The Electoral Roll is a unique source of public information on individuals at the time. Enrolment and voting were compulsory, so Queenslanders from all walks of life are included. Combining the range of information with the search specifications and sorting facilities in QFHSdatasearch (a generic interface designed and developed by QFHS for searching genealogy databases) can be especially useful for finding family groups.
Detailed information
No. (Number)
Each subdivision has sequential numbers for all the electors listed on the roll and these have been included to assist in the location of the name in the original record. The names on the roll are generally in alphabetic order, but this is not always the case.
During indexing some inconsistencies in the numbering were found, but the original numbering has been retained.
Surname
Surname or family name of each elector.
Given Names
Christian or given names of each elector, at full length.
Title
These have been placed into a separate field (junr., senr., Rev., &c.)
Sex
M (male) or F (female).
There are many cases in the original lists where the name and sex do not appear to match. Occasionally, this field has been left blank in the original lists. In some entries the sex has been recorded as ‘E’, ‘N’, ‘B’, ‘R’, ‘RF’ and ‘H’.
In all instances, though the QFHS Publications Team know the designated sex is inconsistent or in error, they do not make alterations to the original data.
Place of Living
This field may include a full street and town address, just a street address, just a town address, a property name, or other description. QFHS has indexed this field exactly as recorded and made no inferences about any part of the address if it is not recorded in the original lists.
Occupation
This has been entered exactly as recorded in the lists.
To find all electors with a particular occupation, use an ‘Anywhere in field’ match on occupation. To select ‘Anywhere in field’, use the drop-down arrow in the box on the right, under the heading ‘Match’. This will allow location of, say, ‘photographer’ and ‘assistant photographer’.
Some occupations in the rolls were obviously recorded incorrectly but are interesting in the picture they conjure: ‘folk lift driver’, ‘picture farmer’, ‘laughterman’, ‘wordsman’, ‘floor payer’... to name a few.
Subdivision and Division
These fields identify the roll on which the electors were registered.
Apparent inconsistencies
Since QFHS has recorded the information exactly as listed, there will appear to be some inconsistencies in the data – for example:
- Surnames of all the members of a family at a given address do not always agree.
- Addresses given under Place of Living are not always consistently recorded for the members of a family.
- In some cases, where examination of independent records indicates a surname for one of a family group is incorrectly entered, then the name has been entered twice – once as recorded in the roll and once with the surname matching the other family members.
- Multiple entries of an elector can occur. Some electors are listed more than once.
- Some because they have moved and appear both in the main roll and the supplementary roll. It is not possible, from this electoral roll alone, to determine which was the later enrolment.
- Some because they have married and appear in the main roll under their maiden name and in the supplementary roll under their married name.