VPRS 45 Draft Letter Books - Outwards Correspondence [1846 - 1851]; Inwards Correspondence Register [1850 - 1851]; Minute Book, Finance Branch [1853 - 1854]

The volumes in this series primarily contain drafts of the outwards correspondence of the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District. The sixth volume contains a number of other series recorded in this volume after its use as a draft latter book had ceased.Drafts contained in this series are for both letters which were sent (and which may be seen in final form in VPRS 16 Outward Registered Correspondence) and for others which were not proceeded with. Those which were sent have recorded with them the registered number assigned, whilst for those not sent there is no registered number or it has been excised. For most pieces of correspondence an indication is given of the addressee, the date and an outline of the substance of the content. When the piece of correspondence had been dealt with it was crossed through or annotated with the word "Entered". Draft correspondence in the first volume is divided into sections for that designated for Sydney and that designated for Local. This reflects the arrangement of the volumes in VPRS 16.A small portion of the sixth volume contains the Inward Correspondence Register for correspondence received from W Thomas and E S Parker pertaining to the management of aboriginal affairs. Correspondence registered may be seen in VPRS 2893 Registered Inward Correspondence to the Superintendent of Port Phillip District from W Thomas Guardian of Aborigines and E S Parker Assistant Protector of Aborigines. Details given are the number of the piece of correspondence, the date, the name and location of the sender, the date of the correspondence, the subject, the action officer and the date of the response.Another portion of the volume is given over to the Minute Book, Finance Branch (of the Colonial Secretary's Office). Minutes were most often annotations on correspondence forwarded to another official and then returned to the office. Registered with date and number are minutes from such officials as the Colonial Secretary, the Lieutenant-Governor and the Chief Commissioner of the Goldfields dealing with such matters as queries with respect to financing and notification of appointments to offices made. Details are given of how the minute was to be acted upon.This volume was also used to record details of Inwards Correspondence Pending in the Colonial Secretary's Office (1853) with details of the date, the Branch, the number, the name of the correspondent and the particulars of the letter and the reason why it was kept pending. Another series records Copies of Requisitions made by the office (1853 - 1857) for office requisites and supplies and for the performance of minor maintenance works.Details for 1853 to 1854 are given for the work flow in the office with details of the despatch of replies by register number in relation to the original registered number of the correspondence.

本系列档案卷册主要收录菲利普港区（Port Phillip District）总监的对外发函草稿。第六卷在其作为草稿函件簿的使用终止后，收录了本卷中留存的其他若干系列档案。本系列收录的草稿既包含已发出的函件（最终定稿可于VPRS 16《对外登记往来函件》中查阅），也包含未完成起草的函件。已发出的函件草稿标注了分配的登记编号，而未发出的函件则无登记编号，或编号已被删去。绝大多数函件均标注了收件人、发文日期及内容概要。函件处理完毕后，会被划去或标注“Entered（已登记）”字样。第一卷的函件草稿按收件地分为悉尼专件与本地专件两类，这一分类方式与VPRS 16系列卷册的编排规则一致。第六卷的一小部分收录了来自W·托马斯与E·S·帕克的、涉及原住民事务管理的收函登记册。上述登记的往来函件可于VPRS 2893《菲利普港区总监收函登记册（来自原住民监护人W·托马斯与原住民事务助理保护官E·S·帕克）》中查阅。该登记册包含的信息包括：函件编号、发文日期、寄件人姓名与所在地、函件主题、经办官员及复函日期。本卷的另一部分为殖民秘书办公室财政分支的会议记录簿。会议记录通常为转发给其他官员后退回办公室的函件上的批注。该部分收录了殖民秘书、副总督及金矿总专员等官员的批注记录，内容涉及融资咨询、公职任命通知等事务，每条记录均标注了日期与编号，并明确了该批注的执行方式。本卷还用于记录1853年殖民秘书办公室待处理收函的相关信息，具体包括：待处理日期、所属分支、函件编号、寄件人姓名、函件详情及待处理原因。另有一个系列收录了本办公室1853年至1857年间提交的办公物资、补给采购申请及小型维修工程申请副本。本卷还记录了1853年至1854年的办公室工作流程，包括依据原函件登记编号派发复函的登记编号详情。