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Brief Guide 19: records for local historyIntroduction The Archives Office houses the Tasmanian government’s archives for both State and local government. When researching a particular locality, the first step should be to determine what dealings the government of the day may have had with an area. You then need to consider which government organisation would be likely to have carried out the relevant government function. A complete listing of all records held can be found using the search facility in Tasmanian Archives Online. Preliminary use of the sources below can help you better identify possible government organisations and record series that may assist you in your research.
The Archives Office also holds some private records including church records, family papers and records of a local businesses and community organisations some of which maybe relevant to the area being researched Colonial Secretary’s Office/Chief Secretary’s Office For a detailed description of the records of the Colonial Secretary’s Office you should consult the Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania Section 1 Colonial Secretary’s Office Record Group. These records are the major source for any research into the early history of Tasmania. The records begin in 1824. The organisation became the Chief Secretary’s Office, later Department, in 1856 and continued its wide-ranging functions, which makes its records a useful source for almost any research topic Lands The records of the former Lands and Surveys Department document the alienation of Crown land from the days of free grants to modern times. There is a wealth of untapped information among our very extensive holdings of this agency’s records which have to this point been little used for the period past 1860 Records of the Lands and Surveys Department can be used often in conjunction with those of the former Agricultural Bank and the Closer Settlement Board. It should be noted the early maps of Tasmania are still held by the Agency. The Archives Office has a card index to maps which does include references to the maps still in the agency and others which are held by the Archives Office Local Authorities Records of most interest to local historians are of those of the Municipal and City Councils and the former Town, Health and School Boards, Cemetery and Road Trusts. Education Information on the opening of schools will be found in the records of the Education Department and the Office has extensive holdings of records from the various state schools in Tasmania. The Inspectors reports are a good source for those writing a history of a school. There are also reports on some non government schools. Plans of school buildings will be found in the sequence of plans of public buildings we hold from the former Department of Construction Public Works Information on the construction of government buildings, roads, railways and bridges will be found in the records of the former Public Works Department. We hold all the plans of government buildings which were erected or maintained by that Department. The plans relating to railways are held by the Hobart Office of the National Archives of Australia Mining Mines Department records include general correspondence, letterbooks, registers of mining, gold – mining and mineral leases, registers of mining companies and applications for water rights Railways For records relating to those employed in the Railways see Brief Guide. There are records for some of the Royal Commissions that were held at different times to look at different aspects of the Department or a particular line – for example Royal Commission into the Main Line Railway 1867 – 1868 and the Royal Commission into Railways 1920. Among the records of the Tasmanian Government Railways is an extensive series of correspondence from 1910, records of freight carried on particular lines and a register of railway accidents 1910 – 1976. In 1938 regulation and control of all forms of transport in Tasmania passed to the Transport Commission. The former Public Works Department was responsible for the construction and maintenance of the railways and relevant records will be found here. Records relating to the survey and acquisition of land for railway purposes will be found among the records of the former Lands and Surveys Department. Among the non – government records held by the Archives Office are the records of the Emu Bay and Mt Bischoff Railway Company Agriculture, Forestry and the Hydro-Electric Commission Prior to the establishment of the Department of Agriculture in 1898 there were regional Boards established to promote agriculture in the Districts - see for example TA 504 Clarence Board of Agriculture. The various records held for the former Departments of Agriculture. Forestry and the Hydro Electric Department will be of interest if these agencies were active in the areas being researched. Maritime The records of the various Marine Boards, the Customs Department and Treasury will be of interest for information on topics such as lighthouses, shipping including registrations which will give detail of ships built in an area and shipwrecks National Parks and Tourism. Information on the National Parks will be found in the records of the Scenery Preservation Boards and the local Parks Boards and later records will be found among the records of the former National Parks and Wildlife Service. The promotion of Tourism in the State was started by private organisations. The Tasmanian Tourist Association, in Hobart, whose records are now held by the Archives Office and the Northern Tasmanian Tourist Association, based in Launceston, were taken over by the Government when the Tasmanian Government and Information Bureau was established in 1913. This Agency was controlled by the Tasmanian Government Railways and information will be found in the early correspondence files of that agency Courts and Police For details of local happenings in an area a read of the local Police Crime and Occurrence books or the local court Record books can be quite revealing. Photographs and films The Archives Office has an extensive photographic collection which is indexed on cards in the search room. The photos have come from both private sources and Government Agencies such as the Tasmanian Agent General and the Education Department. Work has commenced on scanning our holdings and a small proportion have already been loaded on the Archives website. Like the photographs our film holdings have also come from private sources and Government Agencies notably the former Tasmanian Government film unit and the Tourism Department. An index to our film holdings is on the website. |
