The annual returns of the various outlying districts were apparently compiled by the field - cornets of the different wards who subsequently submitted them to the magistrate of the relevant district. He in turn compiled one return for the district from the particulars thus obtained. Returns of field - cornets are also available in magistrates' archives and the earliest archives of municipalities contain returns of wardmasters.

No original return for the 17th century has remained preserved in the Cape Town Archives Repository. Such returns are, however, available in the National Archives of the Netherlands in The Hague in the section "Koloniale Archief", series "Brieven en Papieren Overgekomen van de Kaap".