Names in Government Gazettes, Victoria c1858-1900

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Transcription and conventions used

An index built from Victorian Government Gazettes, and containing the following fields:

  • County
  • Year
  • Page
  • Surname
  • Given Name
  • Title
  • Subject
  • Location
  • Quality

Coverage

Names in the Gazettes in the period from 1851 are being progressively indexed (noting that few copies of the earliest years exist and it will be some time before these are indexed). At present the earliest volume available for indexing is 1858.

The scope of Government intervention into the lives of individuals that is revealed in the Gazettes include the sale and leasing of land (gold aside, the most important factor which attracted migration), law and order, licensing, tenders and contracts, and a number of lower profile subjects. The notices include regulations and By Laws of the municipalities. At least as important was the promulgation of Legislation and Regulations for which the Government Gazettes are the medium. The content of the Victorian Government Gazettes reflects these activities, although they do also include many private notices.

Notices in the Gazettes are grouped under simple headings. For example, common headings in 1861 and which are illustrative of later years, were:

  • Applications for Leases of land
  • Publicans' General Licenses
  • Estates of Deceased Persons
  • Wine and Spirit Licenses
  • Accepted Tenders
  • District Publicans' Licenses
  • Intestate Estates
  • Letters Patent
  • Auctioneers' General Licenses
  • Licenses Auctioneers' General
  • Licensed Surveyors
  • Application for Mining Leases
  • Insolvent Estates
  • Licenses Wine and Spirit Merchants
  • Poundkeepers
  • Government Notices
  • Trustees
  • Dissolution of Partnership
  • Mining Leases
  • Qualified Medical Practitioners
  • Contracts Accepted
  • Insolvencies
  • Shareholders in Mining Companies
  • Impoundings
  • Private Advertisements
  • Outstanding Accounts
  • Unclaimed Letters

Unclaimed letters were very voluminous until 1865 (there were about 34,000 in 1861) when they were no longer listed. In isolation they are of little value, especially if the address was simply “Melbourne”, which it often was. But if the name was sufficiently unusual and could be combined with other information about an individual they are sometimes useful. The information published in the Gazettes constitutes the index (there is no more information available) this data has been priced at the minimum level of 3p per record.

Checking

Unchecked

Grouping

Not grouped

Abbreviations and Codes

None

Contact details

The Genealogical Society of Victoria, Level B1 257 Collins St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
Email: gsvfhol@gsv.org.au Website: www.gsv.org.au

How to buy

Index not available for sale. Several copies of original gazettes published as PDF files on CD are available from the on-line bookshop GSV Bookshop at www.gsv.org.au. Additional information available from The Genealogical Society of Victoria, Level B1 257 Collins St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.
Email: research@gsv.org.au

Copyright and disclaimer

© The Genealogical Society of Victoria Inc.

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