31 December 2018
Every year on the 1st of January hundreds of state archives are made public as part of Public Record Office Victoria’s annual Section 9 record openings. Under Section 9 of the Public Records Act 1973 files of a personal or private nature are closed to prevent the violation of personal privacy.
These historic records, which as of 1 January have passed their assigned closure period, are of particular interest to family historians waiting on files that mention members of their family tree.
Among the files made public for the first time this year are 1942-43 capital case files. Capital cases relate to those criminal trials where a sentence of death was given. This year the Victorian Government copy of the trial of “Brownout Strangler” Eddie Leonski is included (there is also a copy held on open access with the National Archives in Canberra.) Six months after Leonski was executed at Pentridge, two other men narrowly escaped their death sentences for murder, Norman Morris Searle and Charles Mills - their files sit beside Leonski’s as part of this year’s openings.
Also among the openings are mental health records, divorce cases, prison registers and other criminal case files of 1943, including an infamous Brighton murder that took place outside the old Coffee Palace, as well as Victorian Railway Records of 1962-63. Director and Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, says that the records will help researchers, historians, writers and genealogists paint a fuller picture of Melbourne during those periods.
“These historic records will be invaluable to researchers as they provide not only information about individuals but also a glimpse into the time in which they were written. For instance if your ancestor spent time in an asylum in the 1940s, you can get a sense of what that experience may have been like by looking through some of these records.”
A broad guide to time periods for closure under Section 9 is as follows:
• Records primarily concerning adults may be closed for 75 years from the year in which the records were created.
• Records concerning children as the primary subject may be closed for 99 years.
• Records such as staff records where the individuals concerned may still be in the workforce may be closed for a lesser period such as 30, 40, or 50 years as appropriate.
See below for the full list of records opened on 1 January 2019. More information on some of the stories contained within these files can be found on our blog after the 1st, here: https://prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-blog
For more information contact Tara Oldfield, Communications Officer, on 0418 698 364.
Full list of opened records
|
Record Title |
Date Range |
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Criminal Trial Briefs |
1943 |
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Capital Case Files |
1941-1943 |
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Inward Registered Correspondence, Attorney General’s Department |
1942 - 1943 |
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Divorce Case Files, Melbourne |
1942 - 1943 |
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Central Register of Male Prisoners |
1942 - 1943 |
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Divorce Case Files, Ballarat |
1943 |
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Capital Sentence Files |
1943 |
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Wages Records, Country Roads Board |
1942 - 1943 |
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Children’s Court Register, Castlemaine Courts |
1915 - 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Richmond Courts |
Jun 1917 - Mar 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Prahran Courts |
Apr 1917 - Dec 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Fitzroy |
May 1917 - Feb 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Geelong |
Jul 1918 - Sept 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Collingwood |
1907 - May 1919 |
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Children’s Court Register, Heidelberg |
Sept 1915 - Sept 1919 |
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Minute Books, Pharmacy Board of Victoria |
1965 - 1968 |
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Civil Construction Corps Wage Records |
1942 - 1943 |
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Criminal Trial Brief Register II |
1943 |
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Master Patient Index Cards, Alfred Hospital |
1941 - 1943 |
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Ward Registers |
1918 - 1919 |
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List of Prisoners, Pentridge Gaol |
Nov 1928 - Jun 1943 |
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Divorce Cause Books |
May 1942 - Dec 1943 |
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Head Attendant’s Daily Report Books, Male Department, Kew Mental Hospital |
Dec 1941 - Jan 1943 |
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Clinical Notes of Male Patients, Kew Cottages |
26 Jul 1912 - 10 Nov 1919 |
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Asylum Records, Pleasant View |
Jul 1940 - May 1943 |
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Head Nurse’s Daily Report Book, Female Wards, Kew Mental Hospital |
1941 - Jan 1943 |
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Bound Circulated Photographs and Criminal Offences of Convicted Persons |
Oct 1942 - Apr 1943 |
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Admission Warrants, Female Patients, Sunbury Mental Hospital |
May 1941 - Mar 1943 |
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General Subject Files, Education Department |
1978 - 1988 |
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Presentments, Supreme Court of Victoria |
1942 - 1943 |
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Register of Prisoners Received and Discharged, J Division, Pentridge |
Aug 1939 - Jun 1943 |
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Professional Officers’ Cards, Teachers Tribunal |
1946 - 1968 |
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Tramway Employees Record Cards |
1962 - 1963 |
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Correspondence with Union regarding industrial issues, Victorian Railways |
1962 - 1963 |
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Accident Compensation Claim Register, Claims Branch, Victorian Railways |
1962 - 1963 |
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Accident Compensation Claim Book, Victorian Railways |
1961 - 1963 |
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Classified Technical Teachers Record Books, Education Department |
1961 - 1968 |
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Examination Results, Swinburne Technical College |
1940 - 1943 |
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Minutes, Country Roads Board |
1968 |
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Board Minutes and Papers, Dental Board of Victoria |
1967 - Sept 1968 |
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Register of Applicants for Nursing and Other Positions, Royal Children’s Hospital |
Apr 1959 - Jan 1968 |
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Criminal Presentments and Final Orders, Court of General Sessions Melbourne |
1942 - Oct 1943 |
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Admission and Discharge Register of Patients, Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital |
Jul 1918 - Dec 1919 |
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Admission and Discharge Day Book, Salvation Army, The Haven |
Dec 1907 - Oct 1919 |
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Infant Life Protection Register – Applications to Board Out Infants – State Ward and Non-Ward, Children’s Welfare Department |
Apr 1910 - Jun 1919 |
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Admission and Discharge Register of Patients, Voluntary Boarders, Mont Park Mental Hospital |
Mar 1939 - Mar 1943 |
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Observation Ward Report Books, Male Patients, Beechworth Mental Hospital |
Feb 1942 - Mar 1943 |
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Note: Due to ongoing work on our digital archive, these records will not be available to order via our online catalogue until later in 2019. In the meantime researchers can order and view these records in our Reading Room by contacting us through our website.
