Maps Online
In 2009, the Friends of Battye Library Inc. funded an enhancement to the State Records Office’s AEON catalogue to improve access to digitised State archives. AEON lists the State's archives held by the State Records Office (SRO) as well as information about their context. The Maps Online project allows AEON to also display digitised copies of some of the State's most important archives along with their online catalogue entries. Since late 2009 you can access Western Australia's historic maps and plans at home, school, university or workplace - anywhere you have access to the web - and the work is ongoing.
What maps and plans can be viewed online now?
Following is a list of the historic maps that are now available through AEON. Links are provided directly to the relevant map series. Individual maps are listed within each series (at the bottom of each series page). Maps can be viewed when clicking on the relevant item and opening the link at “Digital Copy”. This list will be updated from time to time when new series of archives are added.
Townsites – early Tracings (series 241, consignment 3850) 1838-1891, 164 maps
Early plans of individual allotments, reserves and public buildings within a number of Western Australian towns.
Original Plans – Townsites (series 235, consignment 3868) 1835-1913, 428 maps
Plans compiled from original surveys of proposed and or declared townsites.
Exploration Plans (series 50, consignment 3423) 1798-1958, 189 maps
Plans recording exploration routes in Western Australia throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries (as well as pre-colony).
Survey plans – Historic (series 234, consignment 3844) 1772-1882, 382 maps
Plans recording original surveys made in the south west of the colony of Western Australia (as well as pre-colony).
Group Settlement Plans (Chief Draftsman) (series 2451, consignment 6160) , 1923-1930, 129 maps
Plans showing the allotment of land for individual properties within a group settlement as part of the Group Settlement Scheme.
Maps – Geological Survey (series 33, consignment 7100) 1848, 3 maps
Hand drawn and hand coloured maps by Dr Ferdinand von Sommer.
Plans – Avon and Swan Folios (series 238, consignments 3848 and 3849) , 1836-1860, 71 maps
Plans drawn from official surveys of the Avon and Swan valleys.
Admiralty Charts (series 239, consignment 3947), 1875-1897, 24 maps
Charts of Hydrographic Surveys conducted by Royal Navy vessels off the Western Australian coastline.
Townsite Plans (series 2168, consignment 5698), 1856-1994, 1765 maps (NEW)
This series comprises cadastral plans of proclaimed townsites or parts thereof, including suburban lots.
Originals Plans – Districts (series 236, consignment 3869), c. 1850+, 953 maps (NEW)
These plans consist of one or more locations within the same Land District.
Chief Draftsman Plans (series 1364, consignments 4912 and 4957), 1913-1983, 149 maps (NEW)
These plans were created by the Chief Draftman generally as one-off tasks - e.g. Meckering Earthquake impact, plans of public buildings, townsites, Aboriginal missions and communities, recreational facilities, etc.
These plans illustrate the alienation and subdivision of land in the settled districts of the Colony during the mid-nineteenth century.
These historic maps and plans represent some of the most heavily accessed records in the State archives collection and their research significance encompasses a wide range of interests.
The maps and plans are being digitised by series: discreet collections of maps are being digitised in a systematic process so that whole series of records will be accessible through the web. The digitisation is conducted by the State Library of WA’s Preservation and Maintenance Branch. The scanning is conducted at 150 dpi for access purposes. The digitised maps are often quite large files – typically in the 4MB range.
Since 2002, the SRO has digitised over 8,000 maps and plans. Digitised copies of these maps have been accessible to members of the public on CD-ROM at the SRO's Search Room, but are now being made available through the internet.
These plans include:
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19th Century exploration plans throughout Western Australia;
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Survey plans (such as A.W. Canning’s original survey of what has become known as the Canning Stock Route);
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Townsite plans (from initial gazettal through to later years);
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Agricultural area plans; and
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“Cancelled public plans” (which document the status of all land in Western Australia at different points in time and at different scales).
What maps and plans will be available online in 2010?
The following maps and plans will be loaded progressively to AEON in 2010:
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Cancelled Public Plans – Standard series (series 979, multiple consignments), 1878-1907, 679 maps.
In time, the SRO plans to expand its digitisation program so that other types of records will be available through AEON, in this way supporting research interests using the resources of the State archives collection.
The State Records Office warmly thanks the Friends of Battye Library Inc. for supporting this important initiative.
