About Nominated Immigrants from 1905 to 1928

This database includes 95,736 entries extracted from personal files for nominated immigrants created and used by the Immigration Department between 1905 and 1928. Though named as including entries to 1928 they almost exclusively cover 1908 to 1922 with just a total of 116 entries beyond that period (105 in 1923, 9 in 1924 and 2 in 1928).

The Queensland State Archives (QSA) created the index from a card register of nominated immigrants alphabetically arranged by surname. The cards show name, address, trade, age, ship, and date of arrival for the nominee – also the name and address of the nominator and their relationship to the person they are nominating. They also mention the amount of money paid and the date of arrival (if permission was granted to migrate). If the application was refused, they note the date of refund of monies paid. Apart from the names of the nominee and nominator, many cards include the names and details of other family members of the nominee.

It is interesting to note that it is not just British immigrants in the database (though England and Scotland immigrants predominate with lesser numbers from Ireland and Wales). There are people from many European countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Malta, Russia, Sicily, and Spain – even some from Canada and the USA.

There are many Germans – nominated by other Germans who have already migrated e.g. Annie Eichorn and her daughter Hildegard living in Berlin were nominated by Annie’s brother Ernest Grunske. Michael Bernoth, mostly recorded as M Bernoth, nominated almost 400 immigrants!

1. Surname – the surname of the nominee, the nominator, or others named on the card
2. Given Names - the given names of the nominee, the nominator, or others named on the card
3. Age – the age of the prospective immigrant
4. Type – Source Card, Immigrant, or Nominator; if

a.   Source Card then you will need to scroll through the PDF until you reach the name (ostensibly alphabetical by surname and given name though for the SMITH entries there appears to be two distinct alphabetical sequences)
b.   Immigrant then you need to scroll through the PDF until you reach the card for the person named under Notes
c.   Nominator then you need to scroll through the PDF until you reach the card for the person named under Notes

5. Notes – excepting for a nominee, this field indicates the Source Card where you will find the full details relating the person named
6. Year – multiple years are mentioned on each card; the main two are the date of nomination and the date of arrival. If the application was refused, then a date of refund replaces the date of arrival. Usually, the year in the index is that of arrival but at other times it is the year of nomination (particularly if the application was refused).
7. Ship – if the application was successful then this is the ship on which they migrated
8. QSA PDF (Item ID) – links through to PDF arranged alphabetically by the nominee (not necessarily the name you found in the index). There are usually several hundred pages in each PDF.
9. Mfilm No – described in QSA ArchivesSearch as a “Previous System Identifier”
10. Series ID – described in QSA ArchivesSearch as a “Previous System Identifier”