Australian Museum Act 1853 No 2a (NSW)

No. II.

An Act to incorporate and endow the Australian

Museum, [4th July, 1853.]

become of considerable value And whereas it is deemed expedient for	WH E R E A S the specimens of natural history and other public property deposited in the Australian Museum have now
public convenience and the promotion of literature and science that the books pictures manuscripts statues specimens of natural history and other objects which this Colony now possesses or may hereafter acquire by gift bequest purchase or exchange should be deposited in the custody of trustworthy persons And whereas His Excellency the. Governor General has already appointed a Committee for the manage­ ment and guardianship of the said Museum and of the collections therein and it is now deemed necessary that the members of the aforesaid Committee together with certain other persons hereinafter designated should be incorporated as a Board of Trustees Be it there­ fore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof as follows:—
1. A Board of Trustees composed as hereinafter mentioned shall be and is hereby constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of " The Trustees of the Australian Museum" by which name such body corporate shall have perpetual succession and shall have a common seal and shall by the same name from time to time sue and be sued implead and be impleaded answer and be answered unto in all Courts of the said Colony and shall bo able and capable in law to take purchase and hold to them and their successors all goods chattels and personal property whatever cither now deposited within the precincts of the Australian Museum or hereafter to be acquired by gift bequest purchase or exchange and shall also be able and capable in law to take purchase and hold to them and their successors not only such lands buildings hereditaments and possessions as may from time to time be exclusively used and occupied for the immediate requirements of the said "Austra l ian Museum" but also any other lands buildings hereditaments and possessions whatsoever situate in the said Colony or elsewhere and they and their successors shall be able and capable in law to grant demise alienate and otherwise dispose of all or any of the property real or personal belonging to the said Museum and also to do all other matters and things incidental to or appertaining to a body politic and corporate.

3. By way of permanent endowment for the said " Australian Museum" the Governor shall be and is hereby empowered by warrant under his hand to direct to be issued and paid out of the General or Ordinary Revenues of the said Colony by four equal quarterly pay­ ments

2. Provided always That it shall not be lawful for the said

Trustees to alienate mortgage charge or demise any lands tenements J or hereditaments to which they may become entitled by grant purchase i or otherwise unless with the approval of the Governor and Executive Council of the said Colony for the time being except by way of lease for any term not exceeding thirty-one years from the time when such lease shall be made in and by which there shall be reserved and made payable for the uses of the said Museum during the whole of the term thereby granted the best yearly rent that can be reasonably gotten for the same without any fine or foregift.

ments on the first day of January the first day of April the first day of July and the first day of October in every year as a fund for defray­ ing the several stipends which shall be appointed to be paid to such necessary officers and servants as shall be from time to time appointed by the said Board of Trustees and for discharging all incidental and necessary charges connected with the current expenditure thereof or otherwise the sum of one thousand pounds in each and every year the first instalment thereof to become due and payable on the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.

4. The said body corporate shall consist of twenty-four Trustees twelve of whom shall be called Official Trustees and shall consist of the following public officers for the time being that is to say—The Chief Justice The Colonial Secretary The Attorney General The Colonial Treasurer The Auditor General The Speaker of the Legislative Council The Solicitor General The Collector of Customs The Surveyor General The Colonial Architect The President of the Colonial Medical Board or should any such office cease to exist then such other officer as the Governor may name for the purpose and a Trustee to be named by the Governor and to be called the Crown Trustee and the other twelve Trustees who shall be called Elective Trustees shall consist at first of the following persons being the Members of the present Committee for the management of the said Museum that is to say—Arthur A'Beckett Esquire George Bennett Esquire William Branthwaite Clarke Clerk Frederick Orme Darvall Esquire Philip Parker King Captain Royal Navy Robert Lethbridge King Clerk William Mac- arthur Esquire William Sharp Macleay Esquire George Maclcay Esquire John Smith Esquire Doctor of Medicine George Edward Turner Clerk and George Wit t Esquire Doctor of Medicine.

5. All vacancies which shall occur by death resignation or otherwise among the aforesaid twelve "Elect ive Trustees" shall be filled up as they may occur by the election of such other fit and proper persons as the remaining members of the aforesaid corporate body shall at meetings duly to be convened for that purpose elect to fill up such vacancies Provided always that no such vacancy unless created by death or resignation shall occur for any cause whatsoever unless such cause shall have been previously specified by some by-law of the said body politic and corporate duly passed as hereinafter mentioned.
6. At every meeting of the said Trustees five Trustees shall

form a quorum and all questions shall bo decided by the majority of

votes of the Trustees present and in all cases when the votes on each side shall be equal the Chairman who may be chosen to act on the	occasion shall have an additional or casting vote.
7. The said Trustees shall have full power to appoint all officers and servants of the said Museum and shall have the entire manage­ ment and superintendence of the affairs concerns and property of the said Museum and in all cases not provided for by this Act it shall be lawful for the said Trustees to act in such manner as shall appear to them best calculated to advance the objects of the said Institution.
8. The said Trustees shall have power and authority to make and also to repeal or alter all such by-laws rules and orders touching and concerning the management and good government of the said Museum and the income and property thereof and any other matter or thing relative to the same as to them may seem fit for the effectual attainment of the objects of the Institution the security of its property and the administration of its concerns and all such by-laws rules and orders shall be presented to the Governor and on confirmation and allowance thereof by His Excellency with the advice of the Executive Council shall come into force and be binding in law and all such by-laws rules and orders shall within one month from the date thereof

be

be published in the New South Wales Government Gazette and shall be laid before the Legislative Council within one month after the same shall have been made if such Council be then sitting or if not then within one month after the commencement of the next ensuing Session thereof.

9. The said Trustees shall once at least in every year and also whenever the pleasure of the Governor shall be signified in that behalf report their proceedings and the progress of the said Institution to the said Governor and Executive Council and a copy of every such report shall be laid before the Legislative Council within one month after the same shall have been received if the said Council be then sitting or if not then within one month after the commencement of the next Session thereof.
10. Accounts of the expenditure of the Museum shall be
furnished annually by the Trustees to the Government for examination

and audit and in order that an abstract thereof may be published in

the Government Gazette.