Government Gazettes and Police Gazettes are an enormously rich source of information for family historians. They can be useful for filling in some of the detail about the lives of our ancestors, and in many cases can solve mysteries.
Government gazettes contained all the administrative detail that affected the lives of ordinary citizens going about their daily lives – such as laws and regulations, licenses, land auctions and sales, unclaimed mail, and much, much more. Records of convict assignments and absconding may appear nowhere else but here. Sailors who deserted their ships are listed, as are government employees. Court notices of probate and bankruptcies, livestock brands, and petitions.
Your ancestor should be in a government gazette if he or she:
- leased, purchased, forfeited land
- worked for the government
- tendered for public works
- went bankrupt or insolvent
- had unclaimed mail
- was a convict
- was assigned a convict
- had a livestock brand
- had a license to run a pub, sell liquor, cut timber
- signed a petition
Notices of this type were published in the local colonial newspaper until a regular government publication was established:
- New South Wales – 1832
- Tasmania – 1825
- Victoria – 1843 (Port Phillip)
- Queensland – 1859
- South Australia – 1839
- Western Australia – 1836
- Northern Territory – 1927
- Commonwealth – 1901
All are still published today, although mostly online rather than printed, and with much less of interest to family historians.
Police gazettes are where the juicy stuff was going on. They were published weekly and distributed to police stations for the information of the local constabulary in order to help them with their work – describing offenders, listing licensees, and so on. Later gazettes in the early-to-mid twentieth century contain lists of known offenders with photographs, for the information of police who may come across them.
In many States publication ceased in the 1980s, as methods of electronic distribution of information became available. Some States publish them to this day, but access is still restricted.
The contents of police gazettes vary slightly by state, but they contain most of the following:
- Warrants for arrest and details of crimes
- Arrests, convictions, discharged prisoners
- Property stolen and recovered
- Stolen cattle and horses, including brands
- Escaped prisoners, ship’s deserters
- Missing friends
- Deaths reported to police
- Police appointments, instructions, lists
- Magistrates, Justices of the Peace
- Licensed sellers of liquor, wine and tobacco
New South Wales – 1862-1982
- Tasmania – 1861-1933
- Victoria – 1853-1994
- Queensland – 1864-1982
- South Australia – 1862-present
- Western Australia – 1876-present (restricted)
- Northern Territory – 1900-present (restricted)
- Commonwealth – 1 January 1901-present?
It is important to look for your ancestor in other colonies/states, as people travelled over the borders as easily as we do today, particularly if they didn’t want to be found.
Photo of NSW Government Gazettes from the 1850s taken by the author at the Society of Australian Genealogists headquarters in Kent Street, Sydney.