Ancestry.com.au are pleased to commemorate the 157th anniversary of the City of Perth and announce the addition of the Perth City Rate books to their online collection.
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The records have been digitised as part of a collaboration between Ancestry.com.au and a partnership between the City of Perth, the State Records Office of Western Australia, Vincent, Town of Victoria Park and the Cambridge Councils.
Thousands of records have been indexed and are available to search. The City of Perth Rate Books range from 1864 to 1946 , with the ancestors of famous Western Australians amongst the records including Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger’s great grandfather, Edson Ledger, arrived in Fremantle with his family around 1881 aboard the Fitzroy. Edson and his brother Joseph went on to create a successful engineering company, manufacturing many of the pipes used in the 550km long Goldfields Pipeline. His occupation is listed as Tinsmith.
Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Rate Books, 1880-1946
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This collection includes images of rate books that record payments residents made for road maintenance and can include the property owner’s name occupant’s name occupation description of property, value, tax rate, and date and amount paid. One of the many useful things about these records is that they place individuals at a particular address in a particular year, so they are very helpful for tracing your Perth ancestors’ whereabouts. What does the collection include I hear you ask? There are rate books for the local councils amalgamated into Greater Perth in 1914, including Leederville, North Perth and Victoria Park. Now, it’s time to go explore – happy searching!