Hello and welcome to Queensland State Archives.
QSA holds over 2.8 million original records created or received by Queensland State Government, dated from as early as 1824. That’s over 59 kilometres of all sorts of records about people and places in Queensland.
The records held at QSA can help with historical information for family history research, schools, buildings, land selections, the workings of government, and much more. If you’re new to researching at QSA, here are 6 tips to help you get started before you come and visit us.
1. Find out as much as you can before you visit us
To help you find information at QSA it will help if you gather as much information as you can. Names, dates, and places connected with your search will all help with locating records in our collection. This step could also help save you time and expense because the records you are looking for may not be held at QSA.
For example, birth, death and marriage records cannot be viewed or ordered at QSA. The Registry of births deaths and marriages has historical databases that you can search online, and order copies from.
2. Try to figure out what the Government connection is
Did a department in the Queensland State Government receive or create information about the topic you are interested in? There could be a lot of different interactions with different government departments and thinking about these connections may help you find things you didn’t even think of.
3. Try online sources
There are lots of places online that can help you find useful information. For example, the National Library of Australia has digitised newspapers from around the country that are available online up to the mid-1950s. TROVE is searchable by name and can show all sorts of interesting information. Obituaries, court appearances, hotel licenses and much more. All of this information can help find records at QSA.
4. Make notes and keep careful records
As you search through all of these different sources of information, make sure you keep careful notes of what you have found, and where. For example, if you find information about a court appearance in TROVE, we may be able to find an original court record if you provide the names of the parties involved, the name of the court, the date, and if at all possible, the offence.
5. Search online from home
Once you’ve gathered as much information as you can, try entering the name you are searching for in our catalogue, ArchiveSearch. Some of our records can be searched by a person’s name. You might be surprised by what you find.
If you are lucky enough to find a record with a name search, make sure you make a note of the Item Identification and the caption. This information will help you find the record again whether you visit us at 435 Compton Road Runcorn to view the record or request a quote to have a scanned copy of the record sent to you
6. Explore our collection
We have lots of guidance about our records on the website. This section of the website contains lots of information about some of our most popular topics. Each section contains brief guides that explain the sorts of records you might find, as well as links to indexes that can be name searched. Have a look around.
If you have any questions or would like to give us some feedback, please contact us via the online form on the ‘Contact the State Archives’ page or any of the other methods available.
Thanks for watching.