In 1909 the Assistant Under Secretary of State for the Colonies and Chief of the Dominion Department of the British Colonial Office, Sir Charles Prestwood Lucas K.C.M.G., C.B., accompanied by Mr A. A. Pearson, C.M.G. boarded the SS Wimmera in Auckland on Monday [9] August 1909 for Sydney where they arrived on Friday 13 August 1909.
Sir Charles Lucas was visiting Australia and New Zealand, and subsequently Fiji, as part of a mission to acquire personal knowledge of Australasian affairs and, in addition to the usual correspondence between the Colonial Office and the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, engage in personal dialogue and an exchange of ideas.
Sir Charles and Mr Pearson departed Tilbury on the 26th February aboard the P & O liner RMS Marmora and landed at Fremantle on Tuesday 30th March. They spent ten days in Western Australia before proceeding to South Australia for eight days, Tasmania for about eight days, Victoria about 20 days, New South Wales for about 29 days and Queensland for about 20 days.
SS Wimmera 