VPRS 16939 Copied Letter Book (Senior Assistant Commissioner for the Gold Fields, Waranga 1853-1854; Mining Warden, Waranga Mining Division 1857-1860)

This series consists of a letter book which contains transcribed copies of items sent. The volume was used over two periods by;- the Senior Assistant Commissioner at the Waranga Goldfields to record mostly reports sent to Commission in Charge at Heathcote between August 1853 and November 1854, and- the Warden in Charge at Waranga to the Warden's Office in Heathcote between November 1857 and October 1860.There are no entries in this volume for the period December 1854 to October 1857.Most of the items in the 1853-1854 portion of this series consist of weekly reports and other letters that document events that have occurred and amounts of revenue received.The 1857-1860 portion of the volume contains a small amount of outwards letters spanning the period November 1857-February 1858, fortnightly reports on the state of the goldfields between May 1858 to the end of 1859 and a handful of letters to the Chief Secretary's Department (VA 75) during 1860. The fortnightly reports provide statistic relating to the goldfields including estimates of the population size (with figures for Chinese diggers), amount of gold despatched, mining claims applied for and disputes settled.

本系列包含一部书信抄录本，内收已发送文献的转录副本。该卷宗的使用分为两个阶段：其一为1853年8月至1854年11月，由沃兰加金矿（Waranga Goldfields）高级助理专员使用，主要记录发往希思科特主管委员会（Commission in Charge at Heathcote）的各类报告；其二为1857年11月至1860年10月，由沃兰加金矿主管监管员（Warden in Charge at Waranga）使用，用于向希思科特典狱长办公室（Warden's Office in Heathcote）发送公文。该卷宗在1854年12月至1857年10月期间无任何记录条目。本系列1853-1854年部分的绝大多数文献为周度报告与其他书信，用于记载已发生的事件及收到的营收金额。该卷宗1857-1860年部分包含三类内容：1857年11月至1858年2月期间的少量外发书信；1858年5月至1859年末的金矿状况双周报告；以及1860年间致首席秘书厅（Chief Secretary's Department，档案编号VA 75）的少量信函。上述双周报告提供了与金矿相关的统计数据，包括人口规模估算（含华籍矿工人数）、外运黄金数量、申请的采矿权证数量以及已了结的纠纷数量。