Message by Edward Cardwell - Secretary of State for the Colonies (1864–1866). Ref: Frontier Wars.

This brief, scrawled note is a remarkable piece of high-stakes political choreography from the mid-Victorian era. It is an original Cabinet minute written and initialed by Edward Cardwell during his tenure as Secretary of State for the Colonies (1864–1866).

The note directly references an explosive mid-19th-century colonial conflict and the deliberate, calculated orchestration of a "Blue Book" (official parliamentary papers) to shape British public opinion.

The Transcription:

The last Paper from Searle speaking of the

excellent conduct of the Volunteers, &

our success, ought to be furnished by F.O.

into the Raid Papers.

— E.C.

Below the mounted note, an archivist or collector has pencilled an identifying inscription: "The Right Hon’ble Mr Cardwell. Then Secretary of State for the Colonial Department."

The Historical Context: The "Raid Papers" & Frontier Warfare

The content of this minute refers to the mid-1860s, a period when the British Empire was desperate to minimize military expenditure while dealing with escalating frontier conflicts. Two major clues lock in the fascinating history of this scrap of paper:

"The Raid Papers"

In Victorian parliamentary language, "the Raid Papers" refers to official correspondence laid before Parliament regarding cross-border incursions, cattle-raiding, and retaliatory commandos. Given Cardwell's tenure as Colonial Secretary, this strongly points to the escalating Basotho-Boer Wars and the volatile frontiers of South Africa (or, alternatively, the contemporaneous cross-border Maori raids in the New Zealand Wars, where local European volunteer units were heavily utilized).

During these conflicts, the British government was deeply anxious about being dragged into expensive, full-scale imperial wars to protect frontier settlers.

The Politics of "The Volunteers"

Cardwell’s note reveals the inner mechanics of colonial propaganda. He highlights a dispatch from an official named Searle, which specifically praises the "excellent conduct of the Volunteers, & our success."

This was music to Cardwell's ears. As a reformer who famously loathed spending British taxpayers' money on standing imperial garrisons to fight colonial frontier wars, Cardwell wanted to prove to Parliament that local volunteer forces (colonial militias) were perfectly capable of handling their own defence and cross-border "raids."

By commanding that the Foreign Office ("F.O.") ensure this specific paper be integrated into the official published bundle, Cardwell was intentionally crafting a narrative for the British public and Parliament: Look, the local volunteers are succeeding, and the home government does not need to dispatch regular British regiments.

The Archival Significance

Minutes like this are incredibly rare because they were internal, working government documents—often scribbled on scraps of paper, passed between cabinet ministers (in this case, from the Colonial Office to the Foreign Office), and usually discarded once the official Parliamentary Blue Book was printed. This survivor offers a raw glimpse into how a Victorian statesman curated the intelligence that the public was allowed to see.

182mm x 130mm

Laid down onto card.

R1,250