This page highlights a selection of indexes for family history research. Many include people from other States/countries as well as Queenslanders. Newspaper titles are in 'quotes'. BDM means births, deaths and marriages. External links open in a new window.

How to search these indexes:

1. If you want to do a search yourself:
   
   
   • Indexes marked with an asterisk * are (or were) at Queensland State Archives in Brisbane (though some archivists may deny knowledge of them).
     
     
   • For other indexes, follow the links to indexes that are on the Internet, or contact your State, municipal or genealogical library (especially Queensland Family History Society) and ask whether they have the index in hard copy or on CD-ROM, microfiche or microfilm.
   
   
2. If you want me to search an index that is NOT marked with an asterisk, the fee depends on the handling time ($5 minimum). Email me at (address shown as an image) with 'Index Search Quote' in the subject line. Specify the name of the index exactly as it appears on this page, and the name of the person you're looking for, and request an 'Index Search Quote'. You'll need to add my email address to your Contacts or Safe Senders list.

Indexes:

• Alex Gow (Brisbane) Funeral Directors' Records 1960-1965. See 'Queensland Burials' on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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. Index is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Bollon Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to June 1985.
  
  
• 'Brisbane Courier' - see Crosse-Dunleavy Index.
  
  
• Brisbane Hospital Admissions Indexes.  Compiled from records with biographical details, employer, ship of arrival, whereabouts of relatives, etc.
  
  
• Brisbane Hotels and Publicans Index, 1842-1900.
  
  
• Brisbane Prison Hospital Admissions Index, 1904-1911.  Coming soon! Compiled from original records with biographical details, ship of arrival, whereabouts of relatives, offence, etc.
  
  
• Burketown Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1905-1993.
  
  
• Burketown Hospital Admissions Index, Dec 1909 - 1923.
  
  
• Cannon and Cripps (Funeral Directors) Index.  Brisbane undertakers. See 'Queensland Burials' on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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 rolls (Qld) 1903, 1913, 1922, 1934, 1949, 1959, 1969. Indexes published by Qld Family History Society. All except 1969 (which was released recently) are also on Findmypast.
  
  
• Cooktown Boys' State School admissions, 1885 - May 1889.
  
  
• Cooktown Burial Register to 1920 and Monumental Inscriptions to 1986 (published book; the index is also on Ancestry).
  
  
• Cooktown Hospital admissions, 1884-1901. Compiled from records that often give biographical details, ship of arrival etc.  Many miners and sailors.
  
  
• Crosse-Dunleavy Index, 1861-1869 and Crosse-Dunleavy Index, 1870-1879.  BDM and funeral notices, 'Brisbane Courier' newspaper. Use these indexes if you can't find an entry in Trove.
  
  
• Crown Land Sales in Qld, 1860-1911.  Country and town land sales. Original registers give name of 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.
  
  
• Croydon Hospital admissions, 1888-1925. Compiled from records that often give biographical details, ship of arrival etc.  Includes 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.
  
  
• 'Darling Downs Gazette' BDMs and Obituaries, 1860-1922.  Newspaper for Toowoomba and surrounding areas. Part of the index is on Toowoomba and Darling Downs FHS website.
  
  
• Dental apprentices and their employers 1917-1925.
  
  
• * Dentists who had difficulty being recognised by Qld Dental Board 1903-1927.  Index to original files.
  
  
• 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 a seamen's register.
  
  
• * Discharged and Deserted Seamen, Qld, 1894-1913.  Index to another seamen's register.
  
  
• Drayton Toowoomba Cemetery public burials 1882-1997.
  
  
• * Dunwich Benevolent Asylum applications for admission 1890-1922.  Original files are very informative, but none exist for surnames starting with A, B before BOU, E, K, L, O, P, Q, T, U, V or W.
  
  
• 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.  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 in this country, the information in this series from overseas is usually more detailed and more accurate. Index is now online.
  
  
• * Engineers registered in Qld 1930-1993.
  
  
• * Supreme Court Equity cases 1857-1895 (index originally compiled by Marianne Eastgate).  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. Files contain many BDM certificates, land records, powers of attorney.
  
  
• Eulo Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.
  
  
• Eventide (Sandgate, Qld) registers of deaths 1954-1959.
  
  
• 'Gladstone Observer' BDMs 1929-1939.  Separate indexes for each type of event.
  
  
• Gregson & Weight (Caloundra funeral director): index to records 1972-1999. See this description.
  
  
• '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 'Queensland Times' newspaper, Ipswich. Before searching this, try Trove newspapers (but it uses optical character recognition software that gets some letters wrong).
  
  
• Hayward-Webb Index, Vol. 2: marriages 1866-1899.  From 'Qld Times' newspaper, Ipswich. Before searching this, try Trove newspapers (but it uses optical character recognition software that gets some letters wrong).
  
  
• Hayward-Webb Index, Vol. 3: deaths 1866-1899.  From 'Qld Times' newspaper, Ipswich. Before searching this, try Trove newspapers.
  
  
• Helidon Roman Catholic Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to March 1984.
  
  
• History of Qld: Its People and Industries (Matthew J. Fox). Name indexes from vols. 1-3.
  
  
• Illegitimate children. Index to unusual sources that identify the biological father when he isn't named on the certificate.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Insanity files 1865-c1945.  Mental asylum patients at Goodna (Woogaroo), Toowoomba (Willowburn), Ipswich etc.
  
  
• 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 files.
  
  
• K.M. Smith Undertakers Records 1877-1960.  Brisbane undertakers. See 'Queensland Burials' on Findmypast.
  
  
• * Land Orders index.  Useful for finding an arrival date for people who are not on immigration passenger lists.
  
  
• * Lands Department index to lessees of agricultural and grazing farms 1885-c1905.  This 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 selectors 1868-1885.  As for index to lessees (above).
  
  
• * 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.
  
  
• 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.) Index is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• Missing Friends Index.  Missing relatives/friends, emigrants, wife/child deserters, eloping daughters, missing beneficiaries of wills, fathers of illegitimate children, women who abandoned a child, suspected bigamists, etc. Compiled from original records with superb details for family history. Includes people from all over the world, especially UK, NZ, USA, Canada, and all of Australia.
  
  
• 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). Index is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• * 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.
  
  
• '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.
  
  
• * Northern District Insolvency Files, 1876-1922.  Includes the 1890s Depression, so there are lots of ordinary folk (many women), miners, publicans, storekeepers etc. Covers the area north of about Mackay.
  
  
• Nurses and Masseurs (male & female). Includes some who lived interstate/overseas.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• * Passport Registers (Qld) 1926-1939.  Index is now online.
  
  
• Photos and Sketches of People.  Index to historical images found in various series in record offices.
  
  
• Police Officers (Qld) who died on duty 1867-1992.  Index gives initials and surname, rank, date of death, and sometimes date of birth.
  
  
• * Prisoners at St. Helena (Queensland), 1863-1907, 1917-1924, 1934-1936. The index on Findmypast may not point out the gaps in the years covered.
  
  
• * Prisoners' photographs 1889-1899, 1894-1896, 1918-1923.
  
  
• Prisoners - see also Brisbane Prison Hospital Admissions Index.
  
  
• Qld Federation Index 1890-1914.  Combined index to civil registration records of Qld births, deaths and marriages 1890-1914, on CD-ROM. Search options on CD are more powerful than with online indexes, but try those first.
  
  
• 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. Indexes for Miner's Rights and Business Licences, Miscellaneous Licences and Timber Licences are now on Findmypast.
  
  
• Qld Government Gazettes indexes. Read 'Search Tips' below the search box for the online index.
  
  
• Qld Horse and Cattle Brands Index 1872-1899.  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. Index is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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 Qld births, deaths and marriages 1856-1889 and some church records (baptisms 1829-1856, marriages 1839-1856, burials 1829-1856) on CD-ROM. Search options on CD are more powerful than with online indexes, but try those first.
  
  
• 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. Index is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• 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.  More than a million names from school histories, local histories, admission registers etc, 1864-c.1993. Much of the index is on Findmypast. The entire index is available (online) to members of the Queensland Family History Society.
  
  
• Qld State electoral rolls index 1860-1884. Indexes are now on Findmypast.
  
  
• * Qld Teachers Index, 1860-1904.  From Education Department registers of teachers.
  
  
• 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; 1890-1899; 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.
  
  
• * Solicitors 1861-1900.  Index to files re admission of persons to practice.
  
  
• St. George Cemetery Burial Register Index, 1858-1993.
  
  
• * Queensland Supreme Court 'wills' (ecclesiastical files): 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 owned real or personal property in Queensland. From mid-1890s, most files contain a death certificate.
  
  
• Thargomindah Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.
  
  
• Toowong Cemetery monumental inscriptions to 1988:  Index to names on headstones in Brisbane's largest cemetery is now on Findmypast.
  
  
• Toowoomba Cemetery public burials 1882-1997  (see under Drayton)
  
  
• '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.
  
  
• Various sources in record offices.  Selected names from a wide variety of sources (Court records, registers of criminal depositions, Grammar School and State School records, Police Station records, Transmission by Death notices, etc.) Includes some witnesses at inquests.
  
  
• Wallangarra quarantine registers index.  During the 1918-1920 influenza epidemic, people entering or returning to Qld were held in quarantine camps. Registers give name, occupation, address, date of leaving Qld, marital status, signature, and sometimes other details. Index is on Findmypast.
  
  
• Women who applied to protect their earnings from their husband.
  
  
• Wyandra Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions index to 1985.
  
  
• 'Wynnum Herald' 1946-1955.

How to search these indexes

Other Suggestions

40 of my Favourite Genealogy Indexes/Sources.

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