Find your ancestors in Queensland Early Pioneers Index 1824-1859

QUEENSLAND EARLY PIONEERS INDEX 1824-1859

Do you have Queensland ancestry?

This index was a Bicentennial Project of the Queensland Family History Society (1988), endorsed by the Queensland Committee of the Australian Bicentennial Authority. The index contains 156,760 references to approximately 50,000 names, taken from 75 sources located in Brisbane. It has been compiled from primary sources and contains references to those who were living in what is now Queensland (former Moreton Bay Region) prior to separation from New South Wales at the end of 1859. It's a terrific genealogy tool for anyone exploring their family history or building their family tree.

Main records indexed:

  • Convict period 1824-1841

  • Chronological register of convicts, Capt. Logan's Letterbook, Peter Spicer's Diary, Book of Trials, Convict Death Registers, Queale's convict information, Moreton Bay Hospital records, Colonial Secretarys Letters

  • Free settlement period 1842-59

  • Administration - Colonial Secretarys Letters, Simpson Letterbook, Govt.Resident's Letters & papers

  • Immigration - Passenger arrivals at Brisbane, Coastal shipping arrivals, "Fortitude" shipping list, Queensland Family History Society Pre-Separation Group records

  • Law - Brisbane Gaol records, Circuit Court (Toowoomba papers), Native Police records, Publicans' etc. licenses, C.P.S. (Brisbane, Gayndah, Ipswich), Small Debts Court (Brisbane), Supreme Court letters

  • Land - Commissioner for Crown Lands records, Crown Lands Office records, Survey Department records, Title deeds (Titles Office), Receipts for deposits on land, Stock mortgages

  • Newspapers - Maitland Mercury, Moreton Bay Courier, Sydney Morning Herald

  • Personal - Queensland Registrar-General (births, deaths and marriages indexes), Roman Catholic baptismal registers, Queensland FHS Pre-Separation Group records

  • Welfare - Moreton Bay Hospital records

  • Summary of fields used

  • The following summarises the fields used in the index. 

  • Name - Surname will always be indicated. Aliases are entered under both names. [?] indicates that the indexer is not sure of the spelling. Given name(s) or initial(s) may be omitted or replaced by title when not known; not used for aboriginals, Chinese or Indian coolies. 

  • Title (Form of address)

  • Date - By day, month, year; month and year only; or year only 

  • Nationality

  • Status - Convict/free - convicts are indicated, otherwise omitted

  • Gender - Females are indicated, otherwise omitted 

  • Record Type - Always indicated. Taken from advertisements, BDM records, divorce records, funeral notices, wills, educational, sporting, shipping, legal, land and other records. 

  • Source - This will always be present. As part of each source, the Brisbane locations where this material can be found are also indicated. 

  • Location in Source - This gives the location within the source in the form Letter:Volume/Microfilm:Page/Microfilm:Folio/Column; Note that there is a maximum of four items separated by colons. Items are included as appropriate to the source.