Historical information

The Sergeant, senior Constable, or Constable on duty at Orbost Watchhouse, received all charges against prisoners brought in by different constables, ascertained their nature and if satisfied it was a proper charge was obliged to record the name of each prisoner and the particulars of the offence. This information was recorded in a charge book.
Recorded also were details pertaining to the charge itself included: the charge number; the date and hour of both the apprehension and the recording of the charge in the Charge book; personal details of the person being charged including name, address, date and place of birth, a short summary of the nature of the offence and any other relevant details which followed the charges.
In general entries became less detailed over time but the format of the entries and the type of information collected remained similar.

Significance

This book is associated with Orbost and provides insights into the nature of crime as well as the experiences of police and victims in Orbost.

Physical description

A large, heavy register with hand-written entries. Pages are ruled with columns and printed headings. It also contains an indexed list of names and dates in a separate section at the back.