The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) was established to microfilm historical records in the United Kingdom relating to Australia and the Pacific. 10,419 reels were produced, two thirds comprising British official records, most notably those of the Colonial Office (CO), ranging from 1740 to about 1955. Note that relevant documents for the Port Phillip District of New South Wales are listed under New South Wales.
The remaining reels contain copies of private records in repositories throughout Britain and Ireland.
The material filmed by the AJCP was divided into two classes: the PRO Series and the M Series.
Pro SeriesThe Public Record Office (PRO) series, or PRO Series, consists of government records filmed at The National Archives of the UK (previously known as the Public Record Office) by the AJCP.
The records of the Colonial Office (CO) and the Dominions Office (DO) make up almost 40 per cent of the PRO series, and include: despatches, letterbooks, correspondence and registers. In addition to the records of the Australian, New Zealand and Pacific colonies, records also include colonial appointments, honours, emigration, overseas settlement schemes, the World Wars, & imperial policies and relations.
The PRO series also includes the records from the following departments: Admiralty (ADM), Home Office (HO), War Office (WO), Air Ministry (AIR), Foreign Office (FO), Privy Council (PC), Treasury, Board of Customs (CUST) and Board of Trade (BT).
The PRO Series is described by 24 individual finding aids. You can browse these finding aids, and digitised records from the PRO Series, online.
M SeriesThe AJCP Miscellaneous Series, known as the M Series, consists of private records relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific held in the British Library; the National Libraries of Wales, Scotland and Ireland; university libraries; county record offices; museums; religious archives; learned societies; business archives; and private homes.
It also contains some official records, including selections from the archives of the Hydrographic Office, the Post Office and the Ministry of Defence.
Originally described collectively in AJCP Handbook. Part 8, Miscellaneous Series. Third edition, 1998, the M Series is now described by 511 individual finding aids, one for each group or collection of records filmed! You can browse the finding aids and digitised records from the M Series online.
Search AJCP onlineYou can search the records of the Australian Joint Copying Project through the National Library of Australia's AJCP Portal.
AJCP at the State LibraryThe State Library Victoria holds a complete set of the AJCP microfilm plus hard copy sets of the handbook guides listing and describing the records filmed. These guides can be found by doing a subject search on our catalogue for Australian Joint Copying Project.
Melbourne from the Survey Office, 1840. Watercolour and pencil by Robert Hoddle; H260
Historical records of Australia
Many of the official documents relating to the foundation of the Australian colonies have also been reproduced in the Historical records of Australia series. The vision for this project was broader than the eventual product. Seven separate series were envisaged, of which only three have appeared (I, III, IV). Each volume contains transcriptions of the official documentation between the Colonial Office and the local governments in the different states.
OnlineThe Historical records of Australia have been digitised by the National Library of Australia and are available online. Series I and some of series III and IV are also available online through La Trobe University.
The relevant volumes covering Port Phillip are:
- Governors' despatches to and from England: Series I, vol. 18, July 1835 - June 1837 to Series I, vol. 25, April 1846 - September 1847 (check index in volumes under "Port Phillip")
- Port Phillip, Victoria, 1803-1804, Series III, vol. 1 and Western Port, Victoria, 1826-1827, Series III, vol. 5
You can find print copies of the Historical records of Australia in the Latrobe Reading Room ("the Dome") at LT 994.02 H62W
Indexes
The Library has two CD-ROM indexes to these documents:
Historical records of Port Phillip
A collection of documents relating to the 1803 Sorrento settlement, Historical records of Port Phillip: the first annals of the colony of Victoria was first published in 1879. The 1879 edition is available to read online.
Historical records of Victoria. Foundation series
The Foundation Series of Historical Records of Victoria, volumes 1-7, reproduces every available official document that survives from the vital first years of the Port Phillip District, 1835-1840. This vast treasury of documents was assembled by the editors from the collections of the Public Record Office of Victoria, the official state archives. Each volume of the series covers a different aspect of early colonial society and the arrangement of documents within each volume is thematic:
Early Australian census records
The earliest systematic collection of information about Australia's residents occurred in 1788. The states and colonies regularly collected data in censuses or musters up until the first national census in 1911. The Library provides access to information from many earlier censuses recorded by the states or colonies. For some censuses, only statistical reports have survived (not records of people). Check our Early Australian census records research guide to find out what information is available, and how to access this material.
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Reflecting on Why We Cite also includes examining How We Use Sources.
The BEAM model (Background, Exhibits, Argument, Method) is one illustration of the variety of ways we can use sources. We cite sources to achieve a variety of goals in our own work, and the same source could be used for different reasons in different contexts.
Bizup, Joseph. "BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing." Rhetoric Review vol. 27, no. 1, 2008, 72-86.
A 'game changing' development for historians and researchers of early America, Colonial America enables access to a vast archive of circa 70,000 manuscript documents – now fully searchable using Handwritten Text Recognition technology.
Outstanding Academic Title 2018 and 2020
Choice Reviews
Sourced from The National Archives UK, Colonial America offers access to thousands of documents on North America from 1606-1822. Described as an ‘indispensable’ resource for researchers of the early-modern Atlantic world and winner of Library Journal’s ‘Best Reference’ Award, scholars and researchers have clamoured for access to this material for years.
FEATURING HANDWRITTEN TEXT RECOGNITION (HTR) FOR FULL-TEXT SEARCHING:
Colonial America offers transformative research possibilities with full-text searching across all manuscript documents using Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR).
HTR is a groundbreaking search technology utilising artificial intelligence to deliver document-level full-text search results in manuscript material. The HTR application uses complex algorithms and artificial intelligence to determine possible combinations of characters in handwritten documents. This enables relevant handwritten text to be identified at document level, allowing users to easily navigate between highlighted search results. Read more or watch the demonstration video.
The first module of Colonial America documents the early history of the colonies, and includes founding charters, material on the effects of 1688’s Glorious Revolution in North America, records of piracy and seaborne rivalry with the French and Spanish, and copious military material from the French and Indian War of 1754-63.
Focusing on the 1760s and 1770s, this module covers the social and political unrest that led to the Declaration of Independence, including legal materials covering the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party. It is also particularly rich in material relating to military affairs and Indigenous Americans.
This module charts the upheavals of the 1770s and 1780s which saw the throwing off of British rule in the Thirteen Colonies. Contents include volumes of intercepted letters between colonists, the military correspondence of the British commanders in the field, and material produced by the Ordnance Office and the office of the Secretary at War, as well as two copies of the ‘Dunlap’ edition of the Declaration of Independence printed on the night of the 4th-5th July 1776.
This module traces the colonies' legal and political evolution between 1636-1782. Copies of council and assembly minutes record debates on international politics, including Britain’s wars with Spain, expeditions against the French in Canada, and trade regulations. Court journals also trace legal cases and trials heard in the colonies, whilst a series of official correspondence and revisions of acts reveal attempts to increase the jurisdiction of British officials in the colonies, expand settlement, and improve public facilities and trade. The extensive revisions and annotations of these documents also expose the internal (and often personal) political agendas of their creators.
The preponderant part of the final module consists of correspondence between officials in the colonies and government bodies in London. There are also details of land grants, shipping returns and financial accounts, as well as George Vancouver’s despatches to London from his 1791-1795 expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The shipping returns reveal a trade network focusing on internal trade within the American colonies and the Caribbean, and with frequent connections across Europe.
Period Covered
Source Archive
- The National Archives, UK
Material Types
- Correspondence
- Charters and commissions
- Orders
- Court records
- Land grants and associated documents
- Maps and building plans
- Diaries
- Newspapers
- Printed pamphlets, broadsides and speeches
- Legislation
- Military documents
- Petitions
- Public notices and proclamations
- Financial documents
- Shipping Returns
Editorial Board
- Max Edelson, University of Virginia
- Craig Gallagher, Boston College
- Patrick Griffin, Notre Dame University
- Tim Lockley, University of Warwick
- James Sidbury, Rice University
- David J. Silverman, George Washington University
- Mark Spencer, Brock University
- Richard Stone, University of Bristol
- Neil York, Brigham Young University
- Colin Nicolson, University of Stirling
- Ben Marsh, University of Kent
- Hannah Tucker, University of Virginia
Subjects
- Beginning and expansion of English settlement
- The development of colonial institutions
- Colonial legislation
- Education
- Economic and economic development
- Settlers’ relationships with Native Americans
- English/British relations with the Dutch, French and Spanish
- Trade and protectionism
- Taxation
- Militias, garrisons and military preparedness
- Warfare
- Alliances and diplomacy
- Peace negotiations
- Naval matters
- Piracy and privateering
- Tobacco, sugar and other commodities
- Religious matters
- Slavery and the slave trade
- Immigration from Britain and elsewhere in Europe
- Surveying and exploration
- Relations between the colonial and British governments
- The Glorious Revolution
- Political protest and unrest
- The American Revolution
Key Features
- Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) search technology delivering document-level full-text search results across all handwritten manuscript documents, view demo.
- Comprehensive compilation of metadata for manuscript documents ensuring maximum searchability and ease of access for researchers.
- Essays by leading academics to explore and contextualise the original material.
- Map gallery showcasing extensive collection of colour maps associated with the material.