Historical information

This letter book contains handwritten letters, sketch maps and plans and dates from 1917 to 1920. It comes from the office of John William Crawley Junior, an engineer, architect and surveyor in private practice in Warrnambool and also the 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 Shire Secretary for the Shire of Warrnambool, with the Crawley family recording 132 years of service with the Shire of Warrnambool. The Shire existed from 1863 to 1994. The letter book was passed on to John Crawley’s son, Rolf, the 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. The Warrnambool and District Historical Society then acquired this letter book, along with other Crawley ledgers, from the Michael Hand estate.

Significance

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

Physical description

This is a hard cover book of 745 pages. It has leather trim on the cover edges and the spine with gold lettering on the spine. The leather covering is scuffed and torn. The inside covers have a mottled blue lining. The book contains maps, plans and handwritten letters and has an alphabetical index at the beginning of the book. Most of the pages have been water-stained.

Inscriptions & markings

‘7 Private’
‘Letter Book 1917 to 1920’