VPRS 26 Blue Books and Accounts [1844-1849]; School Records for Aborigines in the Westernport and Melbourne Districts [1841-1843]

Full description

This series consists of a single volume which was used for two different purposes over time. It is likely that two smaller volumes were bound to form this record. The volume appears to have been rebound by the State Library of Victoria at some point after it originally received it from the Public Works Department in 1926.

Blue Books and Accounts (1844 - 1849)

These entries are found at the start of the volume and were used to probably compile the information pertaining to the work of the Chief Protector of Aborigines that was subsequently included in, presumably, the New South Wales "Blue Books" of civil service establishment and expenditure. (Refer to VPRS 943 for information about Victoria's Blue Books.)

Information recorded in these pages includes:

- a annual listing of the staff employed at the Chief Protector (identified in this volume as the Department of Aborigines)
- annual accounts of expenditure and estimates for the following year
- accounts and statistical information about the aboriginal establishments at Loddon River, Gouburn River, Mount Rouse and Loddon Station.

School Records (August 1841 - January 1843)

This portion of the volume begins from the rear of the volume. It is believed that the information recorded relates to schools for aborigines in the Westernport and Melbourne Districts at Nare Nare Warren and on the Merri Creek.

The format of the information presented changes over time. Between August 1841 and April 1842, information is recorded about school attendance. Students names are identified as well as the dates or classes attended. More detailed information is recorded between July and December 1842.

Also included are daily entries written between July 1842 and January 1843. These can include daily observations or an indication of the number of students who attended classes on the particular day.