Historical information

These ledgers are administrative records of the Warrnambool Friendly Societies Park Trust. One contains Minutes of meetings from 1931 to 1947 and the other is an Accounts Book with records of payments for salaries, insurance, rentals, ground improvements etc. from 1908 to 1947. Some inserts in the ledgers date back to the early days of the Trust. In 1871 the Friendly Societies of Warrnambool (benefit societies which mainly offered members heath cover, including the Oddfellows, Foresters, Hibernians,, Rechabites, Sons of Temperance, Druids and Protestant Alliance) established a sports ground in Warrnambool. This included facilities for cricket, football and Athletics Carnivals and other public demonstrations and meetings and was administered by a Trust with members representing each of the Friendly Societies. Today the area is a major sports facility and still has the name Friendly Societies Park but it is now administered by the Warrnambool City Council.

Significance

These items are of considerable historical interest as they contain much detail about the early history of the Friendly Societies Park Trust and give researchers valuable information on the work of benefit societies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Warrnambool and also on a major sports facility still existing in Warrnambool.

Physical description

.1 Ledger of 380 pages with a black cover and beige leather spine and corners. The edges of the pages are marbled and the pages have printed red and blue lines. The handwritten entries are in ink. There are some loose inserts in this ledger.
.2 Ledger of 510 pages with a black cover and beige leather spine and corners. The pages have an alphabetical index at the front and have red and blue printed lines. The handwritten entries are in ink.