An Act for the more effectual Administration of Justice at Norfolk Island, 13 August 1834

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Type: Legal documents
Date: 13 August 1834
Place: London, England; Norfolk Island, Australia
Materials: Paper
Collection: Norfolk Island Act 1834 collection
Accession number: 2003.0076.0001

Description

Document printed in black on a folded sheet of paper. There are seven holes in the folded edge of the paper. At the top of the front page is a crest and the title "ANNO QUARTO & QUINTO / GULIELMI IV. REGIS / CAP. LXV. / An Act for the more effectual Administration of / Justice at Norfolk Island. [13th August 1834.]". Handwritten in pencil on the back is the price "$34" in a circle, and the number "3653".

About the collection

The 1834 Act of Parliament entitled, 'An Act for the more effectual Administration of Justice at Norfolk Island" declares that the New South Wales Governor is to institute a court of criminal jurisdiction on the island for the trial and punishment of crimes, misdemeanours, and offences. The Act outlines that the court is to consist of one judge, who shall be a barrister and five military or naval officers. The Act also regulates the period of holding court on the island and that court records are to be made of each session. Norfolk Island was first established as a penal colony in March 1788. By 1813, the island was abandoned as it had become difficult to manage and not self supporting. In 1824, the island was reopened as a place of secondary punishment for the worst type of convicts from New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. By 1846, a decision was made to abandon the settlement once more. In 1856, the last of the convicts were removed from the island and sent to Hobart.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 4:58:29 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-24. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.