This is the roll book of the Warrnambool State School Cadet Corps. It covers the dates 1894 to 1896. The information in the note book contains the names of the male Cadets and their commanding officers, attendance details, some of the Corps rules and the total numbers in the Corps at the time ( 46 on the roll in 1894 and 39 on the roll in 1895.) The Cadet Corps in Warrnambool was operated by the local Volunteer Corps which was established in 1855 and had several name changes over the next fifty years. Warrnambool State School Cadet Corps was established in the mid 1880s and the local private Grammar School had a Cadet Corps at the same time. School Cadet Corps focussed on drill exercises, rifle target shooting and bayonet practice. This note book is of considerable interest as a record of the 19th Century Cadet Corps and the list of names provides researchers with important material.This is a small note book with a front hard cover, which is stained and the back cover missing. It is held together with opaque adhesive tape. The pages contain handwritten material in ink and pencil. There is one torn page .Roll Book of Warrnambool State School Cadet Corpswarrnambool cadet corps, warrnambool state school

This book has been given as an end-of-year prize to someone in the Warrnambool Corps in 1904. As the book is for a young person it is presumed that the recipient was in the Cadet Corps section of the local Volunteer Corps. Members of the Cadet Corps were usually from a unit formed within a school. As neither the Warrnambool Agricultural High School nor the Warrambool Technical School were established at that time the recipient was probably a pupil at a private boys’ school. This book is of interest as a prize given by the Warrnambool Corps to a local Warrnambool boy in 1904. It will be of greater interest if we can decipher the name of the Sergeant-Major and the name of the recipient. This is a hard cover book of 160 pages. It has an olive-green cover with an image in red, black and yellow of a young boy in front of some buildings. The front cover has black and red lettering and the spine has an image of a woman and the lettering in gold and red. The book has a full page black and white illustration at the front of the book and there are 18 chapters of text. There has been a book plate pasted on to the inside cover but there is now only a fragment left. What is visible is handwritten in black ink. ‘….. Serg.-Major, Warrnambool Corps, Dec. 13th 1904’. warrnambool corps, warrnambool cadet corps, history of warrnambool

These are badges or pieces of insignia that would have been worn on the collar or cap of members of the Victorian Volunteer Corps. This organization was formed in Victoria in 1867 with the object of fostering in young men leadership, discipline, loyalty and initiative through training programs and community service. The Victorian Volunteer Corps was established in Warrnambool in 1868 and units were initially based at the Warrnambool State School and the Warrnambool Grammar School. Later groups were formed in other schools and competed against each other in rifle shooting competitions, marching and parade skills etc. The Warrnambool groups were trained and assisted by members of the local adult Volunteer Corps. Today cadet groups are sponsored by the Australian Army and there is revived interest in Warrnambool in school cadet groups. These insignia items have no known local provenance but are of historical interest as mementoes of the Volunteer Cadet Corps that operated in Warrnambool from the late 1860s through to the early 20th century. .1 This is a bronze-coloured metal badge with gold lettering, a crown on top, a cross with stars in the middle section and laurel leaves around the outer edges. The two clips at the back are for attachment of the badge to a collar or cap. .2 as above except that this badge has been damaged and somewhat flattened. Volunteer Cadet Corps Victoria Pro Deo et Patria volunteer cadet corps,, history of warrnambool