If you are researching your Australian ancestors, one record that doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves is Government Gazettes. I know it has the word “government” in it, so it automatically “sounds” boring, but trust me the Government Gazettes are a truly fascinating read! And if you haven’t discovered them, now is a good time to do so. I know I shouldn’t call them ‘Australian Government Gazettes’ as technically they’re not, but for ease of understanding, I’m choosing to. First up, a little background history on them … These Gazettes were first issued in the 1800s, by the governments of the various Australian colonies (this was way before Federation, as we didn’t have States then), and used the Government Gazettes as a means of communication to the general public. They’re kind of like a newspaper, but without the whole journalism style we get these days. Instead they contained lots of facts (names, dates, places and events). These were generally issued one a week, but from time to time “Extraordinary Issues” or “Supplements” were released in between if there was a need. What information is in an Australian Government Gazette? The first question that everyone asks is “what will I find in them?” which as you would expect if a very valid question. The answer however isn’t as simple, as it tends to vary between the different Australian colonies, and between the years as well, but I won’t go into the nitty gritty as Archive Digital Books Australasia has done their own analysis on this, which you can read. However some information tends to be the same no matter what Australian colony, and no matter what timeframe, such as: – Land transactions: records of land purchased, who by, who...