Record series
Photographs and Negatives of Government Buildings
VPRS 10516
1926 - 1965
Not set, Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Public Works Department (previously the Department of the Commissioner of Public Works) ( VA669 ): 1926 - 1965
Agencies responsible for this record series: Department of Infrastructure ( VA 3971 ): 1996 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1926 - 1965
Series in custody:
1926 - 1965
Contents in custody:
1926 - 1965
Function / Content
This series consists of photographic negatives and prints created by the Department of Public Works (VA 669). This Department had wide-ranging responsibilities for all public works and buildings, including construction, maintenance and fitting out of these buildings This series encompasses black and white prints, film, glass plate and transparency negatives and depicts Victorian and selected interstate public buildings. The majority of images in this series are of State primary, secondary and tertiary schools and public hospitals. Images of courts, police stations and Parliament House are also included.The purpose of the creation of the images in this series is unclear. It is possible that the photographs were taken to document works designed and constructed by the Department as many of the images appear to have been taken shortly after construction had been completed. The series also includes images of public buildings in other Australian States. The reason for this is subject to further research.
The series encompasses three distinct record keeping systems which were maintained by the Department within a sequence of filing cabinets. During 2004/2005, the records were processed by PROV into the current five consignments which are listed below in consignment details.
The major recordkeeping system comprises the P1-P3 consignments and consists of prints displayed on boards, corresponding negatives and duplicate prints. The P1 consignment consists of negatives of images of government buildings. The P2 consignment consists of duplicate prints of these negatives. Every print in the P2 consignment is off a negative in the P1 consignment, but not every P1 consignment negative is represented by a P2 duplicate print.
The P3 consignment consists of prints of all the negatives in consignment P1. The prints are arranged on A4 sheets of cardboard, and most likely was used by the Department as a visual reference to the negatives.
The final two systems consist of separate alphabetically arranged sequences in which negatives and prints were maintained together. The P4 consignment consists mainly of prints which do not have corresponding negatives in the P1 consignment. Some of these prints are of plans for government buildings. The existence of negatives for the majority of prints in the P4 consignment is currently unknown except for a small number that were kept with the prints in this consignment.
The P5 consignment consists of negatives and prints which do not appear in any other consignment. Most of the negatives are unprocessed or of plans. Some of the prints show renovations of government buildings while other show the buildings in use (that is, the photographs may contain unidentified people as well as the building).
Some of the prints and negatives in this series have notes, including dates, annotated on either the back of the print, on the frame of the negative or on the storage envelope.
A number of note in the P5 consignment include the date of 1965, the latest identified date. The earliest date note is 1948, but one photo in P3 depicts the construction of the Emily McPherson School of Domestic Economy in 1926.
How to use the records
Researchers should only refer to consignments P3, P4 and P5 in consignment details below.The P3 consignment contains prints laid out on boards of all the negatives in the P1 consignment and duplicate prints in the P2 consignment.
The P4 and P5 consignments contain prints that are not duplicated in consignments P1 to P3.
Using consignment details below, researchers should consult the P3, P4 and P5 consignments to identify images of interest. Images in these consignments are arranged alphabetically by location within each consignment.
Recordkeeping system
All of the records in this series were transferred to PROV within three four-drawer filing cabinets. The separation of records into the P1 - P5 consignments reflects the arrangement of the records in the cabinets. The boards in the the P3 consignment were maintained within suspenion folders within 6 drawers whilst the remaining records, housed largely in an envelope per building, were maintained in index card drawers placed within the cabinet drawers. Each envelope was individually labelled with the name of the building and the number of prints, duplicate prints or negatives housed within it.Prior to reprocessing of the records into the P1-P5 consignments, researchers at PROV had access to the filing cabinets. The order of consignments and the order of records within consignments reflects the arrangement within these cabinets.
Each consignment is in its original sequence. They are each sorted alphabetically by location and then building name (e.g. Avenel High School; Melbourne- Parliament House).
