The State Records Office of Western Australia invites you to our Lunchtime Seminars. Featuring a variety of topics, these seminars are designed to inform researchers about the State Records Office, its functions and the collections it houses. It also provides researches with an opportunity to meet fellow researchers, learn about members of staff, and provides a forum for questions and discussions in a relaxed and friendly environment.
2026 Margaret Medcalf Award
Dr Caroline Ingram was the winner of the 2025 Margaret Medcalf Award for her work “Death at Butterabby: the case of Belo and Mumbleby and Aboriginal women’s place in the nineteenth-century criminal justice system”.
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Nominations for the 2026 Margaret Medcalf Award are now open.
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If you prepared a work in 2025 that utilised State archives (or know of someone who did), please consider nominating for this year’s Award. Further details and the nomination form are available on the State Records Office website: www.sro.wa.gov.au
Nominations close 24 April 2026, with the Award event to be held later in the year.
1834 Pinjarra Massacre
On 28 October 2025, the WA Governor Chris Dawson issued an apology for the 1834 Pinjarra Massacre. This apology received extensive media coverage and was widely praised as a symbol on ongoing reconciliation with Traditional Owners.
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As part of his research into the massacre, the Governor visited the State Records Office earlier in 2025 and viewed official records held in the State Archives Collection that reported what transpired in 1834. These documents included Colonial Secretary’s Office correspondence being digitised as part of the FOBL supported project. The Governor acknowledged the value of these documents in his apology and how important they were to him in his research. These documents still carry enormous weight and resonance, almost 200 years after they were written.
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The SRO would like to acknowledge the assistance on Senior Researcher Mark Chambers from the Aboriginal History WA unit who carried out a check of official records looking for any new insights into the 1834 events. In his research, Mark found that James Stirling twice makes reference to the massacre taking place at “Dunlanup”. This remains puzzling as we have not found any other record that identifies the place or position of Dunlanup, nor have we found it on any historical plan.
Research Sector Support
In October 2025, SRO staff attended the launch of the Two Centuries of Chinese Heritage exhibition at the WA Museum Bolla Bardip. The SRO has contributed digital copies of many records for this exhibition and the related Chinese Heritage Portal project operating from UWA. These records included extensive sets of files from the late 1800s / early 1900s of people of Chinese nationality seeking to enter or re-enter Western Australia.
The Chinese Heritage Portal project builds on the research material amassed by Dr Anne Atkinson in the 1980s/90s. The website for this project is at: https://www.chinesewa.net/
In December 2025, the SRO caught up with Dr Jacinta Walsh, lecturer at Monash University in the Centre for Indigenous Studies, to discuss the future digitisation of historical Kimberley police records held at the SRO. These records contain extensive references to Aboriginal people.
Living in the 80s
The SRO has started digitisation of extensive sets of photographs and slides from the Tourism Dept, 1960s-1980s. This will be a long-term, ongoing project, although check SRO’s Facebook for a glimpse of some of these images.
As these photographs were taken or commissioned by a State government agency, they are State records under the terms of the State Records Act.
Digitisation of Colonial Secretary’s Office records
The first 110 volumes of Colonial Secretary’s Office inwards correspondence (Accession 36) has been digitised. This covers the period 1829-1842. Digitisation for this collection is ongoing in 2025, through the support being provided by the Friends via the Sholl Bequest. The SRO plans to start making digital copies of these records available through its online catalogue later this year.
This digitisation project is being funded through the Friends of Battye Library’s Sholl Bequest. The SRO has engaged Gabriel Maddock PhD to assist with the digitisation.
Recent additions to the SRO’s online catalogue
Albany Passenger Lists, early 1900s (consignment 108)
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Architectural Plans of Public Buildings c. 1970s (e.g. plans of taverns, churches, theatres, restaurants, community centres and other public buildings). These new lists will complete what is in that series of plans at consignment 5094
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Supreme Court Criminal Indictment files, 1860s (consignment 3473). This work is ongoing to individually list all Criminal Indictment files up until the mid 1940s
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Perth Market Trust Minutes, 1927-2014 (consignment 7788)
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Government photos are also progressively being made available through the SRO catalogue. Recent additions include photos of the Alexander Library Building prior to and following construction.
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WAGR Roll of Honour Boards of those who served in WWI from the different branches of the WAGR (Cons 7808)
Photos of WA Premiers from John Forrest through to Richard Court (Cons 7812 and 7835)
LISWA artwork associated with the opening of the Alexander Library Building (Cons 7798)
Colonial Secretary files (post 1883, Cons 527 and 752) and Police Department files (post 1883, Cons 430).
Transfer of State Archives from Government House
In June 2025, the SRO accepted an emergency transfer of State archives from the Governor’s Establishment, Government House. These records date back to the early 1900s and were at preservation risk. The transfer comprises app. 150 boxes with the bulk of the records being subject and correspondence files. One group of files relates to the abdication of Edward VIII, containing confidential telegrams sent to Government House in 1936 alerting of ‘imminent news of the matter’.
Also included in the transfer are:
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Detailed inventories of furniture and items at Government House;
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Files relating to members of the WA community receiving Investitures, Honours and Awards;
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Governor’s Despatches through to the 1980s (extending the set of Despatches already in the State Archives Collection and covering the period of the Whitlam Dismissal);
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Extensive sets of photographs (e.g. Royal visits and Tours) and some government films (of special events relating to Prince Charles’ visit to WA in 1979 and involving the WA Governor in the early 1980s).
This collection is currently being processed for inclusion into the State Archives Collection.
Stories from the State Archives Collection
Hear WA stories live on WA Afternoons with Michael Tetlow (ABC Radio, 720AM ) from 2pm Fridays.
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The State Records Office is a regular participant on ABC Radio's History Repeated segment (720 AM) from 2pm on Fridays and 6PR's Remember When segment from 8pm Sundays. You can listen to some of our past segments here. https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia/stories-the-state-archives-collection​​
Did you know?
SRO often provides assistance to journalist Malcolm Quekett for his weekly series in The West Australian (weekend edition) “The Untold History of WA”. Recently, we assisted Malcolm with a story he was preparing about the different buildings that formed Government House during the 1800s.
In reviewing Public Works Dept plans held at SRO, we were surprised to come across an alternative design to the current building. This alternative design was prepared by Captain Wray of the Royal Engineers in 1857. We include an image of Wray’s proposed design here.
Geoffrey Bolton Lecture Series
Each year the State Records Office hosts a lecture in honour of the distinguished Australian historian, Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Bolton AO, who passed away on 3 September 2015. The Lecture series recognises Professor Bolton’s long period of use and promotion of archives, his service on various committees of the State Archives, and his overall contribution to the promotion of Australian history and culture.
The stated aims of the Geoffrey Bolton Lecture are twofold: to encourage the expression of ideas and debate about the meaning and nature of history, culture and society, grounded in archival research; and to provide archival and historical context to national debate on contemporary issues.
Since 2004 the lecture series has lifted the profile of archives and record keeping in Australia, and promotes debate about the use and interpretation of archives, in what is now a nationally important forum.
Contact the SRO for further information.