Pension granted to Chief Clerk after 10 years service

A Pension For the Chief Clerk at Norfolk Island: In May 1857 Thomas Jewel Oliver applied 'for a Superannuation Allowance' following his enforced retirement from the Penal & Convict Department after ten years service. Transportation to Tasmania had ended in 1853 and the last convicts on Norfolk Island were removed to Tasmania in 1855. Oliver's application consists of 16 pages, partially printed, detailing his various positions in Van Diemen's Land and on Norfolk Island, his rate of pay, his days of absence from his duty and several 'Certificates as to the manner in which Mr Oliver has discharged his duties....appended from the several Commandants at Norfolk Island and the present Commandant at Port Arthur under whom Mr Oliver has been employed as Chief Clerk.....' The testimonials are written by John [Giles] Price, Norfolk Island, January 1853; Rupert.B.Deering, Capt. 99th Regiment, Norfolk Island, February 1855; Henry Joseph Day, Civil Commandant, together with his further views on the 'final breaking up of the Norfolk Island Establishment...'; and James Boyd, the longest serving [1853-71] Civil Commandant at Port Arthur. A lengthy note in the margin on one page is signed by Acting Comptroller General Nairn, who approved payment of a pension of £62 per annum. On his death in 1887 'The Echo' reported 'Many persons-and especially those connected with the Press and with the Imperial service in these colonies as far back as the old Legislative Council, will learn with regret of the death of Mr Thomas Jewel Oliver, who passed away on Friday morning at 'Swilley,' St. Mark's-road, Randwick. The late Mr Oliver was bom in England, near Plymouth...He was the son of Robert Bloon Oliver, a Naval Agent, and he emigrated to this colony about half a century ago. At Norfolk Island he was clerk of the bench, the civil position of which ranked next to that of the local commandment. When the Imperial establishment at Norfolk Island was abolished, Mr. Oliver was transferred to Port Arthur, in Tasmania, and he there remained in a position similar to that he had previously filled - until he was pensioned off and returned to Sydney. For many years he was engaged on the Parliamentary reporting staff of the Sydney Morning Herald.