The Colonial Secretary was the right hand of the Governor in Colonial New South Wales. All requests, complaints, and other correspondence came through his hands.
The correspondence of the Colonial Secretary is a valuable resource for family historians, containing convicts, immigrants, landholders, or would-be landholders, and people from all walks of life. Much of this corrspondence has now been indexed.
The index to the correspondence to 1825 is available on State Records NSW website. Additionally, there is an index of correspondence concerning land from 1826 to 1856. Both series of correspondence can then be found on microfilm at State Records and many libraries, and increasingly, online on Ancestry..
The correspondence from 1826 progressively to the end of the century has been indexed by the late Joan Reese. Mrs Reese’s indexes are on microfiche in many libraries. Some of these papers are available on microfilm, as above, but many can only be examined in person at State Records NSW Reading Room in Kingswood.
See State Records NSW Guide to the Colonial Secretary’s Correspondence for more information.