No. 57.
Copy of a Despatch from the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley to Governor Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G.

I have the satisfaction of informing you that the Queen has been pleased to mark her sense of the success and ability with which you have administered the Government of New Zealand by appointing you, upon my recommendation, to the Government of Victoria, which is about to become vacant by the retirement of Viscount Canterbury on the expiration of his term of office. Her Majesty has also been pleased to approve of the appointment of the Right Hon. Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of South Australia, to be your successor in the Government of New Zealand. Lord Canterbury has expressed a wish to leave Melbourne on the 28th February, and I request you to make such arrangements as will enable you to enter upon the Government of Victoria as soon after that date as possible.