NRS-13565 | Consents and admissions before the Master

This series consists of consents and admissions entered by solicitors, on behalf of their clients, in the office of the Master in Equity. Each consent or admission shows names of litigants, date of lodgement, nature of consent (eg. that proceedings in the Master's Office were to be taken as valid, consents to the advisability of amended bills and statements of facts) or admission (eg. that exhibits intended to be presented in evidence could be taken as proved, that sums of money were received by parties as, for example, in the discharge of estates), and is signed and dated by the entering solicitor, who also specifies which party he represents. The actual distinction between an admission and a consent appears to be slight, the terms appearing to be used indiscriminately. Parties to a suit could, through their solicitors, admit at the trial documents and facts, such an agreement often saving trouble and expense, where there was no ground for disputing the documents in question. Prior to the trial either party could serve a Notice to admit on the opposite party. In the event of a refusal or neglect to admit, the costs of proving the documents were to be paid by the party neglecting or refusing, irrespective of the result of the cause (unless the judge presiding specified that the refusal was reasonable). (2/4160-61). 2 vols. Note: This description is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.