The Commissioner of Pensions has forwarded me the following memorandum for advice:

A.B.C. of Latrobe, Tasmania, a claimant for an old-age pension, was born in the United States of America on 3 June 1854, and resided there until 1882, when he came to Australia as a member of the crew of the Harvard, apparently an American vessel. He has resided in Australia continuously since November 1882, with the exception of a period of 16 months during 1900-1901, when he served in the South African War as a member of an Australian contingent.

2. Mr C. claims to be a British subject by virtue of the fact that his father was a natural-born British subject (born in England of English parents) and never became an American citizen, and by virtue of his 40 years' residence in Australia and the fact that he took the oath of loyalty to the Queen when he joined the Volunteers in 1892 and again when he joined the South African contingent in 1900. He states that during the American Civil War in 1861 his father claimed protection as a British subject.
3. Your attention is invited to the attached letter from the American Consul-General at Melbourne, who is of opinion that claimant can be considered to be the citizen of no other country than the United States. I may say that there is no evidence to show that Mr C. made any claim to British nationality from the time he attained the age of 21 years up to the time he left the United States at the age of 28 years.
4. Will you kindly favour me with advice as to whether claimant may be deemed to be a nautral-born British subject.

According to British law the child of a British subject born in a foreign country is a natural-born British subject.

The questions to be determined are whether the claimant's father either at the time of the claimant's birth or before he attained the age of 21 became an American and whether the claimant himself, after attaining the age of 21, acquired American nationality.

Beyond Mr C.'s own statements there is no evidence to enable the above questions to be decided.

It is suggested that it might be ascertained whether Mr C. is enrolled as a Commonwealth or State elector.

If such is the case, that fact would afford some evidence that he had previously claimed British nationality, and might, together with all the circumstances of the case, be taken into consideration for the purpose of deciding his claim under the Invalid and Old-age Pensions Act.

[Vol. 19, p. 223]