Summary

Listing of the Security Identity Photographic Indexes for the Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition, prepared by Ada Ackerly, Director, Williamstown Historical Museum, in 1988 from material at the Victorian Public Record Office.

The Centennial International Exhibition, held in the (Royal) Exhibition Building, opened on 1 August 1888 and closed at the end of January 1889. It celebrated 100 years of British settlement and surpassed the grand scale of the1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, attracting over two million visitors (approximately 69% of the colony's population at the time). Security identity photographs were taken for all people entitled to free admission to the Exhibition Building during the Centennial International Exhibition. The photographs were compiled into albums, four of which survive having been salvaged from the 1953 fire which destroyed many of the public records held in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Physical Description

The index consists of a slightly patterned A4 manila folder, 38 pages, bound along the spine with glue. The title is handwritten on both the spine and front cover by a medium width black felt tip pen. The contents include 7 pages of introductory information and 31 pages listing all photographs alphabetically by surname and giving their Public Record Office numbers and the occupation of the person.

More Information