Guide to the papers of Sir Frederick Barlee (as filmed by the AJCP)

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M594

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Created: 2018

Online Items

Series. Letters from Sir Frederick Barlee to his brother, Reverend William Barlee, 1876 - 1884

The letters were all written after Barlee left Australia and they contain only occasional references to Australia or to his siblings who were living in Australia.

Letters from Barlee (London) to his brother, February 1876 - November 1876 (File 1)

The letters refer to a summons to see Lord Carnarvon, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a possible Indian appointment, offers of two positions which he had declined, the determination of the Colonial Office that Barlee should not return to Western Australia, family matters, and his acceptance of the governorship of British Honduras...

Letters from Barlee (Belize) to his brother, May 1877 - August 1882 (File 2)

The letters deal inter alia with Barlee's voyage to British Honduras, his first impressions of the colony, the climate, social events, tours of the colony, his Spanish studies, gardening, the receipt of a box from Perth (June 1877), the Legislative Council, race relations, the resignation of Lord Carnarvon (1878), a journey on horseback to the border with Guatemala, British politics, a visit by the Bishop of Jamaica (1879), mail contracts, visitors at Government House, a possible transfer to another colony, a memorial to the Secretary of State criticising Barlee's administration (1881), the support of Lord Kimberley, the publication of official papers on the administration of British Honduras, and Barlee's impending departure. The letters also contain many comments on his brother's letters, events in the Diocese of Norwich, news of their siblings Catherine and Charles in Australia and Barlee's opposition to his sister Louise going to Australia...

Letters from Barlee (London, Bournemouth) to his brother, September 1882 - May 1884 (File 3)

The letters refer to Barlee's decision to visit Western Australia, family news, British politics, his knighthood, meetings of the Royal Colonial Institute, social events, vice-regal appointments, the neglect of men in the Colonial Service by the Secretary of State, Lord Derby, Barlee's meetings with Sir Robert Herbert, Anthony Trollope's book Australia, the treatment of Australian Aboriginals by early European settlers, Barlee's asthma attacks and his need for a warmer climate, his stay at Bournemouth (March 1884), the war in the Sudan, the appointment of Sir Henry Loch as Governor of Victoria, and the unexpected offer to Barlee of the post of Administrator in Trinidad (April 1884)...

Letters from Barlee (Trinidad) to his brother, June - August 1884 (File 4)

The letters refer to Barlee's continued illness on the voyage to the West Indies, the beauty of Trinidad, the effects of the fall in sugar prices, his inspection of public buildings, and serious asthma attacks...

Series. Diary kept by Sir Frederick Barlee, January - August 1884

The Letts diary mostly contains brief entries. They are more detailed, however, in May 1884, following Barlee's appointment as Administrator of Trinidad, and record his meetings with Lord Derby and Colonial Office officials and his preparations for his departure. The entries in June-July also record in some detail his activities in his first weeks in Trinidad, before he succumbed to his final illness. The last entry is dated 4 August 1884, four days before his death.


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