NRS-15282 | Inwards correspondence

Full description

These letters were received by Charles Cowper, Chairman of the Sydney Tramroad and Railway Company Provisional Committee regarding the establishment of railways in New South Wales. The Committee was appointed on 11 September 1848 to make arrangements for the establishment of the Sydney Tramroad and Railway Company. Most letters are in reply to those sent to landowners along the proposed routes seeking their support. Other letters are in response to invitations and correspondence sent by Charles Cowper as Chairman of the Provisional Committee.

Included are two letters pre-dating the Provisional Committee. These may have been sent to Charles Cowper as Chairman of the Legislative Council’s Select Committee that was appointed on 28 March 1848 to investigate the establishment of railways in New South Wales.

Custody History

From 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an ‘in house archives’ consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the ‘State Rail Archives’ the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.

This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R40. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R40 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished works.