Western Australia Early Almanacs

The State Library of Western Australia has recently completed the digitising of a series of almanacs dating from 1849 – 1889. Almanacs predate the Western Australian government Year Books and Post Office Directories, and served a similar purpose in detailing the activities of the colony of Western Australia. These were produced by several different, and sometimes competing, publishers such as Stirling and Sons, Arthur Shenton, and James Pearce, so there may be more than one publication for a particular year.

Western Almanack and Directory 1869

Most early almanacs include a list of prominent office-holders and their positions in the establishment. Some editions, particularly Stirling and Sons’ almanacs, may also include a brief chronicle of occurrences and events for the year. As well as statistics on the demography and productivity of the colony, calendars, and schedules of government fees, the almanacs contain advertisements for many local businesses including merchants, banks, jewellers, undertakers, insurance agents, hoteliers, teachers, accountants, retailers, accountants and tradesmen.

Advertisements from the Western Australian Almanack 1868