Dr Margaret Shield, a past Visiting Fellow at the Harry Gentle Resource Centre, has transcribed the first Letterbook of Arthur Halloran (1853/1854), Commissioner of Crown Lands for Wide Bay and Burnett. It is now available online at the Queensland State Archives. To access please click here and scroll down the page to look under ‘Digital Representations’.

Arthur Halloran (1816 – 1890) was born in Suffolk, England and emigrated to New South Wales, arriving in Sydney in 1828. Shortly after, he entered the New South Wales Public Service and held a number of positions prior to his appointment as Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Wide Bay District in 1853. He later became Commissioner of Crown Lands for the combined Wide Bay and Burnett District. His official correspondence reveals that he was a diligent administrator fulfilling his many responsibilities both as Commissioner and as Police Magistrate. However, he courted controversy when some of his decisions were questioned by members of the Maryborough community. Allegations made against him led to a government enquiry into his conduct. He was subsequently transferred to Warwick in 1860 as Police Magistrate. Halloran went on to hold other positions in the Queensland government prior to his retirement and relocation to Melbourne where he died in 1890.

For Halloran’s full biography by Margaret Shield, located under the ‘Life Stories’ section of this website, click here.

Image (above): Arthur Edward Halloran, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative No. 34370.