WEST AUSTRALIANA

Using the Western Australian Biographical Index its source, the Dictionary series was produced in five volumes, the first three of which were published in time for Western Australia’s sesquicentennial year of European settlement in 1979. The fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1985 and 1987.

The five volumes were entitled:

• Volume 1, Early Settlers 1829–1850 [Reprinted with Supplement, 1981]
• Volume 2, Bond 1850–1868 [Reprinted with Supplement, 1981]
• Volume 3, Free 1850–1868 [Reprinted with Supplement, 1981]
• Volume 4,  Part 1, A-K The Challenging Years 1869–1888 [1984]
• Volume 4, Part 2, L-Z The Challenging Years 1869–1888 [1985]
• Volume 5, The Golden Years 1829-1914 [1986]

Writer and historian Rica Erickson was the head compiler of the books and coordinator of the project which ran from the late 1960s to 1988. The editorial committee included Reg Appleyard, Geoffrey Bolton, Margaret Medcalf, Tom Stannage, Pamela Statham, and Sandra Taylor.

Few states in Australia have been in a position to undertake such a project due to a lack of records and other logistical issues. However the presence, and comprehensive holdings of the volumes of the Western Australia Post Office Directory (which commenced in 1893) have facilitated the checking of names and locations.

The volumes are held as basic reference items in the State Records Office, the J S Battye Library and many public libraries throughout the state.

Western Australia’s population in 1850 was approximately 5,000. In 1850, the first of approximately 9,600 convicts arrived and these continued until 1868. With a similar number of free settler arrivals during the convict period, the state’s population swelled nearly fivefold in less than 20 years. The discovery of gold in the Kalgoorlie area of Western Australia in the 1880s led to further significant population growth during that period. For these reasons, the first series was separated by the significant years of 1850, 1868 and 1888.

The combined series contain basic biographical details of over 20,000 individuals.

ISBN 1: 0855641983; 2: 0855641622; 3: 0855641630; 4/1: 0855642297; 4/2: 0855642319; 5: 0855642505

    SCARCE and DESIRABLE #160723

Note: Nearly 9 kgs in weight and oversized. Orders from overseas, or via Abebooks / Biblio will incur a significant additional shipping cost.

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