01 July 2012

C is for Cooktown, Croydon and Cunnamulla

For the letter 'C' in the 'Family History Through the Alphabet' challenge, I was tempted to write about cemeteries, churches and family surnames such as Campbell, Capsticks, Clark and Corduex. Instead I decided to list three Queensland towns whose records I have indexed.

C is for...
  • Cooktown.  In the 1800s, Cooktown was the main port for the North Queensland gold fields. Local hospital records, which are very useful for family history, give information about people from all walks of life, including miners, sailors and railway workers. Many had spent time in other parts of Australia and in New Guinea and New Zealand. I have indexed Cooktown Hospital admission registers and some local petitions and school records.

  • Croydon.  Another North Queensland mining town for which I have indexed hospital admission registers. During the 1880s, 70% of those admitted to Croydon hospital were born in Britain or Ireland, and about 15% were born in Australia's southern states, especially the Victorian goldfields. Some residents of Croydon moved to Western Australia when gold was discovered there. The index to Croydon Hospital admissions is now online, with Archives source location numbers.

  • Cunnamulla.  My home town! I have indexed various records for Cunnamulla, Eulo and Thargomindah in southwest Queensland.

You will find more tips for family history in my other articles in this series.

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© Copyright, Judy Webster - 19:26

5 comments:

  1. Cassmob (Pauleen)01 July, 2012 22:45

    This is a great way to highlight those wonderful Qld resoources! I hope it brings home just how much can be found.

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  2. Gould Genealogy02 July, 2012 08:41

    The Hospital Admission Registers are an amazing source of info. And as Pauleen says, this is a great way to highlight these amazing records.

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  3. Judy Webster02 July, 2012 20:02

    I just wish more hospital admission registers had survived. They have solved a lot of genealogical puzzles. I have seen cases where immigration records have not survived and hospital records are the only known source naming the ship of arrival.

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  4. Helen V Smith02 July, 2012 23:32

    Another great post! Really looking forward to your other entries. I love hospital records for everything you have mentioned and for the at times amazing causes of death.

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    Replies
    1. Judy Webster03 July, 2012 09:03

      Thanks, Helen. It would be interesting to study the registers to get statistics on how many patients died in the hospital. The only figures I have are from a ten year period in the early 1900s. At that time about 7% of Croydon Hospital patients died (many from 'senility' or similar) and 93% recovered. It would be interesting to compare the figures for the 1880s and 1890s.

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