NRS-1038 | Letters of Denization

These are the letters of denization ordered by Act 9 Geo. IV No. 6 to be kept as of record in the Supreme Court. Presumably they were transferred to the custody of the Colonial Secretary's Office some time after 1886 along with the naturalization records of the Supreme Court. Originally the Colonial Secretary possessed a record of letters of denization, as they were entered in the Registers of Letters Patent (believed to have been destroyed).Denization was a process by which an alien could acquire some of the rights of a natural born subject. The letters of denization recite the various rights and privileges conferred on the grantee such as the right to own land, and the restrictions, such as the clause forbidding him to own or to be master of a British ship. They are signed by the Governor, sealed with the Great Seal of the Colony, and certified by the Colonial Secretary as having been entered in the Registers of Letters Patent. On the back of the letters is the certification of the Chief Justice or other Judge that the oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration of the Descendants of the Pretender have been sworn and, in addition, in the case of Protestants, the Declaration against Transubstantiation. Roman Catholics were exempted from the Declaration against Transubstantiation by the Imperial Act 10 Geo. IV c.7. Attached to the letters of denization are the signed copies of the oaths and declarations sworn.Correspondence concerning the granting of letters of denization can be found in other records of the Colonial Secretary, particularly in the Main series of letters received. This usually includes the application or petition requesting that letters of denization be granted (often giving personal details of the proposed recipient), a copy of the despatch from the Secretary of State authorising the granting of the letters of denization, and correspondence reporting that the relevant fee had been paid.A list of persons to whom letters of denization were granted is located in the front of NRS 1042.(4/1172) 1 box. Note: This description is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.