Colonial Despatches

I am commanded by the Lords Commissoners of Her Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you, for the information of the Duke of Newcastle, that a claim has been made upon this Board on behalf of Mr F.C. Hansen, Master of the Ship "Granger" for the subsistence, during a passage of 160 days from Vancouvers Island to Queenstown, of Thomas Burke a Distressed British Subject;

This Person was received on board the "Granger" under an order signed by Edward Stamp, Justice of the Peace, and the claim has beenpresented presented upon a printed form adopted by the Board of Trade for claiming the expenses of the conveyance of "distressed British Seamen" pursuant to the Act 17918 Victoria [Capnt?] 104 Section 212.

The word "Subject" has been substituted for "Seaman" throughout the document.

My Lords have, under the circumstances, given directions for the payment of the claim—but they request that the Magistrate who signed this Order may be informed that he was in error in assuming that Thomas Burke was entitledto to a passage home at the expense of the Government, and that he was not justified in altering a form of Document which is applicable only to Distressed British Seamen;

My Lords are also of opinion that the Governor should cause notice to be given in case any erroneous impression should prevail in that Colony, or in British Columbia, on this subject that Persons in the Colonies are not entitled to passages to this Country at the expense of the British Government.