VPRS 5342 Daily Rations Issued to Prisoners

This series records the rations issued to prisoners confined in Castlemaine Gaol each day. Other information about prisoners is recorded incidentally in this series: details of the discharge or transfer (when, and/or to where) of prisoners was recorded as the reason such prisoners ceased receiving daily rations.The format records the Gaol No and Name of each prisoner in custody. Across the top of the page there are 31 numbered columns, each representing a day of the month. Within each of these 31 columns there are 4 sub-columns headed: No 5, No 3, No 8, No 9. There is no indication of the meaning of these four numbers, presumably they represent different types of rations.The double page entries also record a summary of the total of each type of ration issued to prisoners each day, and a grand total for the month. There is also a column headed Total supplying themselves for prisoners who were not issued rations, presumably those with the means to support themselves whilst in confinement.