Victoria Police Gazette - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Victoria Police Gazette commenced in December 1853 and was initially published weekly

Weekly newspaper

A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...

by the Victoria Police

Victoria Police

Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...

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Originally the Gazettes for each state were not available to the public, but were produced for informing members of the police force and government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

officials. Today archival copies are a resource for historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s because the Gazette provides early records detailing names members of the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

and the police force, lists deserters from merchant ships, the armed forces and of wives and children. It also provides details of victims and felons, the names absconded convict

Convict

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...

s from Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

and New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, along with reports of serious crime from South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

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Another section in the Gazettes was one headed 'Missing Friends'. Most people listed thereunder were not criminals, but were merely sought by police so that relatives, old friends, or government officials could renew contact with them.

In the case of the deserters of wives and children, the Victoria Police Gazette would list (where known) the name of the offender, their place of birth, age, occupation, the area in which they had been living, their possible future movements and known relatives. In some cases the deserted person was also named.

It included entries that covered:

People wanted for questioning in relation to various other crimes.
Prisoners discharged from either city or country gaols.
Extracts from Police Gazettes in New South Wales, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Tasmania, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and occasionally, overseas countries.
Extracts from the Hobart Town Gazette of escaped convicts and the name of the person to whom they were assigned.

Legislative origin

The Legislative Council of Victoria passed an Act on the 8 January 1853, for the regulation of the police force. At the time there were seven distinct police bodies in Victoria, each acting independently: the Melbourne and County of Bourke Police; the City of Geelong Police; the Goldfields Police; the Gold Escort; the Water Police; the Rural Bench Constabulary; and the Mounted Police.

In December of that year, the Victoria Police Gazette started as an official means of pooling information among these newly uniformed bodies.

Legislative origin

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