VPRS 14349 William Calder's Official Notes of Inspection

William Calder was Chairman of the Country Roads Board, from its inception in 1912, until his death in 1928.He kept small note books as he travelled around Victoria, inspecting road conditions and noting proposals for future road work. Each of the 28 books in which he wrote contains notes pertaining to several shires. They cover such topics as his mode and route of travel, names and positions of officials with whom he travelled, the state of the land, the weather, the condition of bridges and road-related activities of municipal councils. Notes on existing roads mention the gradient and quality of the surface and suggest preliminary justifications for extending one road rather than another.Notebooks labelled "No. 1" and "No. 2" were not transferred. As at February 2005, they are located in the VicRoads Boardroom.Some of the note books pre-date the existence of the Country Roads Board. William Calder's reasons for creating these early note books are subject to further research.Transcripts of these official notes of inspection have been serialised as VPRS 14350.