board consisted of a president, three wardens appointed by the Governor, and three wardens elected by owners of foreign going or coast-trade ships registered at Sydney or another port in the colony. The Board came into being on 2 April 1872 and under the Act was empowered to undertake the general superintendence of all matters within its jurisdiction relating to the issue, suspension and cancellation of certificates of competency and service, the framing of harbour regulations, the preservation of ports, harbours and navigable creeks and rivers within the jurisdiction; the licensing, appointment and removal of pilots, the regulation of lighthouses, the superintendence of lights and other sea, harbour and river marks; the placing or removal of moorings, the granting and regulation of licences to ballast lighters, the licensing and regulation of watermen's boats and boats plying for hire, steam and other ferry boats and harbour and river steamers.
The Navigation Act, 1871 empowered the Governor to establish Local Marine Boards for carrying into effect the provisions of that Act under the superintendence of the Marine Board of New South Wales at such seaports and other places within the jurisdiction as may be recommended by the Marine Board. The Chairman and members of Local Marine Boards were appointed by the Governor and all vacancies filled by the Governor. (1) Newcastle Local Marine Board consisting of D. T. Allan (Chairman), A. Brown, R. B. Wallace, A. A. P. Tighe and H. R. Cross was appointed and held its first meeting at Newcastle 10 July 1873. (2) In 1897 the Public Service Board, sitting as a Royal Commission to enquire into the management of the Marine Board, recommended that its judicial and administrative functions be separated. This was carried out by the Navigation (Amendment) Act, 1899, which created the Court of Marine Inquiry and the Navigation Department. Assent of Governor Beauchamp to the Navigation (Amendment) Act, 1899 appears in New South Wales Government Gazette on 19 March 1900. (3)
The Newcastle Local Marine Board was replaced by the Newcastle Navigation Department. References:
Concise Guide to the State Archives.
Endnotes:
(1) Statues of New South Wales 1871. Navigation Act 1871 (Act No. 7) s.15, p.4110.
(2) Newcastle Local Marine Board, Minutes of Meetings [6/5086].
(3) New South Wales Government Gazette 19 March 1900, p.2233.