Author: BAXTER, CAROL J; Editor.
Title: General Muster Of New South Wales 1814.
Description: First Edition; Med. 8vo; pp. xxi, 233; frontispiece, bibliography, index, appendices, bound in original red cloth, title lettered in gilt on spine and upper board, fine copy. Sydney; ABGR in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists; 1987. The first muster or systematic check of the population was taken in February 1788, shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in New South Wales. From 1795, musters appear to have been held annually, and were usually supervised by Governor or Lieutenant-Governor and an officer of the Commissary. Musters were the means by which the government counted the population and controlled the convicts. Musters also noted whether individuals were victualled from the government stores or were self-supporting, thereby assisting officials to determine the colony's ability to support itself without recourse to the public stores. These documents shed light on the early social history of the colony, at the time when few records exist for ordinary people.

Keywords: Australian Local History New South Wales Primary Source