VPRS 6873 Case Files

Full description

This series contains files documenting investigations into incidents on Victorian waters conducted by the Court of Marine Inquiry (VA 2584). 

Each case file is described with an investigation number, the name of the vessel/s and crew involved, the date of the incident, and the dates of the investigation. Some files have a cover sheet with this summary information, while others either never had a cover sheet or it has gone missing.

Case files may contain:

• a statement of the case
• summons for witnesses
• order for formal investigation
• evidence presented before the inquiry and the report of the inquiry
• agreements, awards and determinations on the particular claim
• minute papers which record action taken on the claim
• letters from solicitors and the Crown Solicitor regarding the case
• medical and other reports.

The earliest case file currently extant in this series is number 154, and the last is number 249, though this sequence is not complete. The series also contains a small pamphlet with short descriptions of marine inquiries from 1857 to 1876, before the formation of the Marine Board of Victoria and the Court of Marine Inquiry.