Queensland Business and Occupations

Online Records

 * 1863-1959 - Companies 1863-1959, index.

Government Records

 * Queensland Government Gazettes at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * Queensland Public Service at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * Queensland Unclaimed Letters at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * 1865-1867 - Civil servants 1865-1867, index.
 * 1872-1915 - Imperial pensions 1872-1915, index.
 * 1898-1912 - Imperial pensions 1898-1912, index.
 * 1908-1919 - Index to Pensions 1908-1909, index.

Pastoral (Ranching) Directories

 * Queensland Brands Directories at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * Australian Pastoral Directories at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * Australian Pastoral Directory at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * 1893-1899 - Australasian federal pastoral directory List of stockowners [ranchers] in the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania.
 * 1954 - List of stockowners in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Tasmania

Licenses

 * Queensland Licences at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * 1891-1904 - Stage licences 1891-1904, index.
 * 1900-1903 - Queensland, Australia, Licensed Victuallers Index, 1900-1903 index - at Ancestry ($)

Police Gazettes (including license news)

 * 1864-1900 - Queensland Police Gazettes - at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * 1881-1945 - Queensland, Australia, Police Gazette Index, 1881-1945 index and images - at Ancestry ($)
 * 1903-1910 - Queensland, Australia, Government Gazettes, 1903-1910 - at Ancestry ($)

Occupations

 * Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters, index.
 * Queensland Railway Employees at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * 1874-1880 - Miners rights 1874-1880, index.
 * 1857-1922 - Web: Queensland, Australia, Occupational Indexes, 1857-1922 index - at Ancestry ($)
 * 1882-1945 - Queensland, Australia, Mining Accident Index, 1882-1945 index - at Ancestry ($
 * 1879 - Queensland Railway Dismissals 1879. Ipswich and Rockhampton Railway Workshops at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * 1882-1919 - Seamen 1882 to 1919, index. Also at FindMyPast ($)

Online Records for New South Wales, Including Queensland Prior to 1859

 * 1787-1976 - New South Wales, Australia, Miscellaneous Records, 1787-1976 - contains agriculture,police, medical, pharmacy board, mine and examinations division records, images ($)

Bankruptcy and Insolvency

 * 1842-1887 - Insolvency Index 1842-1887, at NSW Archives, index.

Licensing

 * 1841-1842 - Licensing, 1841-1842 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1855-1861 - Licensing, 1855-1861 at FamilySearch, images.

Police Gazettes (including news of business licenses)
Pub owners, butchers, lumberjacks, auctioneers, or other professionals had to be licensed. Licenses were granted by the courts, and notices were then published in the Government/Police Gazette.
 * New South Wales Police Gazette at FindMyPast, ($), index.
 * New South Wales Government Gazettes, at MyHeritage, index ($), various years.
 * 1853-1899 - New South Wales, Australia, Government Gazettes, 1853-1899 at Ancestry ($), index and images.
 * 1854-1930 - New South Wales, Australia, Police Gazettes at Ancestry; index & images ($). Also at FamilySearch, free.

Occupations

 * Merchant Maine Records at FamilySearch.
 * The law list of Australasia at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1824-1876 - Barristers and solicitors 1824-1876 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1830-1861 - Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830-1861, at NSW Archives, index.
 * 1850-1860 - New South Wales, Teacher Applications and School Records, 1850-1960, at Ancestry ($), index and images.
 * 1852-1913 - Police Service Registers 1852-1913, at NSW Archives, index.
 * 1856-1917 - Railway Employment Records 1856-1917, at NSW Archives, index.
 * 1856-1890, 1909-1932 - New South Wales, Railway Employment Records at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * 1859-1936 - New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Seamen, 1859-1936, at Ancestry ($), index and images.

New South Wales Archive Resources Kit, Including Queensland

 * Community Access Points A list of libraries and archives which hold the microform copies of the Archive Resources Kit records.
 * The Archive Resources Kit includes the following Professions and occupations records:
 * Returns of the Colony (Blue Books), 1822-57
 * Record of Appointments to Government Offices, 1814-25
 * Roll of barristers, solicitors, attorneys, etc, 1824-76
 * Medical Board Minutes of proceedings and register, 1838-1901
 * Certificates of publicans' licences, 1830-61

"The ARK is held by 40 community access points across NSW. The majority of access points are libraries. The ARK consists of microfilm copies of our most popular and heavily used colonial records. Included are records relating to convict arrivals, assisted immigrants, births, deaths and marriages, publicans' licences, electoral rolls, naturalisation, returns of the colony ('Blue Books'), land grants, and the wide range of functions of the Colonial Secretary (1788-1825). You may find that the ARK (or parts of it) are held at a library near you."

Content of Business Records
Australia businesses and commercial companies seldom contain dates or places of birth, marriage, or death but they can have valuable genealogical information.
 * For example, lawyers at the time kept detailed records for their clients. Included in these records are:
 * probate material
 * adoption records
 * insurance papers
 * lawsuits, and other sources that may help you trace your ancestors.
 * Some bank ledgers in Australia give:
 * the name
 * occupation
 * residence
 * age
 * place of birth (by county and country)
 * year of immigration and name of ship
 * a physical description of depositors.
 * Pub owners, butchers, lumberjacks, auctioneers, or other professionals had to be licensed. Licenses were granted by the courts, and notices were then published in the Government Gazette. For further information about gazettes, read the Court Records article.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: