VPRS 18162 Administration Outward Letter Books

This series consists of books containing letterpress copies of outward correspondence relating to administrative matters at Aradale Mental Hospital (VA 2841).Although the Letter Books contain some letters relating to specific patients, most of the correspondence is administrative in nature and includes the following:Notice of AdmissionNotice of DischargeNotice of Death (sent to Police, Coroner, and Family)Inventories and Supply OrdersLetters to family of patientsMemorandums to staffDepartmental Returns.Much of the correspondence is signed by the Medical Superintendent. Details of the recipient is generally not known as the letters did not contain addressee details. These details were thought to be on the mailing envelope only. Each copied letter is accompanied by a reference number, this being a year prefix and sequential number suffix.The Administration Outward Letter Books are in the form of both large and small bound volumes. There are some gaps in the date sequence which are partly filled by the volumes located in VPRS 7455 Asylum Records. It is presumed that there will be some volumes that have not been located.Most of the books contain an alphabetical index at the beginning, which details the addressee and the subject of the correspondence, with a page reference number that relates to the page of the register at which that correspondence can be found. There is a small number which do not contain this type of index.By about 1912, the first typed entries appear, as do inked templates or stamps which have been letterpressed.