The despatches copied into this letterbook date from the period when the Convict Establishment was being taken over by the Colony from the Imperial authorities; many relate to the details of this transfer. The series itself results from an instruction given by the Secretary of State in August, 1869 to the effect that it had been decided to transfer the management of Imperial convicts in Tasmania to the Home Office, and that the Governor would henceforth receive from the Home Secretary instructions "on all matters relating to Convict Prisons and to Prisoners who have been convicted in the United Kingdom and you will correspond with him direct on these subjects." The letterbook was used to keep copies of outward despatches to the Home Office distinct from those sent to the Secretary of State. They relate to matters connected with individual convicts, financial arrangements for the Convict Establishment, stores. The corresponding inward despatches from the Home Office are to be found in G018. There is an alphabetical register giving details of despatch number, date, page and number of enclosures. The volume also contains a register of despatches sent to the Colonial Agent (see GO31/2).

These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives