I am searching for information on the origins/history of form guides. If you have any knowledge, or suggestions where to look, please let me know.
Any assistance greatly appreciated

I would suggest that you start your search in England and Ireland as racing has a longer tradition and history there. You'll find that the Australian formguides gained their initial beginnings from the U.K.

Now that we have our own, I would say that the information we have access to in Australia is far superior to what's on offer elsewhere.

In England the most popular guide is the Racing Post (similar to our Sportsman).
It does not contain much of the information we have though.
Average Prizemoney is really ignored etc.

The main differences being that horses in that other hemisphere ten to run in races week to week and even every second or third day.

Try here:
http://www.racingpost.co.uk

I'm sure you'll find some history.

It's important to bear in mind when searching that with advances in technology all formguides were born from racebooks initially.
As the advances made it easier to punt off track and even from home the requirement grew for a standalone guides.

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Thank you very much. I will follow your advice.