The Australian Commonwealth Government began introducing various pensions from about 1908, but for a brief period during 1908-1909, old age pensions were the responsibility of the Qld State Government.  Registers of applicants, and a few lesser sources, have survived and have been indexed.  These registers include information about people who received the pension, plus hundreds of others whose applications were rejected.  Although only those aged at least sixty-five (that is, born before about 1843-1844) were actually eligible, applications were received from many who were under the specified age.

Eligibility for the Old Age Pension

The Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 occupied twelve pages of the Queensland Government Gazette.  The main criteria for eligibility are summarised as follows:

• currently resident in Qld, and aged at least 65 years
• resident in Qld for a total of at least 20 years (not necessarily continuously, except for the 5 years immediately preceding the application)
• unable to maintain himself / herself
• of good moral character, having led a temperate and reputable life for the previous 5 years
• net capital value of property not exceeding 260 pounds
• has not, without just cause, deserted his / her spouse, or his / her children aged under 14 years, for a period of a year or more, within the preceding 5 years.  (A man could also have his application rejected if he had failed to support his family)
• if not a British subject, must have been naturalised for at least 6 months
• Chinese and other Asiatics were not eligible for the pension under any circumstances, even if they were naturalised or British subjects
• Aboriginal natives of Australia, Africa, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands were not eligible

An application would be rejected if it failed to fulfil any of these criteria.  Most rejections were on the basis of age or period of residence, but other reasons for rejection provide unique information about the applicant and his/her character and habits.

The maximum pension granted was 26 pounds per year (usually paid as 10 shillings per week).  This was reduced if the applicant's annual income was more than 26 pounds, or if the total value of his/her property exceeded 260 pounds.

Implications for genealogical research

After a person lodged an application, the local police investigated the claim.  No pension was granted unless statements made in the application were corroborated by documentary or oral evidence, so old age pension registers probably contain relatively reliable information.

In 1908-1909 electoral enrolment was not compulsory in Qld, and old age pension registers give the place of residence of many people who were not on electoral rolls.  This includes some applicants who were not British subjects and not naturalised (and thus not eligible to vote) but who applied (though in vain) for a pension.

Sources indexed  (all held by Qld State Archives):

• Home Secretary's Office: register of old age pension claims, 1 Jul 1908 - 10 Sep 1908
• Home Office: register of applicants for old age pension, Aug 1908 - Aug 1909
• Home Office: letterbook of letters on old age pensions
• Clerk of Petty Sessions, Ravenswood: register of applications for old age pensions, 13 Jun 1908 - 5 May 1909
• Clerk of Petty Sessions, Townsville: register of applications heard in Pensions Tribunal (Commissioner's Court), 13 Jun 1908 - 26 May 1909

The vast majority of entries are in the State-wide registers (the first two above), which give:

• claim number
• date claim was registered
• surname and given names
• country (or Australian State) of birth - with the exception of the first 500 applications, on which this is not recorded
• alleged age
• total number of years in Qld
• town or suburb of current residence
• whether the application was approved or rejected
• if approved, the amount of pension payable, date payment commenced, and town where paid
• if rejected, the reason for rejection
• occasionally other remarks (e.g. 'sent to Dunwich Benevolent Asylum')

The two Clerk of Petty Sessions registers give similar details for applicants in their local area, plus (usually) marital status, spouse's name, full address and exact birthdate.  The letterbook contains copies of letters from the Home Office to, or about, some pensioners.  Only a small proportion of the entries are from these three sources.

The list of names from the Old Age Pensions Index 1908-1909 (over 9,000 entries including aliases) is on the Internet, together with details of my copying service.  If you prefer to do the research yourself, the index (with names plus Qld State Archives source references) is available as a set of two microfiche.

Pensions were not introduced in Qld until 1908, but for the period prior to 1908, check the following sources (which I can search as part of my professional research service at Qld State Archives):

• Home Office: alphabetical register of applications for Charitable Relief, 1899-1904.  Gives date and town.
• Home Office: index to register of persons to whom Outdoor Relief is payable, Jan-May 1905.  May give age, district, how long in Qld, and remarks re death date, movement to another district, etc.

Pension records for the period after mid-1909 are held by the National Archives of Australia, to whom enquiries should be directed.  However two Queensland sources that may provide some information are:

• Police Department correspondence re old age pensions and invalid pensions 1908-1952 (for which I have compiled a partial index).
• For the area around Toowoomba and the eastern Darling Downs, lists of old age pensioners admitted to Toowoomba Hospital (Qld State Archives location A/73219).  There are two lists - females 1915-1924 and males 1917-1924.  Both are chronological, not alphabetical.  If you do not know exactly where the pensioner lived, and can identify the town by using this list, you will then be able to search electoral rolls etc.  I can search and transcribe this source as part of my professional research service.

According to The Macquarie Book of Events, in 1896 a NSW Select Committee inquired into the need for old-age and invalid pensions, and similar enquiries were held in Victoria and South Australia in 1898/1899.  New South Wales introduced the first old age pensions in 1900, and similar legislation was passed in Victoria at around the same time.  Enquiries should be directed to archival institutions or professional genealogists in those States.

See also (1) Police Department correspondence 1908-1952, which refers to some residents of Qld and other States;  (2) Goulburn Family History Society's index to newspaper notices re Goulburn and Crookwell residents granted a pension.