Blue Book, Colony of Victoria, 1851 – Gold Commissioners


Contents:		Blue Book People Organisations Places Roles Research Notes Reference

Port Phillip District (1836-1851) Colony of Victoria (1851-1900) Victoria (1901-1929)

Years:		1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880
		1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900

Bodies:

1851 Courts of Petty Sessions Gold Commission Crown Lands

1852

Roles:

1851 Gold Commissioners

1852

Explanations:

Columns:	R [Role]; D is whether the role is Resident [R] or Visiting [V].
	PM (Police Magistrate), GC (Gold Commissioner 1851-1855), GW (Gold Warden 1855-1929), CCL (Commissioner of Crown Lands), and CP (Chinese Protector) show the Golden Colony roles that each person held at the same time.

Roles:	= Government Office (Paid); = Government Duties (Unpaid); = On leave; = TBD; = Agriculture; = Private enterprise; = Parliament;
	= British Army; = Royal Marines; = British Militia; = Colonial Militia; = East India Company Army; = Royal Navy; = Other Maritime;
	= Education; = Army Education; = Navy Education; = Immigration; = Emigration; = Other voyage.

Abbreviations:	BB = Blue Book; CCL = Commissioner of Crown Lands; CP = Chinese Protector; CPS = Clerk of Petty Sessions; GC = Gold Commissioner;
	GR = Gold Receiver; GW = Gold Warden; JP = Justice of the Peace (Magistrate); PM = Police Magistrate;
	FN = Footnotes; PSL = Public Service List; S/S1/S2 = Source; TBC/TBD = To be confirmed/determined.

Appointments:	= Appointed; = Reappointed; = Promoted; = Demoted; = Redesignated; = Succeeded/Replaced; = Transferred to; = Made permanent;
	= Retired; = Dismissed; = Passed (Examinations); = Paid as (role).
	British Army: = Purchase of Commission; = Exchange rank/regiment; = Reduced to Reserve list; = Retired by sale of Commission.

Assignments:	The location or district the person was assigned to. A number in the OP column (Other Places) means that they also sat at that many other locations of Courts of Petty Sessions. The number of other locations changed from time to time as courts were created, abolished, or reassigned.

Sources (S, S1, S2):	= Blue Book; = Blue Book derived; = Government Gazette; = Government Gazette derived; = Public Service List; = Public Service List derived;
	= Report; = Book; = Birth/Baptism/Marriage/Death document; = Birth/Baptism/Marriage/Death extract; = Cemetery; = Census; = Legal;
	= Newspaper family notice; = Newspaper article; = Magazine article; = Unconfirmed; = Military service record; = Internet.

Other Symbols:	= External link.

Dates:	Dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format. Ongoing = Continues into next calendar year; New date; Date changed in source; Date died; Date to be confirmed.
	"Original" is the date the person commenced the role. For example, when first appointed a Police Magistrate, regardless of later re-appointments and re-assignments.

Unconfirmed:	All text in magenta is unconfirmed.

Search/Filter:	Select from the drop-down boxes. The selection(s) will display below the box. Selections can be added to. Click on the selection(s) to clear them.
	The Search box can also be used as a filter. For example, type Edward to see anyone with the name Edward.

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Comments

With the official discovery of gold, Commissioner of Crown Lands Fenwick was given the responsibility for gold licenses in his district of Bourke County (the area around Melbourne) in August. The remaining Commissioners of Crown Lands (except Blair) were given these additional responsibilities from the beginning of October. Doveton was the first Commissioner of Crown Lands appointed specifically for gold licenses.

The name of the position was evolving. Initially. it was just a Commissioner “to carry out the Regulations… for the issue of Licenses to dig and search for Gold.” Later in 1851 it was “Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold District.” By 1852, it was “Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields.”

Gold Commissioners (Commissioners of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields)

BB	Name	Title	Original	D	Gazette	From	To	Assignment	Comments	Next	FN
V1851	Addis, Edward Brown	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Grant County	Also CCL.
V1851	Armstrong, David	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-10-31	1851-11-01	Ongoing	Ballarat	Also Buninyong		[01]
V1851	Baxter, Benjamin	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-10-30	1851-10-29	Ongoing	Ballarat	Also Buninyong
V1851	Dane, John	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-12-06	1851-12-15	Ongoing	Mount Alexander
V1851	Doveton, Francis Crossman	Commissioner		R	1851-08-21	1851-08-19	1851-12-31	Buninyong	Also Loddon	Assistant GC.
V1851	Fenwick, Nicholas Alexander	Commissioner	1851-08-08	R	1851-08-08	1851-08-08	Ongoing	Bourke County	Also CCL.
V1851	Fletcher, John	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-11-17	1851-11-28	Ongoing	Gold District			[02]
V1851	Gray, William Nairn	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Portland Bay District	Also CCL.
V1851	Gray, William Nairn	Assistant Commissioner		R		1851-12-10	1851-12-31	Ballarat	Also CCL.		[03]
V1851	Horne, Robert Wintle	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-11-07	1851-11-06	TBD	Gold District			[04]
V1851	Lydiard, Charles John Pitfield	Assistant Commissioner		R	1851-10-30	1851-11-01	Ongoing	Mount Alexander
V1851	Powlett, Frederick Armand	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Western Port District	Also CCL.
V1851	Smythe, Henry Wilson Hutchinson	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Murray District	Also CCL.	Resident GC.
V1851	Tyers, Charles James	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Gipps Land District	Also CCL.
V1851	Wright, William Henry	Commissioner	1851-10-02	R	1851-10-02	1851-10-02	Ongoing	Wimmera District	Also CCL.

References

Notes[+]

Notes
01⇑	Gazetted as "Daniel" Armstrong.
02⇑	Not in BB1852.
03⇑	Apparently appointed GC at Ballarat, whilst still CCL/GC for Portland Bay,
04⇑	Not in BB1852, so fate to be determined.

Sources

	Registrar-General's Office, Victoria; Statistics of the Colony of Victoria for the Year 1851; Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne, 1852 (Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 943, P0000-0001) [BB1851].
	Various issues of the Victoria Government Gazette, 1851.

Updates

2024-10-13	Page formatting revised.
2022-03-30	Page and content created.