the Governor of New South Wales in 1827. These limits, as already noted, were corrected by a supplementary commission granted to Governor Weld in 1873. By his commission Governor Stirling had authority to appoint an Executive Council, to make provision for the defence of the Colony, to divide it into districts, counties, and townships, to dispose of the land according to instructions, in which also those who might act for him in his absence, according to seniority, were named; any one sitting as Judge being excepted.
At first a board of Council and Audit to assist the Governor in the assessment of property brought into the Colony as an equivalent for land, was established, the members of which were nominated by him from time to time as might be convenient; but the Executive Council consisted of the Officer commanding the troops (Captain Irwin), the Colonial Secretary, the Surveyor General, and the Advocate General. This Council, with slight changes in its constitution, has been continued to the present time. The law was administered by W. H. Mackie, a name still remembered with honor, as Commissioner of the Civil Court and Chairman of Quarter Sessions, with G. F. Moore as Advocate General; an arrangement continued, against the expressed opinion of the Commissioner as to the validity of his jurisdiction in certain criminal cases, until 1851, when his successor, now Sir A. F. Burt, affirming that opinion, was appointed the first Judge of the Supreme Court, and G. F. Stone Crown Solicitor and Attorney General. Governor Stirling also appointed Resident Magistrates in the more settled localities, as G. Leake at Fremantle, H. Whitfield at Guildford, Col. J. Molloy at Augusta, and Sir R. Spencer at Albany, and these have been continued, and their number from time to time increased,
