VPRS 1093 Governor's Minute Books

Full description

As originally the Lieutenant Governor (1851 1855) and under the 1855 Victorian Constitution the ultimate executive power in the State is vested in the Governor as the representative of the Crown. Under the Constitution, this executive power is exercised through and with the advice of the elected Government and its Ministers, although prior to 1855, the Lieutenant-Governor had full executive authority.

This series consists of copies of the Minutes and the memoranda as written by the Lieutenant Governor and later the Governor. Originally, the series recorded minutes written by the Governor on correspondence or papers forwarded to him and then returned to the sender or forwarded again to an officer of the Government. The practice evolved to entries being copies of memoranda written by the Governor and sent to the Premier, members of the Ministry and other officials. From circa 1865, copies of incoming memoranda were also placed in this series with the Governors reply with these being printed copies from the newspapers or the Government Gazette rather than handwritten copies.

The details included the subject, originally a summary of the original piece of correspondence with the name or office of the writer. Later this became a statement of the subject of the memoranda and the name and/or office of the person to whom it was addressed.