Indexes for Queensland Genealogy

Indexes for Queensland Genealogy - a Select List
© Copyright Judy Webster. Updated 30 Jun 2009.

All indexes listed below (this is just a small sample) are either in my own genealogical reference collection or at Queensland State Archives. Some are also held in libraries. The indexes are mainly for Queensland, but many also refer to people from other States / countries. The list is in two parts (unpublished and published). Indexes marked with an asterisk are available at Qld State Archives. Newspaper titles are in 'quotes'. BDM = births, deaths and marriages.

Searches in these indexes:

PRINT this page and read the introduction carefully.
Make a list of the indexes that are of interest, and the names you would look for in each.
If you want to do the research yourself:
- For indexes marked with an asterisk, go to Qld State Archives in Brisbane.
- For other indexes, go to your nearest State, municipal or genealogical library and ask them (not me) whether they hold or sell the index. In particular try the Qld Family History Society, Genealogical Society of Qld, Society of Australian Genealogists, State Library of Qld, Australian National Bibliographic Database and Gould Genealogy, or search with Google by changing the setting below to 'Web'.
If you want me to do the research: contact (type this address into an email). List the indexes and names required, and your email and postal address, and ask for a quote. I am a professional genealogist, so the cost depends on the time involved. If you are not willing to pay a small fee (the average is about $5 per search), read point 3 above.

Unpublished indexes

Bollon Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to June 1985.
Cooktown Boys' State School admissions, 1885 - May 1889.
Cooktown Hospital admissions, 1884-1901. Compiled from records that often give biographical details, ship of arrival etc. Many miners and sailors.
Croydon Hospital admissions, 1888-1923. Compiled from records that often give biographical details, ship of arrival etc. Many miners and others from Victorian goldfields.
Croydon Midwife's Diary c1886-1929.
Cunnamulla Cemetery Burial Register Index to 1989.
Cunnamulla General Cemetery headstones to 1989.
Dental apprentices and their employers 1917-1925.
* Dentists who had difficulty being recognised by Qld Dental Board 1903-1927. Index to files at Qld State Archives.
* Dunwich Benevolent Asylum applications for admission 1890-1922. No surnames starting with A, B before BOU, E, K, L, O, P, Q, T, U, V or W.
* Dunwich Benevolent Asylum records: main card index.
* Engineers registered in Qld 1930-1993.
Eulo Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.
Helidon Roman Catholic Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to March 1984.
* Immigration Card Index. 19th and 20th century arrivals. See also Land Orders Index.
* Immigrants Index 1848 - May 1884. If you can't find a name in the card index or microform 'Kit', try this.
* Inquest Index 1881-1886. New, corrected index to Qld Justice Department files. Includes drownings, suicides, murders, many sudden or accidental deaths, some deaths in institutions and deaths for which no official death registration exists, and fires with or without a death.
* Inquest Index 1887-1897. Original (unchecked) index, contents as above.
* Inquest Index 1897-1914. Original (unchecked) index, contents as above.
* Inquest Index 1914-1926. Original (unchecked) index, contents as above.
* Insanity Files Indexes 1865-1893, 1894-1918 & 1919-c1945. Mental asylum patients at Goodna (Woogaroo), Toowoomba (Willowburn), Ipswich etc. Files for admissions up to 1929 are open to the public.
* Land Orders index. Useful for finding an arrival date for people who are not on immigration passenger lists.
* Lands Department index to selectors 1868-1885. Leads to selection files - bundles of correspondence that give the date, area of land, county, parish and portion, plus other items (maybe sketch maps, letters from or about the selector, personal or family information, certificates, the selector's signature, etc.)
* Lands Department index to register of lessees of agricultural and grazing farms 1885-c1905. As for Index to Selectors above.
* Nominated Immigrants and their Nominators, 1908-1922. Index to 45,000 people nominated as immigrants to Qld (though many did not come), plus a separate index to relatives or friends here who nominated them. Original source gives nominee's overseas address, age, occupation, relationship, ship and date if applicable, plus address of nominator and other details. As not all nominees emigrated, these records will also be useful to those researching families who remained in the UK, Ireland and parts of Europe. Similar records exist for 1923-1933, but they are alphabetical only by name of main nominee, and nominators are not indexed.
* Northern District Insolvency Files, 1876-1922. Includes the 1890s Depression, so lots of miners, publicans, storekeepers, and ordinary folk. Covers the area north of about Mackay.
Nurses and Masseurs (male & female). Includes some living interstate/overseas.
Police Officers (Qld) who died on duty 1867-1992. Index gives initials and surname, rank, date of death, and sometimes date of birth.
* Prisoners' photographs 1889-1899, 1894-1896, 1918-1923.
Women granted protection orders, Qld, 1888-1904.
* Solicitors 1861-1900. Index to files re admission of persons to practice.
* Supreme Court equity cases 1857-1895. Gold miners' disputes; rights of minors, incapacitated persons and lunatics; disputes over wills; liquidation of companies; people with money in a bank. Includes virtually all names connected with a case. Many BDM certificates, land records, powers of attorney.
Thargomindah Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.
Wyandra Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.

Published indexes

Alex Gow (Brisbane) Funeral Directors' Records 1960-1965.
Anglican Cemeteries and Columbaria (Brisbane) Monumental Inscriptions, Vol. 2. Columbaria: Annerley, East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point, Kelvin Grove, New Farm, Wilston. Gardens of Remembrance: Camp Hill, Ekibin, Lutwyche, Sandgate. Cemetery: Tingalpa.
Australians and Other Expatriates in Papua New Guinea 1888-1975. Cemetery records, probate, newspapers, gun licences, German deportees, change of name, Government Gazettes, Australian naturalisations etc.
Bollon Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1945-1992.
'Brisbane Courier' - see Crosse-Dunleavy Index.
Brisbane Hospital Admissions Indexes. Compiled from records that often give biographical details, employer, ship of arrival, whereabouts of relatives, etc.
Brisbane Hotels and Publicans Index, 1842-1900.
Burketown Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1905-1993.
Burketown Hospital Admissions Index, Dec 1909 - 1923. Compiled from records that often give details similar to a death certificate, plus ship of arrival etc.
Cannon and Cripps (Funeral Directors) Index. Brisbane undertakers.
Charters Towers Gaol Discharge Book 1890-1901. Charters Towers was then Qld's second-largest city, and Australia's most productive goldfield. Many offences were minor (disorderly conduct, drunkenness etc.)
Charters Towers Jurors and Witnesses Index, 1920-1937. Also includes some other people mentioned in court proceedings (eg the deceased subject of an enquiry).
Charters Towers miners homestead leases 1874-1887.
'Cloncurry Advocate' vol.5, 1935-1936.
Cloncurry Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1898-1994.
Cloncurry Lawn Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1963-1995.
Cloncurry Memorials Burial Records Index, 1861-1985.
'Cloncurry News & Mt. Isa Record' vol.1, 1930-1931.
'Cloncurry News & Mt. Isa Record' vol.2, Jan 1932 - Jan 1933.
Commonwealth electoral roll (Qld) 1903.
Commonwealth electoral roll (Qld) 1913.
Commonwealth electoral roll (Qld) 1922.
Commonwealth electoral roll (Qld) 1934.
NEW! Commonwealth electoral roll (Qld) 1949.
Cooktown Burial Register to 1920 and Monumental Inscriptions to 1986.
Crosse-Dunleavy Index, 1861-1869. BDM and funeral notices, 'Brisbane Courier' newspaper.
Crosse-Dunleavy Index, 1870-1879. As above.
Crown Land Sales in Qld, 1860-1889. Country and town land sales 1860-1887 and Pre-Emptive sales 1860-1869. Purchaser, year, county, parish, town, area, and State Archives and Titles Office reference numbers.
Croydon burial register index to c1986.
Croydon Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions to c1980s.
'Darling Downs Gazette' BDMs and Obits, 1860-1922. Newspaper for Toowoomba and surrounding areas.
Dern Index. Alphabetical list of names from monumental inscriptions in 250 Qld cemeteries.
Dirranbandi Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1923-1993.
* Discharged and Deserted Seamen, Qld, 1882-1893. Index to seamen's register at Qld State Archives.
* Discharged and Deserted Seamen, Qld, 1894-1913. As above.
Drayton Toowoomba Cemetery public burials 1882-1997.
Dunwich Benevolent Asylum Weekly Returns, May 1885 - Dec 1900. Index compiled from 'Qld Government Gazette' notices. Usually gives age, occupation, dates of admission, re-admission, discharge or death, and notes (such as where living, and with whom, before admission).
Emigrants from Hamburg to Australasia 1850-1879. Searchable index to original Hamburg departure lists for ships to all Australian states (except WA) and NZ. Includes many ships for which no passenger list exists in Australia - and even if records do exist here, the information in this series is often more detailed and more accurate. Includes newspaper reports about the ship/voyage.
Eventide (Sandgate, Qld) registers of deaths 1954-1959.
Genealogical Research Directory 2000-2002. 225,000 surnames, places and subjects being researched, with researcher's name and address (so you can contact others with the same interests).
'Gladstone Observer' births, deaths and marriages 1929-1939. Separate indexes (alphabetical by surname only) for each type of event.
Gregson & Weight (Caloundra funeral director): index to records 1972-1999.
'Gympie Times' BDM and funeral notices 1875-1884. See also 'Nashville and Gympie Times'.
'Gympie Times' BDM and funeral notices 1885-1889.
Hayward-Webb Index, Vol. 1: births 1866-1899. From 'Qld Times' newspaper, Ipswich.
Hayward-Webb Index, Vol. 2: marriages 1866-1899. From 'Qld Times' newspaper, Ipswich.
Hayward-Webb Index, Vol. 3: deaths 1866-1899. From 'Qld Times' newspaper, Ipswich.
History of Qld: Its People and Industries (Matthew J. Fox). Name indexes from vols. 1-3.
Ingham Hospital Admissions Index, Aug 1889 - May 1890. Compiled from records that often give details similar to a death certificate, plus ship of arrival etc.
* Inquest Index 1859-1880. New, corrected index to Qld Justice Department files. Includes drownings, suicides, murders, many sudden or accidental deaths, some deaths in institutions and deaths for which no official death registration exists, and fires with or without a death.
Ipswich Selectors, 1869. Index to Ipswich selectors who were paying off their land in 1869 (from Qld Government Gazette list). Helps to locate original selection file at Qld State Archives.
K.M. Smith Undertakers Records 1877-1960. Brisbane undertakers.
* Mining Leases Index 1871-1940. Combined index to Mines Department gold mining leases 1871-1919 and mineral leases 1884-1940; Mining Warden, Cloncurry, mineral and water race leases 1910-1933; Mines Department index to coal mining licence register under the Act of 1886.
Miscellaneous Records of the Moreton Bay Region 1855-1859. Index to records not included in the Pre-Separation Index (CPS Brisbane, Nanango, Taroom, Gladstone; Circuit Court, Toowoomba; PO Drayton letterbooks; prison records; etc.)
Moreton Bay Supreme Court Records 1857-1859. Index to records not included in the Pre-Separation Index (bankruptcy, insolvency, civil and criminal proceedings, naturalisations, probates).
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens (Brisbane) Cremation Register Index, Nov 1941 - May 1948.
Muttaburra Hospital Admissions Index. Part of 1887, 1892-1894, 1921-1928. Compiled from records that often give details similar to a death certificate, plus ship of arrival etc.
'Nashville and Gympie Times' BDM Notices, 1868-1874.
'North Australian and Ipswich General Advertiser' BDM extracts 1858-1865. Includes inquests, and some of those deaths may not be registered. Many events occurred in other States. Index includes others mentioned in notices. Covers an earlier time period than the Hayward-Webb Index.
Officekeepers of Qld Post Offices 1842-1980 and Receiving Offices 1869-1927. Many of these people also had other occupations.
Old Age Pension Applicants Index, 1908-1909. Useful for locating people not on electoral rolls at that time.
Qld electoral rolls 1860-1869.
Qld electoral rolls 1870-1879.
Qld electoral rolls 1880-1884.
* Qld Federation Index 1890-1914. Combined index to civil registration records of births, deaths and marriages 1890-1914, on CD-ROM.
Qld Gazetted Licences Index 1860-1901. Auctioneers, boats, bagatelle, billiards, brewers, confectioners, carriers, distillers, fishing, fortifying, packet, postage stamp sales, rectifying, slaughtering, surveyor, tobacco sales or manufacture, various licences re liquor or spirits excluding publicans / licensed victuallers. Goldfield miners rights and business licences Aug 1870 - Nov 1884. Timber licences for various purposes including fencing, shingles and firewood, and licences to dig or remove stone, gravel, shell etc., 1860-1901.
Qld Government Gazettes index 1859-1869.
Qld Government Gazettes index 1870-1879.
Qld Government Gazettes index 1880-1889.
Qld Government Gazettes index 1890-1899.
Qld Horse and Cattle Brands Index, 1872. Compiled from Qld Government Gazette notices. Gives name of farm or run and nearest post town, thus useful for locating people who were not on electoral rolls. Includes trustees, guardians, some women, and some NSW registrations.
Qld Horse and Cattle Brands Index, 1873-1879. As above.
Qld Hotels and Publicans Index, 1843-1900. Indexes to hotel names and publicans' names.
* Qld Medical Board Minutes, 1860-1874. Index to persons mentioned, including doctors, chemists and druggists.
* Qld Pioneers Index 1829-1889. Combined index to civil registration records of births, deaths and marriages 1856-1889 and some church records (baptisms 1829-1856, marriages 1839-1856, burials 1829-1856) on CD-ROM.
Qld Police Gazette Index 1864-1874. Missing friends, prisoners, licenses, judicial appointments, some asylum patients etc. Lists all names mentioned. Includes some notices from interstate Police Gazettes.
Qld Railway Dept. staff registers 1878-1946. Consolidated index to 10 registers at Qld State Archives. Index gives date of birth if shown.
Qld School Pupils Index Vols.1-5. 230,000 names from 175 primary schools, 1864-1997. From school/local histories, admission registers not at Qld State Archives, etc.
* Qld Teachers Index, 1860-1904. From Education Department registers of teachers, held by Qld State Archives.
Qld Teachers Index, 1907-1911. Admissions, promotions, transfers and resignations, from Education Office Gazette.
'Qld Times' (Ipswich) - see Hayward-Webb Bicentennial Index.
'Queenslander' newspaper BDMs etc. 1880-1889.
'Queenslander' newspaper BDMs etc. 1890-1899.
'Queenslander' newspaper BDMs etc. 1900-1909.
Raglan Cemetery. Index to burial records and headstones.
* Register of criminal depositions Jul 1861 - Feb 1885. Original source gives name of accused, offence, Bench (place), committing magistrate's name, date committed, committed for trial to be held where and when, witnesses' names, recognisances, bail, remarks.
Rockhampton Crematorium: index of cremations, 1948 to March 1992. Gives name, death date, date of cremation, and (usually) age.
Rosevale parish map, 1904 (County of Churchill). Index to selectors.
St. George Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1858-1993.
* Supreme Court ecclesiastical files ('wills'): combined index for Southern, Central and Northern Districts, 1857-1900. Corrects thousands of errors and omissions in the old indexes. There are files for many people who lived and died in other States or overseas, but who owned real or personal property in Queensland. From mid-1890s, most files contain a death certificate.
Toowoomba Cemetery public burials 1882-1997 (see under Drayton)
Toowong Cemetery monumental inscriptions to 1988 (index): Brisbane's largest cemetery. Index gives surname and initial (given names are shown only if the surname is very common), portion, and reference number. Further research is required to obtain the actual inscription.
'Townsville Daily Bulletin' BDMs etc. 1950-1959.
Townsville Orphanage indexes 1878-1911, 1917-1924, 1923-1943. Includes children from various parts of Qld, some of whose parents were alive but unable to care for them.
Transmission of Real Estate by Death 1878-1889, 1890-1899, 1900-1904, 1905-1909, 1910-1914, 1915-1919, 1920-1924, 1925-1929, 1930-1934, 1935-1937, 1938-1940. Names of deceased and claimants, many of whom were from interstate and overseas. Some of these people left wills that went through the Supreme Court; others did not. The notices often give details that are not in the will.
Wallangarra quarantine index. During the 1918-1920 influenza epidemic, persons entering Qld (either for the first time, or returning) were held in quarantine camps. Registers give name, occupation, address, date of leaving Qld, marital status, signature, and sometimes other details.
'Wynnum Herald' 1946-1955.

Searches in these indexes:

PRINT this page and read the introduction carefully.
Make a list of the indexes that are of interest, and the names you would look for in each.
If you want to do the research yourself:
- For indexes marked with an asterisk, go to Qld State Archives in Brisbane.
- For other indexes, go to your nearest State, municipal or genealogical library and ask them (not me) whether they hold or sell the index. In particular try the Qld Family History Society, Genealogical Society of Qld, Society of Australian Genealogists, State Library of Qld, Australian National Bibliographic Database and Gould Genealogy, or search with Google by changing the setting below to 'Web'.
If you want me to do the research: contact (type this address into an email). List the indexes and names required, and your email and postal address, and ask for a quote. I am a professional genealogist, so the cost depends on the time involved. If you are not willing to pay a small fee (the average is about $5 per search), read point 3 above.

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