The Inward Correspondence of the Colonial Secretary's Office between 1829 and 1878 was arranged in 2 basic ways.

 

The first of these, covering the period 1828 - 1838, contains many letters from private individuals, as well as Government officials; and contains a number of proclamations and instructions relating to the administration and structure of the Swan River Colony. Most forms are handwritten.

 

The correspondence is arranged chronologically by the date of the document, except with some overseas correspondence, which is inserted with related material. Letters are registered by date of receipt. An A number relates to the Inward register, a B to letters forwarded.

The C.S.O. records have been filmed onto 16mm film in chronological order and have been entered under Accession 36 in the State Records of Western Australia.

​

In most volumes, every second page was given a consecutive number known as a Folio Number. The early volumes contain between 150 and 200 folios. Hence Acc 36/4/102 refers to Accession Number 36, Volume Number 4, Folio Number 102. Volumes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 have been transcribed by Graham Bown (Gem of Time) and each Volume has been fully indexed in relation to subject and individual names. Occasionally the quality of the material or the illegibility of the handwriting prevented a complete transcription and accordingly dots (........) are shown in the translation.

The chronological periods covered are as follows:
36/1 31 Dec 1828 - 24 Aug 1829
36/2 24 Aug 1829 - 31 Oct 1829
36/3 01 Nov 1830 - 31 Dec 1830 has been missing for many years
36/4 01 Jan 1830 - 10 Feb 1830
36/5 11 Feb 1830 - 30 Mar 1830
36/6 02 Apr 1830 - 20 May 1830
36/7 01 Jun 1830 - 20 Jul 1830
36/8 20 Jul 1830 – 30 Sep 1830

​​