The correspondence of the Colonial Secretary is one of the most valuable sources of information on all aspects of the history of the Colony and the State of New South Wales. Chiefly responsible for this was the Colonial Secretary's pre-eminence in public life and the fortunate occurrence of the survival of the greater part of his papers. Included among these are earlier papers of the Secretary to the Governor taken over by the first Colonial Secretary, Frederick Goulburn, on his appointment in 1821. The correspondence records of the Colonial Secretary's/Chief Secretary's successor agency, the Department of Services, are also here.

After responsible government in 1856 the Colonial Secretary (at times known as the Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary) was frequently also Premier, and papers relating to this aspect of his work (until a separate Premier's Department was established in 1907) may also be found here.

To summarise, included in this guide is information about the primary correspondence records of the following agencies:

NAG 1861‚ 1788-1821 — Secretary to the Governor

NAG 16‚ 1821-1975 — Colonial Secretary and Registrar of the Records of New South Wales (1821-1824) / Colonial Secretary (1824-1856) / Colonial Secretary or Principal Secretary to the Government (1856-1859) / Chief Secretary (I)

NAG 661‚ 1975-82 — Department of Services (1975-1976) / Chief Secretary's Department (1976) / Department of Services (1976-1982).

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