Discovering Links: 17 FREE Links for Queensland Genealogy Research

Here’s another post in my “Discovering Links” series. These consist of a collection of links that I have discovered, or found useful, and simply want to share with others. But rather than just giving you a whole batch of random links each time, I am grouping them by Australian state, country, county, or topic. You can see my previous Discovering Links posts here.

So Queensland is the topic for this one. It’s not intended to be an exhaustive collection of links, but simply ones that many will find useful, and it may include some that you may not have known about.

And while many people think that genealogy costs a lot of money, let me tell you that all of the links below are free. Personally I find that it’s often a matter of knowing where to look beyond the big-name websites, and hopefully this will help with that.

=== QUEENSLAND ===

Renamed Places in Queensland
While I’ve seen ‘renamed towns’ lists for other places, I’ve never seen one as extensive as this Queensland one. Going way beyond just listing towns and suburbs that have been renamed, this one even includes street, cemeteries and buildings. Grouped into: Shires & Local Government; Electorates; Towns, suburbs & localities; Post offices; Railway Stations; Schools; Streets; Churches; Cemeteries;
Buildings: Houses, Hotels, Theatres, Properties & Other Man-Made Things; Geographical Features: Mountains, Rivers etc.; Shire & Local and more!

Queensland Family Trees
This website contains names of over 42,000 individuals, and over 2000 photos and other media, which are linked to the relevant individuals that have a connection to Queensland. Easy to use it has a simple search box on the home page.

Queensland Residents Pre-1859
Griffith University is documenting the lives and experiences of “people, groups and organisations that have not been the subject of historical investigation” by collating information relating to the early colonial period. Use the simply A-Z list, or enter a surname, and you’ll find those that have all ready been documented. Alternatively you’re also welcome to submit your own ancestral biographies

Queensland Timeline pre-1600s to 1859
What happened when in Queensland? This comprehensive timeline will tell you.

Queensland War Memorials Register
War memorials remain as places for honouring the fallen and those who have served our nation. They remind us that in the despair of war, the ANZACs showed courage, ingenuity, good natured irreverent humour and a commitment to their mates. The Queensland War Memorial Register records the sites that are sacred to the memory of those that served. It is designed to provide information for historians and to assist present and future generations understand how the dedication and courage of Australia’s youth created a spirit and national identity for our country. At the time of writing this the site lists 1399 war memorials.

Brisbane Images 1850s to Present
The Brisbane City Archives holds an amazing digital collection of images, maps, plans and documents that document Brisbane’s History from the 1850s through to now. Find your house, find your street or see the tram routes of Brisbane in the 1940s. You can search and view these collections here. Simply enter your search term above or click on an image below to start exploring Brisbane – past and present.

Brisbane City Council Cemeteries
The Brisbane City Council manages 12 cemeteries and three crematoriums: Bald Hills Cemetery; Balmoral Cemetery; Brookfield Cemetery; Cedar Creek Cemetery; Hemmant Cemetery; Hemmant Crematorium; Lutwyche Cemetery; Moggil Cemetery; Mount Gravatt Cemetery; Mount Gravatt Crematorium; Nundah Cemetery; Pinnaroo Crematorium; Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery; South Brisbane Cemetery; and Toowong Cemetery. Unfortunately, not all records are complete because the Brisbane Council only gained full control of Brisbane’s public cemeteries in July 1930. Before that time, a number of trusts established under Queensland law managed these cemeteries.

Queensland Births, Deaths and Marriages
Search the Queensland historical births, deaths and marriages indexes for free. Covering births between 1829 and 1919, marriages between 1829 and 1944, and deaths between 1829 and 1989, to obtain a copy of the certificate there is a fee, and you can choose to have it as a digital image and emailed to you or a paper copy posted out to you.

Maryborough Public Records 1847-1989
This collecion of miscellaneous records for Maryborough, Queensland, includes burial registers, a hospital death register, list of residents, and a list of war memorials and honor rolls giving soldiers’ names. Original records are located in Maryborough City Hall, Queensland, Australia. The collection contains over 17,000 entries, on 1844 original images.

Convict Transportation Registers Database 1787-1867
The State Library of Queensland have compiled a listing on over 123,000 convicts that arrived on the following ships: Asia, Surrey, Mangles, Norfolk, Elizabeth, Layton, Lord Lyndoch, Marquis of Huntley, Guildford, Prince Regent, Georgiana, Blenheim, Adelaide, Strathfieldsaye, St Vincent, Argyle, Circassian, and Stately.

Queensland Cemetery Inscriptions 1802-1990
An index of over 1.1 million entries which combines several indexes, cemetery transcriptions, burial and other records from cemeteries in mostly in Queensland. Although there a few entries that relate to New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Tasmania, and Western Australia.

Queensland Soldier WWI Portaits
The State Library of Queensland has digitised almost 30,000 soldier portraits that appeared in ‘The Queenslander’ periodical from 1914 through to 1917.

Queensland Mining Accidents 1882-1945
Queensland mining accidents were listed annually in the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes & Proceedings. This index contains 8904 entries of mining deaths in Queensland that were mentioned. The accidents occured in the following regions: Ipwsich region, Charters Towers, Mount Morgan region, Gympie region, Mount Isa region, Chillagoe region, Bowen, Rockhampton region, Maryborough, Darling Downs, Cloncurry region, Mount Coolan, Clermont region, Cracow, Brisbane region, Irvinebank, Townsville region.

Text Queensland
This website is a one everyone researching Queensland history should bookmark. All free, it contains books, journals, theses and newspapers as well as government sources including the Queensland Government Gazette 1859-1900, as well as Pugh’s Almanacs,  The Queenslander (newspaper) 1866-1939, Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland 1914-1994 and much more. and more … all searchable.
The Queenslander (newspaper) 1866-1939, as well as the Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland 1914-1994 and much more.

Queensland School, Hospital and Orphanage Records
The Queensland State Archives has an enormous collection of records from the nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century on Queensland government schools, hospitals, asylums, medical staff, orphanages and children’s homes to name a few. The link above takes you to a listing of what they have available.

Queensland Genealogy and Archives Research Tips
Well-known genealogy researcher, Judy Webster knows everything there is to know about Queensland genealogy research, and her site is an enormouse collection of information for those with Queensland connections. She has a Tips section for those researching Queensland genealogy, which is totally worth a read.

Queensland Genealogy Facebook Group
Got a query to do with Queensland genealogy research? Are you on Facebook? If yes, why not join the Queensland Genealogy Facebook Group, and pop your question there. There’s several thousand member, and members are happy to help each other out.

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Happy researching 🙂