Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Perth

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Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Perth

• Community

The Western Australian Historical Society was founded in 1926 with the immediate objective of raising interest in the State’s forthcoming centenary. The young Society duly played a prominent role in the planning and conduct of the various public celebrations that marked the anniversary in 1929.
The society holds historical collections, including a library, photographic and museum collection. The items embraced by these records have been collected and managed by the Society since 1926 and include a wealth of information on many aspects of Western Australian history dating back to European settlement in 1826, with some going back even further.

Officer in charge: Chairman, Library Committee

Monographs, pamphlets, manuscripts, personal papers, letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, maps, photos and pictorial material relating to the geographical area of Western Australia from white contact to the present, concentrating on the period up to mid twentieth century.

The library collection includes:

• Private papers of individuals and organizations, documented and indexed
• Documents, including early letters, pamphlets and ephemera
• Newspaper cuttings, clipped currently and filed by subject
• Limited holdings of early newspapers, such as the Perth Gazette, the Inquirer and Western Mail
• Essays submitted for various competitions
• Books and journals
• Maps of Western Australian regions and towns, early subdivision maps and real estate posters
• Early Days, the annual scholarly publication of the Society

The society owns a collection of about 40,000 photographs some dating back to the introduction of photography in Western Australia in the 1850s. About 20,000 records have been digitised and can be accessed from the website.

Catalogues cover the Library, Museum, Photographs and Public Memorials collections. These catalogues have been made accessible via the website.
The online Photographs collection catalogue is not complete. If you cannot find an image you are looking for, please contact the Library.

Open Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm (except public holidays).

Library is free to members. Non-members are charged a fee to use the collections.

The public can visit the Library or use the Library Research Enquiry Form (see https://www.histwest.org.au/services/library).
General reference assistance and referral to paid researchers are available.

Fees are charged for copying of documents and images.