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Ephemera

Members of the Enrolled Guard at Fremantle
Members of the Enrolled Guard Fremantle

Ephemera, which are the minor transient documents of everyday life, such as pamphlets, leaflets, brochures etc, can be useful sources of information for family history research. Such items can add an extra dimension and help provide a more complete and detailed picture of a person or family than would otherwise be possible. Items catalogued as ephemera have been allotted the prefix PR - for Printed Reference.

As an example, the Wesleyan Methodist Preachers' plan for the Kalgoorlie circuit 1900 (one page printed both sides - PR 8679/KAL-BOU/REL) contains almost fifty names of members of the congregation and the positions they held within the church organisation.

Where possible ephemera are organised into groups, the common factors being either the issuing body, subject or form. The following ephemera collections and items may all be useful for family history research. Also profitable would be a check of the online catalogue (where one can locate references to ephemera) for material relating to specific organisations, schools, interest groups and government agencies.

PR558: Henn's Genealogical Notes
These are notes on the main Western Australian pioneer families compiled by Canon P.U. Henn in the 1930s. They were edited and typed by the staff of the Battye Library in 1973. The notes can contain inaccuracies.

PR2640 : Cemetery Listings
These are typescript listings of cemetery headstones and can be used in conjunction with FamilyHistoryWA (the Western Australian Genealogical Society) Cemeteries Indexes.

PR4647 : Personal Columns
Cuttings from the "Personal" column of the West Australian newspaper, 1931-1952, mounted in 18 volumes and arranged alphabetically in each volume. The personal column during this period was made up of single paragraph items of social news, arrivals and departures of eminent visitors, brief obituaries, etc.

PR7658 : Enrolled Pensioner Force
List of members of the Enrolled Pensioner Force at Perth and Fremantle taken on 31 March 1887.

PR8679 : Localities
These are files arranged alphabetically by locality name containing sometimes extensive information about church groups, schools, local businesses, community organisations, social and sporting activities, buildings etc.

PR8680 : Federal Election Material
Collection of material produced at times of Federal elections. May contain information on candidates at those elections.

PR8783 : State Election Material
Collection of material produced at times of State elections. May contain information on candidates at those elections.

PR8818 : Ships Files
Information on ships with a Western Australian connection, both river and sea. May contain information about people connected with the ships.

PR8894 : CWA Pioneer Women's Memorial Fund
Series of nine volumes of photocopied cards compiled by the Country Women's Association Pioneer Women's Memorial Fund. The cards provide brief biographies of many country women pioneers. They have been indexed into the General Index cards that may be accessed on the 3rd floor of the State Library building.

PR10587 : List of convicts who are supposed to have escaped from the Colony
An 1880 poster produced by the government containing the names of 83 convicts who were supposed to have escaped from Western Australia – a physical description of each convict is given.

PR10914 : Art Exhibition Catalogues
Collection of art exhibition catalogues. Sometimes biographical information is provided about the artist.

PR11260 : Local Government Election Material
Collection of material produced at times of Local Government elections. May contain information on candidates at those elections.

PR11263 : Real Estate Advertisements
Collection of real estate advertisements produced at the time of selling a property or house. They may include a history of the house or property and information on the owners.

PR12371 : Guildford Marriages
Transcription by Graham Bown of Guildford marriages (St Matthews Anglican Church) 1884-1897.

PR12372 : Geraldton Marriages
Transcription by Graham Bown of Geraldton marriages (Anglican) 1867-1895.

PR14514 : Biographical Information
Collection of family trees, reminiscences, biographical and other material arranged alphabetically by surname. A listing of people with biographical information can be found online.

PR14522 : Local Government Material
Collection of files arranged alphabetically by local government area name containing information about the councils and their activities. May contain information about councilors.

PR14528 : Business and Firm Files
Collection of files containing information on firms and businesses whose operations are statewide. Names of people associated with these firms and businesses may be given.

PR14583: Return of convicts who have escaped from the colony
An 1859 poster produced by the government containing the names of 25 convicts who absconded from Western Australia from 1 June 1850 and 31 June 1859 – a physical description of each convict is given.