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Series VPRS 6757
Index Books to State Ward Registers
About this Series Related Series Accessing the records in this Series
Date Range: Series 1864 - 1910
  Series in Custody 1864 - 1868
  Contents 1864 - 1868
Public Access: Open
Location: North Melbourne
Format of Records: Physical
 
Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1864 - 1887 Department of Industrial and Reformatory Schools VA 1466
1887 - 1910 Children's Welfare Department (previously Department for Neglected Children), Chief Secretary's Department VA 1467
Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1985 - 1992 Department of Community Services (also known as Community Services Victoria) VA 2633
Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series
  • How to use the Records
    System of Arrangement/Control

    Series : Alphabetical by surname of ward.

    Range Control Symbols

    Series in Custody : Allan John - Zeigher Humbolt
    1 - C5,500


    Prior to the establishment of the Department of Industrial and reformatory Schools in 1864, "neglected children were care for by charitable and voluntary organizations. Children charged under the Vagrancy Act had been accommodated at the Immigrants home in Melbourne.

    Under the Neglected and Criminal Children's Act 1864, a Department was established to care for deprived and delinquent children. Children were made Wards of State by the Courts and then their future was a matter for the Department. Some children were accommodated in Industrial Schools and after the Royal Commission of 1872 and the 1874 Neglected and Criminal Children's Amendment Act, some were "boarded out". Allowances were paid to families to provide for the children.

    The index Books control VPRS 4527 Ward Registers. The Ward Registers record the personal details of the children and details about their admission to care, placements and discharge.

    The Index Books are arranged alphabetically and record the child's surname and first name and the wardship number given to him/her on admission to care. Some children were admitted several times and in the early years these children were given a new number for each admission. In later years the children retained their original number. In the Index Books these are referred to as Registered Numbers. Under a heading "Entries", the Index Books record the volume and page number of the Ward Register in which details of the child are recorded. Where children were assigned a second or third registered number on being readmitted to care, there are references to the second or third Ward Register in which the details are to be found. Entries in the Wardship Registers are cross-referenced.

    As at February 1987, Volume 3 of VPRS 6757 and the subsequent Birthday of Term Expiry Books and the card index to the Wardship Files are held by the Department of Community Services at 55 Swanston Street Melbourne. Volume 2 of the series is missing. Volume 1 came to the Public Record Office as a estray.

  • Function / Content


  • Recordkeeping System
More research resourcesMore research resources
    PROVguide060 Adoption, Wardship and Related Records
Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Controlled SeriesControlled Series
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Previous SeriesPrevious Series
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Subsequent SeriesSubsequent Series
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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
P0001 1864 - Circa 1868 Open 1
Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
More research resourcesMore research resources
    PROVguide060 Adoption, Wardship and Related Records

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