Australian Police Gazettes are a truly incredible resource for local, family and social historians. They were compiled to be distributed amongst the Police Force only, and therefore you’ll find that they contain details and information that cannot be found anywhere else.
They include court lists, lists of warrants issued, appointments and changes in the Police Service, lists of arrests and discharges (which include descriptions), escaped prisoners, and sometimes missing persons. Arson, convict records, deserters, highway robbery, horse and cattle theft, inquests, licences, lost and found items, murder are also mentioned. Notices from Police Gazettes from other states are also often included.
You’ll find that they provide details on the crime, the victim and the suspect, aliases used, ages, race, native place, address as well as physical descriptions, details of sentences, and more.
Archive Digital Books Australasia has digitised hundreds of volumes of police gazettes from the original books dating from 1855 through until 1947.
For more about Police Gazettes take a look at this article on Government and Police Gazettes. There are several webpages containing sample files from the Police gazettes here.
The giveaway …
Thanks to Archive Digital Books Australasia, we have one Australian Police Gazette collection set on USB to giveaway which is valued at $249.50. The winner can choose which state set they’d like. Those available are:
– New South Wales Police Gazettes Collection 1862-1938
– Queensland Police Gazettes Collection 1864-1945
– South Australian Police Gazettes Collection 1862-1947
– Tasmania Police Gazettes Collection 1861-1933
– Victoria Police Gazettes Collection 1955-1924
To enter …
You firstly need to enter your name and email, or sign in with Facebook. Once you’ve done that there are four ways you can enter. You can subscribe to our blog, you can tweet about the giveaway, you can pin it on Pinterest, or follow us on Pinterest. Each option is one entry.
The rules …
The competition is open for 1 week (from 25 October 2018 to 31 October 2018), it’s open to anyone around the world and you can enter as many times as you like.
Winner …
The winner will be drawn at random and will be notified by email and announced on social media.
