What is a Police Gazette?
Compiled to be distributed amongst the Police Force only, Police Gazettes
contain details and information that can not be found anywhere else. Produced at
regular intervals (usually once a week), it was a way of making information
available to all in the Police Force throughout the whole state.
What information can be found in a Victoria Police Gazette?
The information contained the Police Gazettes does vary a little from year
to year, but overall you will find details of court lists, lists of warrants
issued, appointments and changes in the Police Service, lists of arrests and
discharges and descriptions, inquest verdicts, lost or stolen items, missing
stock animals, escaped prisoners and missing persons. Notices from Police
Gazettes from other states are also often included if it was felt that the
person in question might be heading to that state.
How can this help me?
All genealogists have those 'lost' family members? You may well find them
listed here, being on the wrong side of the law. Or maybe they were a Policeman
who transferred to another department or division. You can find the physical
details on persons listed here, missing, wanted or released, which helps to
paint a picture of them (name, aliases used, age, height, colour hair, colour
eyes, distinguishing features, colour clothing worn).
Far from being just a unique and extremely fascinating resource for local,
family and social historians - they are useful for anyone with an interest in
Victoria is the 1890s.
Example entry taken from the 2 March 1892 issue
Miscellaneous
Elizabeth Jane Lucas is charged, on warrant issued at the instance of Frances
Mary Lucas, Numurkah, with vagrancy, on the 23rd inst. Descriptions:-
Victorian, 14 years of age, looks 17 or 18 round features, face slightly
freckled, pouting lips, fairly good looking, brown hair, marks of an old cut
near left elbow, slovenly walk, as if not used to long dresses; wore a while
muslin dress, flowered and trimmed with white lace. Left in Melbourne train
on the 19th inst. - O.1776 - 25th February, 1892.
High quality scanned images of the whole years worth of issues. This CD has been bookmarked for easy navigation, and pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.
