VPRS 7571 Reference and Procedure Files of the Official Secretary to the Governor

This series is an accumulation of files previously in the custody of the Official Secretary to the Governor. The files were kept in the Secretary's Office adjoining the Executive Council Chamber in the Old Treasury Building. Other files which were previously held in that office were found in a basement vault under the same building. The files cover a wide range of subjects including matters of protocol (especially involving members of the Royal Family), the provision of various awards and medals, originals and duplicates of signed Letters Patent and Commissions, parliamentary and other duties involving the Governor, various political matters and constitutional crises. There is also a quantity of miscellaneous papers which seem to have been accumulated over time because they relate in some way either to the official duties or role of Governors, or even in a few cases to the particular interests of an individual Governor or Secretary. Files were found in a variety of forms including manilla and springback folders, suspension files and bags of loose material. Most files are now in manilla folders. The types of documents found in these files varies, reflecting the informal nature of their creation. Such documents include copies of inwards and outwards despatches and unregistered correspondence, photocopies, newspaper cuttings and printed material. Files also include original inward correspondence which had been previously registered as part of the correspondence systems of the Governors Office (from VPRS 1096 and 7575), Premiers Department (from VPRS 1163) and the Chief Secretary (from VPRS 3991 and 3992). Unfortunately the relevant registers and indexes to these series do not that particular items of correspondence may be found in this series. However the correspondence registers of the Premier's Department and the Chief Secretary's Department should indicate that the correspondence was referred to the Governor's Office. The tour file, North Eastern Victoria 1908, was transferred into custody as an estray accessioned in 2001. For convenience, it has been arranged with other similar files. The files in this series were not considered to be part of VPRS 1095, Special Files 1854 -1900 as most of the numbered bundles of files which make up that series are noted in VPRS 1097, Governors Office, Registers of Inward Correspondence. Some of the files in VPRS 1095, especially those in units 32 to 43 are very similar to those in this series which may be a subsequent series to VPRS 1095. The contents of the earliest files date from the early 1900's although some later files include documents from as far back as 1856. As these files were created on a rather informal basis, there was originally no real system of arrangement and control over the overall series. A few files appear to have been part of a multiple number system. Indications are that such numbers, where they exist, relate to a cabinet drawer number and the location of the file within the drawer. In order to exercise a degree of control over the series, the archivist arranged the files in alphabetical order according to the file title. The miscellaneous files were placed at the end. In some instances, the descriptive title was determined by the Public Record Office. Such titles are used to describe the typical subject content of the file. In most instances, however, the title used is as given by the Secretary. The contents of individual files have generally not been disturbed or rearranged except in a few instances where a chronological sequence could be imposed. The date ranges given on the item list refers strictly to the first and last items in each file. It should not be assumed that information is contained in each file for every intervening year. It should also be noted that the size of individual files varies enormously. In some instances, a particular file is in a number of separate parts. These parts which more often than not were found in different locations, have been noted where appropriate. A number of other files covering personal details and the mechanics of specific Governorships were also found with these files. These were boxed separately as VPRS 7582 Files relating to Individual Governors. Two other similar series also maintained by the Official Secretary, VPRS 7581 Files Relating to Ministries and VPRS 7580 Files Relating to Parliaments were also found in the same vault but in a separate run of boxes.