Historical information

This letter book has letters, invoices and sketch maps and dates from 1910 to 1914. It came from the office of John William Crawley, Junior, an engineer, surveyor and architect in private practice in Warrnambool and also the official engineer for the Shire of Warrnambool from 1895 to 1935. His father, brother and son were also engineers and worked in that capacity or as the Shire Secretary for the Shire of Warrnambool, with the Crawley family recording a total of 132 years of service to the Shire. The letter book was passed on to John Crawley’s son, Rolf, engineer for the Shire of Warrnambool from 1935 to 1968. The letter book then came into the possession of Michael Hand who took over the private surveying business of Rolf Crawley in Warrnambool and the Warrnambool and District Historical Society has acquired the letter book, one of several Crawley ledgers, from the estate of Michael Hand.

Significance

This letter book is of considerable significance as it contains maps, plans, sketches and written information, the work of John William Crawley, Junior, the Shire of Warrnambool engineer for 40 years. It will be very useful for research purposes.

Physical description

This is a brown-covered letter book of 750 pages with a mottled blue inside lining. The pages contain an alphabetical index and copies of handwritten letters and sketch maps and plans. There is one loose letter dated 1937. The pages are somewhat stained and the spine on the cover has been torn away. There is a mauve stamp on the first page.

Inscriptions & markings

‘5’
‘Rolf L. Crawley, Civil Engineer, Drainage and Water Supply Engineer, Licensed Surveyor, Registered Architect, Warrnambool’