Queensland's Missing Births and Deaths

The Queensland Pioneers Index 1829-1889 is an excellent genealogy resource that was published on CD-ROM by the Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.

Listed below are fourteen entries that are on the CD but not in the online historical indexes.

Baptisms with details shown on the CD:

• BAINBRIGGE Philip Parker, father Thomas, mother Sarah, 30 Jul 1828
• CLARK Emmeline Cameron, father Thomas, mother Emmeline SANDERS, 28 Oct 1828
• FERRIS Thomas, father John, mother Catharine, 15 Dec 1828
• GUERD Mary Anne, father Thomas, mother Mary, 18 Apr 1828
• ROBERTS William Henry, father Charles, mother Esther, 15 Sep 1828
• STACE Robert Austen, father Austen, mother Susanna, 5 May 1820

Burials (these undated burials had '1800' in the 'year' field on the CD-ROM):

• ARMS John
• BELL
• BELL (Mrs)
• BRETT
• BURNS
• HARVEY Elizabeth Ann
• MACARTHUR
• YATES

Searches on the Registry's Web site require a date of 1829 or later. Perhaps that's why these entries no longer appear in search results. If the Registry replies to my enquiry about this problem, I will add a comment here.

(This post first appeared on http://qld-genealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/queenslands-missing-births-and-deaths.html.)

Queensland Genealogy News (BDMs, seminar, records)

(1)  Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages can now supply more death certificates as images, with 1939-1953 being added to the list. The Registry has also extended 'available births' to 1914, 'available marriages' to 1939, and (after I contacted them to point out the mistake on their Web page) 'available deaths' to 1984. (See also 'Free Certificates in Archives Files'.)

(2)  Genealogy seminar, Brisbane, Sat. 1 Feb 2014 (Broncos Leagues Club, Fulcher Road, Red Hill). Four main presentations by renowned international speakers Chris Paton and Thomas MacEntee (both of whom I have heard and can recommend), plus short presentations by local and sponsoring partners, an exhibition, and special offers and hundreds of dollars worth of prizes. The four main talks are 'Irish land records', 'Scottish inheritance records', 'Building a genealogy research toolbox' and 'You use WHAT for genealogy? Wonderful uses for unusual tools'. You can book for the morning, afternoon or full day. Click here for more details of this seminar or here for other presentations by Chris and Thomas in Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Perth.

(3)  New records available at Queensland State Archives include Caboolture Divisional Board / Caboolture Shire Council rate books and valuation registers.

(4)  My weekly posts in the '52 Weeks of Genealogical Records' series will include many tips relevant to Queensland research.

Improved Searches for Births Deaths and Marriages (Queensland)

The Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages has today (16 October 2013) released an improved version of its search engine. Features include:

• It is no longer necessary to enter information in the 'Last name' field. You can leave that blank and just enter the person's first name, the first name of their father or mother, or any combination of these. You can also use the wildcard feature on all of these search fields.
• Mother's maiden surname is once again shown in results for death index searches. (This wasn't mentioned in the press release, but I was pleased to see it. We've been waiting a while for that to be fixed - see 'Maiden Names missing from Qld death indexes online'.)

In the field labelled 'Mother's first name', you can enter the first name plus surname to narrow down the results, but beware of spelling variants.

Now that you can omit the surname:

1. Enter 'father's name + mother's name' to find deaths of daughters whose married surname you do not know.
2. That technique may also find:
   • previously unknown siblings
   • events registered under weird spelling variants.
3. Enter 'mother's name' only to find illegitimate births.

You will find that some illegitimate births are registered under multiple surnames. In this example the birth is registered under DREW, DENMAN and SOLWAY.

Some illegitimate births are registered under multiple surnames

My main Web site has an index and advice for family historians who are trying to identify the father of an illegitimate child. I have also created a mini-guide, Researching Illegitimate Children.

Did you know that Victorian birth, death & marriage indexes are now on FindMyPast?

Maiden Names missing from Queensland death indexes online

I recently (Sep 2013) sent this question to the Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages:

'Since your recent changes to online historical indexes, the mother's maiden surname has disappeared from many death index entries. Why is that, and will the matter be rectified in the future?'

Their reply was (I quote):

'If the Mothers maiden name (or Parents names) had been included on a Death Certificate than it will also be included on the historical index. Any details and information included on a Death Certificate does vary and is dependent on the amount of information provided by the Informant at time of death. All details we have are included on the index.'

Umm... WRONG!

Example 1 (death of Frederick William STEVENS, 1882):

Queensland Registrar-General's Pioneers Index 1829-1889 (on CD-ROM) shows the mother's maiden surname (GIBSON), but the online index at www.bdm.qld.gov.au does not.

Example 2 (death of John PERRON, 1911):

Queensland Registrar-General's Federation Index 1890-1914 (on CD-ROM) shows the mother's maiden surname (BERBACCI), but the online index at www.bdm.qld.gov.au does not.

I sent this information to the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. Their response was:

'We are aware of this and it will be rectified in the new release which will be in October.'


My main Web site has more tips about Queensland BDM indexes and certificates.
~ ~ ~

Problem with recent Queensland death indexes

Following on from my hasty post ('More Queensland death indexes online') a couple of days ago... and before we all get too excited about the release of Queensland death indexes up to 1983...

My grandfather died in Queensland in 1967. Yesterday I noticed that his parents are not shown in the online death index entry, but their names are on his death certificate. I also noticed that in Grandad's index entry, columns for 'father' and 'mother' had blank spaces (not the dash that usually appears in the index when a death certificate does not include a parent's name).

An experiment with a common surname revealed that certain years seem to be worse than others. For example, there are 371 SMITH deaths in 1975-1976, but only 10 of them list the parents.

I don't want to waste time doing what someone has already done, so if you have asked the Queensland Registry of BDMs why they omitted parents' names from many of the later death index entries, please let us know the answer by leaving a comment here.

More Queensland death indexes online

Queensland Registrar-General's indexes to births to 1914, marriages to 1938 and deaths to 1983 are now online - but note that some indexes (births to 1919 and marriages to 1939) are available on microfiche but not online.

Once you know a year of death, it's much easier to search for a recent Supreme Court probate file - which, if it exists, will include the death certificate, thus saving you a lot of money.

There are other tips about Queensland birth, death and marriage records on my Web site and in the book Tips for Queensland Research. See also 'Free certificates in Archives files'.

Queensland genealogy news

For those who didn't see them on my Twitter page, here are some Queensland 'items of interest'. Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page.

• Ryerson Index now includes 150 years of death notices in the Maryborough Chronicle (now Fraser Coast Chronicle).


• Collinson Index, a unique source for Queensland history and genealogy, also fills gaps in Trove.


• Other news that is relevant to Queensland is in today's edition of Updates Genie.

Some of these tips originally came from other people, whom I have acknowledged on my Twitter page.

Index to Funeral Records 1972 - 2010

Would you think to look in Queensland for records of a burial or funeral service that took place overseas, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Fiji, Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Austria or the Netherlands?

Cemeteries and crematoria from all of those countries (plus all parts of Australia) are mentioned in records of Gregson and Weight, funeral directors at Caloundra, Maroochydore and Nambour on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

I recently bought Caloundra Family History Research Inc.'s new index (on CD-ROM), Gregson and Weight Funeral Directors, Caloundra, Maroochydore and Nambour - Index to Funeral Records 1972-2010. It lists (in PDF format) about 20,000 names (in two sections, 1972-1999 and 2000-2010), with surname, given name, age, death date or funeral date, place of burial or cremation, and a reference number. Aliases or nicknames are sometimes shown. Appendix 1 lists all cemeteries/crematoria mentioned, and explains how to contact them. Appendix 2 lists hyphenated or 'double-barrelled' surnames, which were not always recorded correctly in the index.

This very affordable index will be invaluable for finding deaths that are too recent to be in online civil registration indexes. There is a good explanation of abbreviations and the arrangement of entries, and a contact address for Gregson and Weight; but although the introduction says, We would be pleased if researchers would advise us of any inaccurate information, the author/publisher's address is not shown. The publication also lacks a proper title page (which should show title, author, publisher, date and place of publication, copyright notice and ISBN).

For more details about the index, contact Caloundra Family History Research.

Postscript, 2014: There is now an online database for various other Queensland funeral directors' records including Alex Gow, K.M. Smith, Cannon and Cripps, Metropolitan, Tucker and Nankivel, Lorisch, and Le Grand.

Free Certificates in Archives Files (Thrifty Thursday)

Before buying certificates, check whether there is a free alternative!

The sources mentioned below are in Queensland, but similar records exist in many interstate and overseas repositories.

Before buying a certificate from the Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, check whether that certificate is included in a file at Queensland State Archives. If it is, you can either take a digital photograph or save an image to a USB memory stick free of charge. (The Archives keep changing their Web site, so use Google to find the current URL.)

At the Archives you can often see certificates that you cannot buy from the Registry (because of differences in access restrictions). Certificates in archival files are often more accurate than typed copies issued by the Registry now.

From about the mid-1890s onwards, most Queensland Supreme Court 'will' files, and some 'intestacy' files, contain the death certificate. There are also probate files in Queensland for many people who died in other States and countries.

I sometimes find that the information on the death certificate in a probate file and the information on the certificate you bought from the Registry are significantly different! In one case the certificate in the probate file listed children who were not mentioned on the copy my client had bought from the Registry. In another case the probate file's copy showed that a person had lived in both the Northern Territory and Queensland (and how long in each place), but a more recent typed certificate from the Registry did not mention that.

I have seen birth, death and marriage certificates (including some from overseas) in many series of records. They include (but are not limited to):

• Supreme Court probate files ('wills' and 'intestacies'), divorce files and equity files
• Public Curator insanity files and Supreme Court insanity files
• Lands Department selection files
• Colonial Secretary's Office correspondence
• Police staff files
• Court of Petty Sessions maintenance records
• Police watchhouse records.

More information about those sources is in the book Tips for Queensland Research. For wills and probate records see also Queensland Genealogy and Archives Research Tips.

Postscript 1:  For the rest of Australia, see Kerry Farmer's suggestions re certificates.

Postscript 2:  A friend and I are creating an index for certificates that we find in odd places in Archives files. In the future, names from that index will be added to my main Web site.

Qld BDMs: recent changes

Searches in Qld Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages online indexes have been improved. You can now use wildcards and variable date searching, and registration numbers include district identifiers (Brisbane/country). Be sure to read the 'Search Tips' on the Registry's Web site.

Note that microfiche indexes are available for Qld births 1915-1919 and marriages 1935-1939, which are not online.

The price of Queensland certificates has risen again. Before buying them, look for certificates (especially death certificates) in State Archives sources as explained in the 2008 edition of Tips for Queensland Research.

Ancestry's recent announcement re Australian birth, death and marriage indexes is misleading. They do not have complete coverage for all States for the date ranges quoted, and many names are missing. I suggest that you check what indexes can be searched (usually free of charge) elsewhere.