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Police gazettes provided information and instructions to members of the police force. You can expect the South Australian Police Gazettes to include the following information that will usually list names and sometimes private details, descriptions with photograph, addresses and/or occupations:

• apprehensions
• complainants
• illegal immigrants
• escapees and absconders from custody
• exemptions from the Aboriginal Act
• lost or stolen property
• deserting wives, families, etc
• deserting from military service
• deserting from merchant vessels
• gold buyer, hawker, marine store licences
• inquests
• missing friends
• persons suspected or wanted for a crime and warrants issued
• police promotion examination results and appointments
• prisoners tried at supreme and circuit courts
• prisoners discharged from gaols

An example of the type of material available:

INQUESTS 22 Jan 1947 p31
WOODSIDE.-16/1/47, on the body of VICTOR RALPH REED. Verdict:-"I find that the deceased was Victor Ralph Reed, aged 47 years, widower, late of Bordertown, shop assistant, of South Australia. I find that the deceased came by his death at Balhannah on the- 1st of January, 1947, from a compound fracture of the skull caused by him falling from the South-East train for Mount Gambier which left Adelaide that evening. The evidence does not disclose how the deceased came to fall from the train, but there is nothing to suggest that any other person was concerned in the matter. ' -(C.638.)

Gazettes are published by governments and their agencies as a means of communication to officials and the general public. As such they are useful, not only to monitor the actions of the government, but also as far as family historians are concerned, they are valuable primary source documents.

System Requirements: Any computer using Adobe (Acrobat) Reader 4 or later Adobe Reader 6 or later is recommended for CDs with searchable text