Official Post Office Directory Victoria 1870

Presumably the contract for the official Victorian Post Office directory passed from Bailliere (q.v.) to Wise in the 1880s. As before, inhabitants of the colony are listed by town or suburb and by surname, though a random check identified surnames not listed also by locality. (That is, the list by name appears to be more comprehensive than the list by town, where the emphasis is upon residents engaged in commerce, the professions or public life.) Seven editions are available: 1884-5, 1888-9, 1891-2, 1893-4, 1895-6, 1897-8, 1899-1900. Many minor indexes are also included, such as legal, medical, trade, and local government directories.

The directories aimed to show the names, occupations and addresses of the "settled inhabitants" of Victoria, conceding that an "extensive portion" of the population is excluded, such as "the peripatetic miner, labourer, and station hand". Six editions are available: 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871-2, 1875 and 1880-1. The directories are set out in two parts - the first arranged by town or suburb, the second a union list by surname. The first edition (1868) claims to list 100 000 people living in 550 post towns: " ... invaluable to all parties interested in the Colony; to the Merchant; to the Traveller, whether for business or pleasure; to those in search of missing friends, and to the public generally."

Excerpt from The Official Post Office Directory of Victoria (Bailliere's), 1869: Containing the Names, Residences, and Occupations of the Inhabitants of the Post Towns of the Colony, Inclusive of Melbourne and Suburbs, Arranged Locally and Alphabetically, With Cross References In presenting to the Public the ones post-ofice Directory for 1 809, the publisher begs to thank them for the support bestowed upon the work on its first appearance. As may be surmised, the changes that take place during the year are so few in comparison to the number Of names comprised in the 680 post tow'ns Of the colony, that an entirely new edition of the Directory every year would be uncalled for, and. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"Brings forward the previous catalogue to the end of July, 1871."--Pref.