This week, at a ceremony in its Perth office, Squire Patton Boggs is donating a collection of historical documents that, it says, shine a “fascinating light” on the legal and administrative history of Western Australia, dating back over 150 years.

The historical collection is being gifted to the Parliament of Western Australia, the State Library of Western Australia, and the Old Court House Law Museum, and includes numerous legal documents predominantly from the 1890s and 1900s, including several letter books relating to Perth City Council matters and Letters of Administration in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Also included, the firm noted, are items associated with Sir Luke Samuel Leake (1828-1886), a prominent merchant, public figure and first Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Council, whose pioneering family had migrated to Western Australia in 1829 and played an important role in the development of the original colony.

The diverse historical collection has passed down through the generations, dating back to the local roots of the firm, Squire Patton Boggs went on, “when Irish lawyers John Horgan and Frederick William Moorhead established the firm of Horgan and Moorhead in Perth in 1890 – Moorhead himself was appointed city solicitor to the Perth City Council in 1898”.

“In the following decades, the firm expanded, and its formal name changed as new partners joined, many of whom served in important public roles such as judges on the Supreme Court, commissioners of WA, and Attorney-General,” it said.

In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, the firm’s Perth managing partner, Tony Chong, said: “Our firm can trace its roots in Western Australia back to the late 19th century, enjoying a close association with the city of Perth and the Western Australia state government.”

“This diverse collection shines light on Western Australia’s rich history. We are proud to donate these artefacts so they are preserved for future generations.”

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Speaking about the collection, Chong continued, there are “hundreds of letters concerning distinguished officials and individuals and families who’ve shaped our state, legal opinions and court decisions, documents regarding the disputes and financial transactions of daily life, as well as important administrative records about public works, trade and industry”.

“There’s even a rare apprenticeship document relating to the Western Australian Goldfields in the 1890s. These special items reveal those close connections and highlight the various ways in which the legal community has contributed to our modern society,” he said.