Ancestry launches New South Wales Calendar and Post Office Directory, 1832.

Descriptions of NSW people, places and roads circa 1832 more 'travel guide' than early P.O. directory. This directory is a precursor to today's phone book which, more like a travel guide than a directory, provides a detailed snapshot of life in the earliest days of the colony. Drafted by James Raymond, Postmaster of New South Wales, it also includes a collection of vivid descriptions of early residents, roads - and even travel times - bringing the colony to life as it would have been in 1832.. Also included is a map of Sydney in 1831.

The New South Wales Calendar and Post Office Directory, 1832 can be searched by first and surname, address and occupation, providing many with early New South Wales ancestors a chance to go back in time and gain a deeper understanding of the colony in which their ancestors lived.

Some of the famous residents in this directory of early Australians include:

William Charles Wentworth - The illegitimate son of convicts who became a poet, explorer, journalist and politician.

Sir William Macarthur - Prominent landowner and at the time regarded as one of the leading Australian viticulturists.

Sir John Wylde - Deputy Judge Advocate and although Wylde had left Australia and his family, the records reveal he still retained a great deal of property in NSW.

Major Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell - Explorer and Surveyor General of NSW.

Ancestry.com.au Content Director Brad Argent comments, "With its lyrical and narrative style, this one small book paints a wonderfully vivid picture of early settlement in NSW - it actually reads more like a travel guide to the past and is a terrific piece of genealogical history. The Directory is a 'must read' for anyone who has traced their ancestry back to those early residents of New South Wales as it provides a vivid picture of what their ancestors would have seen as they travelled down the colony's dustry roads almost 200 years ago."

The Ancestry database is available at Moonee Valley Library Services. Bookings can be made at any one of our five libraries for up to 2 hours per day.

Popular posts from this blog

Historic Homes of Essendon "Mar Lodge"

Malakoff Castle, Maribyrnong

Chinese-Australian family history