State Records Office Visit

Last week, our Local History Coordinator, Sue, met with the State Records Office in Perth to return a 'missing' Williams Police Occurrence Book (1879-1881). It is a significant public record, being the second in a complete series of early Williams Police Occurrence Books held at SRO.

The existence of the book was made known to the Albany History Collection by Williams resident, Heather Rose. Heather had come upon the item which had been held in a private collection. The valuable record was stored in secure, climate-controlled conditions while it was digitised, using specialised in-house equipment.

The electronic scans were then transcribed by a volunteer, resulting in a searchable document that gives enormous insight into the early history of our State, particularly the Great Southern. Williams, one of several Stations on the old Perth Road was an important link on the Perth to Albany mail route.