NRS-1470 | Records of the Royal Commission of Inquiry respecting the Mount Kembla Colliery Disaster

Full description

This series consists of records relating to the Royal Commission into the explosion which occurred at the Mount Kembla Colliery on 31 July 1902 killing 95 miners.

The following individuals were appointed to the Royal Commission by Letters Patent on 6 November 1902, President: Charles Edward Robertson Murray (referred to as His Honor or Honour), Commissioner: Daniel Alexander Wilberforce Robertson, Commissioner: David Ritchie. John Garlick was appointed as the Secretary and principal shorthand writer. (1)

The records are a combination of bundles of papers, volumes and booklets which document the work of the Royal Commission and the processes that the Commission went through before publishing its final Report. The records include minutes of the Commission's meetings, a witness attendance book, and numerous drafts and revision copies of the final Report and its various components, which were annotated with comments and corrections by various Commission members.

The Royal Commission continued to operate until June 1903, having to proof several versions of the final Report before it finally went to print. The Report of the Commission together with Minutes of Evidence and Exhibits was printed on 9 July 1903.

Endnote
1. Mount Kembla Colliery Disaster. Report of the Royal Commission, together with Minutes of Evidence and Exhibits, p.iii, in Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, 1903, Vol.5.