 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2024) |
The Dictionary of Western Australians and the related Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians are two multi-volume biographical dictionaries containing details of European and non-European settlement in Western Australia from the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829 until 1888.
Writer and historian Rica Erickson was the head compiler of the books and coordinator of the project which ran from the late 1960s to 1988. The editorial committee included Reg Appleyard, Geoffrey Bolton, Margaret Medcalf, Tom Stannage, Pamela Statham, and Sandra Taylor.
Few states in Australia have been in a position to undertake such a project due to a lack of records and other logistical issues. However the presence, and comprehensive holdings of the volumes of the Western Australia Post Office Directory (which commenced in 1893) have facilitated the checking of names and locations.
The volumes are held as basic reference items in the State Records Office, the J S Battye Library and many public libraries throughout the state.
Western Australia's population in 1850 was approximately 5,000. In 1850, the first of approximately 9,600 convicts arrived and these continued until 1868. With a similar number of free settler arrivals during the convict period, the state's population swelled nearly fivefold in less than 20 years. The discovery of gold in the Kalgoorlie area of Western Australia in the 1880s led to further significant population growth during that period. For these reasons, the first series was separated by the significant years of 1850, 1868 and 1888.
The combined series contain basic biographical details of over 20,000 individuals.