Public Record Office Victoria
 
Series VPRS 3524
Criminal Trial Brief Register II
About this Series Related Series Accessing the records in this Series
Date Range: Series 1892 - 1961
  Series in Custody 1892 - 1982
  Contents 1892 - 1961
Public Access: Part Open
Location: Other
Format of Records: Physical
 
Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1892 - 1961 Office of the Victorian Government Solicitor (previously known as the Office of the Crown Solicitor) VA 667
Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1983 - cont Office of Public Prosecutions (Known as Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1983-1995) VA 2550
Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series
  • How to use the Records
    Researchers should use the microfiche copy of the registers (P1 consignment). These are available in PROV Reading Rooms and do not require ordering.

    The microfiche are arranged chronologically. Within each year the first fiche is an alphabetical index of names of defendants.

    Period 1892 to 1914: Consult the index for the year you require and note the number of the page on which details of the registration of the case are recorded. Consult that page in the register and note the case number of the defendants trial brief. Finally consult the Records Description List in the Consignments tab for VPRS 30 to find the unit which contains the trial brief.

    Period 1915 to 1961: Consult the index for the year you require and note the case number for the defendant you are looking for. Then consult the Records Description List in the Consignments tab for VPRS 30 to find the unit which contains the trial brief.

  • Function / Content
    These registers were created to control the criminal trial briefs in VPRS 30 for the period 1892 - 1961.

    Entries in each register record the case number, prisoner's number, prisoner's name, date of trial, offence(s), verdict, and sentence. The "Prisoner's Number" column is not used.

  • Recordkeeping System
    From 1892 criminal trial briefs in VPRS 30 were were controlled by an annual single number. The number for each brief was allocated upon receipt of the original depositions after the committal. Under this system, each file is numbered sequentially within each year: thus the first received in 1892 is numbered 1892/1.

    An alphabetical index appears at the front of each volume. Prior to 1914 each case is indexed by the name of the defendant and the page number in the volume where the defendant's case is registered. After 1914 an indexing modification was introduced whereby each case was indexed by defendant's name, page number (far right column) and also the case number (far left column).

    Each register is then divided into sections reflecting different court locations. Each section shows the criminal trial cases heard in a particular court of each session in the year. Cases heard at Melbourne General Sessions Court and Melbourne Supreme Court are at the front of the registers followed by the Country Courts. However, the annual single number applies across all sections regardless of different locations.

    Each criminal case has been given an annual single registration number. This number appears in the "No. of Case" column. Note that cases not heard in a particular year were re-numbered at the start of the next year.

    The use of bound registers was discontinued in 1962 in favour of a card register (VPRS 8086) arranged in file number order.

    A card index arranged alphabetically by surname of the accused was also created at this time but was discarded at the end of 1987 when a computer system was introduced. As at January 1994, this card index is in the custody of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

    Microfiche Copies

    For preservation reasons the registers were microfilmed in 1982. The P1 consignment contains the reference copies of the microfiche. The P2 consignment contains the master copy.

    The microfiche copies were reprocessed from VPRS 4109 into this series in 1998 and VPRS 4109 was cancelled.
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Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
Controlled SeriesControlled Series
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
1892 - 1961 Criminal Trial Briefs VPRS 30
Previous SeriesPrevious Series
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Transfer Date Series Title Series Number
- 1892 Criminal Trial Brief Register I VPRS 3523
Subsequent SeriesSubsequent Series
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Transfer Date Series Title Series Number
- 1962 Card Register to Criminal Trial Briefs VPRS 8086
List/s of records in this seriesList/s of records in this series
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Consignment Number Contents Date Range Public Access No. of Units
P0000 1892 - 1961 Part Open 69
P0001 1892 - 1961 Part Open 69
P0002 1892 - 1961 Closed 69
Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
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