The appointment of the first female factory inspector, Margaret G. Cuthertson, in 1894
This example demonstrates the use of indexes to correspondence and index headings:
- Responsibility for factories resided with the Chief Secretary's Department in 1894. Indexes to inwards correspondence of the Chief Secretary's Department (refer to VPRS 1411/P0, unit 48) have a heading titled 'Factories Acts'. A search under that heading in the index for 1894 reveals the following entries:
- [94]X2523 Cuthbertson Miss. Arrangements re house & office
- [94]Y4828 Cuthbertson Miss Inspr. Recomnds permt appt.
- The indexes contain another heading, 'Appointments, Resignations, Dismissals, etc', relating to staff employed within the Department. A search under that heading in the index for 1894 reveals the following entries:
- [94]X2859 Cuthbertson Margt G. Insptr of Factories
- [94]X5286 Cuthbertson Margt G. Insptr of Factories
- The next step would be to consult the Chief Secretary's registers of inward correspondence to determine what happened to these four items of correspondence received.
- NOTE: These entries were found by consulting the two index headings and nothing else; it may be that other items can be located under other headings (especially Public Service Board) and/or under similar headings for subsequent years.
- See the entry on Cuthbertson in Ten Victorian Women.
Victorian Teaching Service (Married Women) Act granting permanency to women (1956)
- PROV holds a series of Parliamentary Counsel Bill files (refer VPRS 10265). The files in this series contain original drafts and amendments of Parliamentary Bills and many also include ministerial notes, comments, correspondence and other related papers. This series contains files for the Teaching Services Bills Acts spanning the periods 1945-46 (including the original 1946 Act, which the 1956 Act amended - refer to unit 107 of the P0 consignment) and 1946-72 (including the 1956 Act - refer to unit 560). Another file relates to the Teachers Act spanning the period 1928-42. A file relating to the Teaching Service Act spanning the period 1972-76 is not yet available for public inspection.
- PROV also holds a number of series created by the Teachers Tribunal (VA 2311). The Teachers Tribunal was established under the 1946 Act, and married teachers had to make written application to the Teachers Tribunal for permanency under the 1956 Act. Search PROV's online catalogue under VA 2311 for a complete inventory (list) of public record series held that were created by the Teachers Tribunal. A number of series listed are closed to public inspection.
- The existence of the Teachers Tribunal suggests that there may be more records held within other Education Department series relating to the right of married women to teach. The story of Grace Neven (in Ten Victorian Women) is one example. In 1893 Neven was forced to resign because the Department discovered that she had been married for two years. This was part of a broader issue at the time, relating to the right of any married women to work in the Victorian Public Service.