J is for Jurors and Justice Department

This week's 'Family History Through the Alphabet' challenge focuses on the letter 'J'.

J is for...

• Jurors.  Yesteryear Links published an index to jurors and witnesses in cases heard at Charters Towers (Queensland), 1920-1937, in the Circuit Court, District Court, Criminal Court, Police Court, Coroner's Court etc. The index gives names, addresses and often occupations of jurors and witnesses, and it states whether the original document includes that person's signature.


• Justice Department.  Queensland State Archives hold many series of Justice Department records for which there are indexes. They include Registers of Criminal Depositions, Inquests (magisterial enquiries), and Preliminary Enquiries. For one series of Preliminary Enquiries (1931-1961) there are separate indexes to the deceased and other people mentioned. If there was also an inquest, the Preliminary Enquiries file gives extra details.

You can find out more about all of these indexes by referring to my books Specialist Indexes in Australia: a Genealogist's Guide and Tips for Queensland Research, which are held by many libraries.

More tips for family history are in my other articles in this series. If the information and advice is useful, have a look at this page.

Orders to administer: inventories 1953-1978

Supreme Court (Southern District) orders to administer - inventories, 1953-1978 (Queensland State Archives series ID 17985) consists of only a small number of files, but they include some persons whose intestacy file was lost in a fire.

The 'orders' give deceased's name, residence, occupation, date and place of death, and an inventory. The file number in this series corresponds with that in the index to Public Curator orders and elections.

(This is an extract from my book Tips for Queensland Research.)

Gympie Police Charge Bench Books

Queensland State Archives item ID 324223 (previous system B/3056) is an index to Court of Petty Sessions (Gympie) police charge bench books, 14 Jan 1890 - 27 Jul 1931. It is alphabetical only by first letter of surname. Entries usually give date, name, offence and how disposed of.

Two letters inside the front cover are about James Edward MADDEN and J. HOLT (probably Joseph James HOLT). HOLT committed suicide on 21 Oct 1893. He had asked that two people in NSW be notified, and the document gives their addresses.

This departmental index for 1890-1931 makes it easier to find entries in the actual bench books, which are much more informative. I myself have indexed persons arrested and victims of crime from Gympie bench books for an earlier period (1884-1886).

Supreme Court equity files

I chose this week's topic, Queensland Supreme Court equity files, in honour of Marianne Eastgate, who passed away on 5th September. Marianne was the driving force behind the Pre-Separation project that indexed virtually all records of the Moreton Bay District of New South Wales before it became Queensland in 1859.

Marianne's many other contributions to family history include an index to Queensland's Supreme Court equity cases 1857-1895. The cases include gold miners' disputes; rights of minors, incapacitated persons, lunatics and inmates of asylums; disputes over wills; liquidation of companies; and people with money in a bank. The files contain many birth, death and marriage certificates (including some from overseas), land records, powers of attorney etc. The index, which includes names of most plaintiffs, defendants and witnesses mentioned in the files, is in the Public Search Room at Queensland State Archives.

Supreme Court deed poll records

There is now a 100-year restriction (it used to be only 30 years) on access to Supreme Court deed poll records at Queensland State Archives - but you may be able to apply for access to restricted records via Right to Information. Start by reading the Research Guide to Court records, on the Queensland State Archives website. (They periodically change the website address, so I won't put a link here. You'll find it easily with a Google search.)