Historical information

These are 1907 cheque book butts from the Bank of Australasia. The names in the book suggest that they came from the Warrnambool branch of this bank. A branch of the Bank of Australasia was established in Warrnambool in 1854 with new premises erected for the bank at the corner of Timor and Kepler Street in 1860. In 1953 the Bank of Australasia became the A.N.Z. Bank and the building in Kepler Street was closed. The butts are mainly drawn to an unidentified person, ‘self’ but some names included are ‘Dr E.J. Connell’, ‘O’Mahony’ (solicitor), ‘F. Tozer’, ‘A Bostock’, ‘P. Manifold’. These are all local Warrnambool names of the early 20th century.

Significance

This cheque butt is of some interest as an example of the cheques issued by an individual in the early 20th century. The names in the butts are also of interest as prominent residents of Warrnambool at the time.

Physical description

This is a 1907 cheque book butt with a pale blue cover and 30 butts of cheques drawn from the Bank of Australasia. The last cheque has been poorly removed and part of the cheque is still in the book. Information on the Bank of Australasia policies is on the inside front cover and the butts have blue printed numbers on them. The information re the cheques drawn is handwritten in black ink. Most of the cheques are drawn to ‘self’.

Inscriptions & markings

Butt One – ‘ No. A 261,761, 18 Jany, 1907, Self, £1-0-0’