Open data – Persons called before Queensland Government committees 1860-1920

This dataset has been produced by the State Library of Queensland and they hold the copyright of this dataset. However, the State Library of Queensland have chosen to release the data under a Creative Commons By-Attribution 4.0 licence, which permits others to reuse the data provided attribution is given to the State Library of Queensland. QFHS thanks the State Library of Queensland for making this dataset available for our re-use.

Explanatory Information

These open data files contain indexes listing persons called before select committees, royal commissions and boards of enquiry, as published in the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes and Proceedings from 1860-1901 and the Queensland Parliamentary Papers from 1902-1920.

Approximately eight thousand people provided information at these enquiries. They came from a variety of backgrounds, including civil servants, miners, farmers, graziers, labourers, railway employees, publicans, builders, seaman, clergyman and police.

About this index

This index was prepared by volunteers transcribing records from the original documents into a database. The data has been extracted from the database and edited for clarity and consistency. Edits included:

• Correcting spelling errors
• Removing variations in spelling, capitalisation and hyphenation for repeated information such as branch names or job roles

The following information is provided:

•     the name of the witness
•     occupation, or other identifying details, of the witness
•     the name of the enquiry case
•     the source, year, volume and page of the publication

This data was originally published in the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes and Proceedings from 1860-1901 and the Queensland Parliamentary Papers from 1902-1920. For more information, the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes and Proceedings and Queensland Parliamentary Papers can be located on microfilm at MFL 328.943 on level 3 of the State Library of Queensland at South Bank, Brisbane.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material is accessed and used in accordance with State Library's Protocols for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections.

Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that collections and records may contain names and images of deceased people.

Users should also be aware that certain words, terms or descriptions may be culturally sensitive and may be considered inappropriate today, but may have reflected the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written.

About this dataset

This index was prepared by volunteers transcribing the original gazette records into a database. The data has been extracted from the database and some records have been edited for clarity and consistency. Edits included:

•     source acronyms expanded to the full publication title
•     corrected spelling errors or variations in data
•     replaced blank or null values with “-“
•     for indigenous recruits, where only one name was recorded as a surname, given names are recorded as “n/a”

Fields in the dataset

• Surname. Text – Surname of the person appearing before the committee. For example, ‘Bowman’, ‘Taraageda’, or ‘Campbell-Brown’. For indigenous recruits, only one name was recorded as a surname.
• Given Names. Text – Given names in full, or as abbreviations, initials and/or title of the person appearing before the committee. For example, ‘James Matthew (Captain)’, ‘Bridget’, or ‘T.F.’. For indigenous recruits where only one name was recorded as a surname, given names are recorded as “n/a”.
• Occupation/Other. Text – Identifying information of the person, such as title of occupation and/or place of work, or other identifying details. For example, ‘Postmistress’, ‘Clerk of Petty Sessions at Warwick’, ‘Recruit from Normanby Island, Coiawata Village. (Arrived on the ship Hopeful)’, or ‘Connected with the hospital and lunatic asylum’.
• Case. Text – Name of the enquiry before the House of Representatives, such as petitions, enquiries into government processes and management of government departments, elections and qualifications. For example, ‘’Recent Accidents at Mount Morgan mine’, ‘Proposed railway extensions’, ‘Petition of Dr Jonathan Labatt’ or ‘Election Tribunal’.
• Source. Text – Source publication for the original data. For example, ‘Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes and Proceeding’ or ‘Queensland Parliamentary Papers’.
• Source year. Date – Year of publication from that source. For example, ‘1860’ or ‘1883/84’.
• Source Volume. Text – Volume of publication from that year, if applicable. For example, ‘v.3’ or ‘s.2 v.4’.
• Source Pages. Text – Pages of publication from that volume. For example, ‘379’ or ‘725-747; 778’.

Please send any questions or feedback about any of the datasets released publicly by State Library to opendata@slq.qld.gov.au