- Spelling of names was not as consistent as it is today, so be sure to check alternatives—e.g. Thompson and Thomson.
- Names may have been incorrectly indexed as the handwriting is sometimes difficult to read or the ink has faded.
- The capital letters L, T, F and S are often confused as lower-case letters n, m, u and w. This means that Taylor may indexed as Laylor or Brum may be indexed as Bruin.
- The use of double ‘s’ (ss) often looks like fs, so Ross will be indexed as Ross but may appear in the record as Rofs.
- Names may have been written in the record phonetically as the clerks wrote the names as they heard them. Think about how it could be spelt as it was heard.
- Some given names are abbreviated as they appear in the original record
- Some records are restricted for several years.
- Some records have not survived.
- A blank cell indicates that there is no information recorded in the original.
Shipping and railways
We hold records about shipping and railways including information about seamen, immigration, and the administration of railways such as staff, correspondence and plans.
Finding shipping and railway records
Research guides
Research guides give information about the types of records you might find on different topics, and relevant series of records that may help get you started.
- Research guide to records about shipwrecks and boating accidents—series of records which may assist researchers in identifying shipwrecks and to research boating accidents.
- Research guide to railway records—information on all aspects of the government administration of railways.
- Research guide to railway locomotive and rollingstock drawings—tracing the development of railway locomotive and rollingstock in Queensland from 1864 onwards.
See our immigration page for searching for people who arrived by sea. Not all records can be searched for online, so please contact us if you need help.
Search the catalogue
ArchivesSearch provides access to our collection of records, including documents, letters, land orders, maps, plans and images. For help searching, read the ArchivesSearch help guide.
Contact us
Contact us if you need further help.