Albany Public Library helps 19th century Williams police record book to new home at State Records Office

An expert in Albany’s history has urged people to think about the potentially valuable information that could be contained within old books, ledgers and diaries after the delivery of a 19th century book of police records to State archives. Albany Public Library local history coordinator Sue Lefroy travelled to Perth with Williams’ Heather Rose to hand over a Williams Police Occurrence Book (1879-1881) to the State Records Office earlier this month. Ms Lefroy, who grew up in Williams, said she was excited when she learnt about the book’s existence from Ms Rose. “An 1879 record is extremely valuable in terms of its age and contents obviously in terms of the development of the Great Southern, from Williams down to Albany and back up to the Swan River Colony,” she said. “My comment was that it is a public record so it does need to go back to the State Records Office because its not someone’s to own.” The Albany library’s book eye scanner was able to digitise the book, which a volunteer then spent 12 months painstakingly transcribing. Ms Lefroy said the book was valuable because it contained information about locations, people and occupations, which gave “us a sense of place and sense of time”. “It was a fascinating read, and I did have to laugh because the volunteer I had transcribing it was really bereft when she came to the last page,” she said. “She wanted to know what happened next.” She said public records, such as the Williams book, could easily end up “on a wardrobe or under a bed” before “all of a sudden they are discovered”. She said if anyone stumbled across something like it they should make an effort to get it to the State Records Office. “Get it back into State Records because it gives it some exposure, we know that these records exist and they tell us about a record of time and our past,” she said. “They are incredibly important documents.” Ms Lefroy said records in private archives were also important accounts of places and times which could provide vital insight. She said digital technologies could allow private ownership of the original documents to be maintained by families while the information contained within in them could be shared. “If they are fragile documents and it’s local history let me know,” she said. “It could be a farm diary, a diary of everyday life in Albany, it doesn’t matter how mundane the content might seem, you never know what it could mean to someone.”