Lands and mining

Queensland State Archives holds archival records of maps, land orders, sales and leases, acquisitions and mining records. We also hold records on buildings built or used by the government.

How do I find the records?

You can search our indexes if you know the name and location of the person you are looking for. The links below will take you to an item’s description where you can gather more information such as the Item ID or microfilm number. Copies of most items (unless they have restricted access) can be supplied for a fee using our order form. For more information, find out how to start your research.

Building and land records

Lands sold, purchased or leased

Pastoral holdings and runs

  • Search Register of pastoral holdings 1860-1880—index to registers that records early pastoral holdings (known as Stations) in Queensland and includes names of the Runs that incorporated them. Created by the Lands Department.
  • Search Rents payable on pastoral runs 1860-1911—index to registers showing rent payable on the resumed parts of runs as well as ledgers kept by Treasury of rent paid.
  • Search Transfer of runs 1848-1874—index to papers and correspondence relating to the transfer of runs and selections in the Moreton District kept by the Crown Lands Office.

Mining

  • Read Research guide to miner's homestead lease records and Research guide to mining records for Mining Warden mineral and gold field homestead records, lease applications, maps and registers administered under various acts from 1869–1990.
  • Read Research guide to mining records provides a list of the main series of records at Queensland State Archives from the Queensland Mines Department and Mining Warden's Offices including separate series of records for the three main types of mining; gold, coal and base metals.
  • Search Mineral leases 1871-1940—index to mining leases created by the Mines Department and the Mining Warden in Cloncurry includes gold, mineral, coal and water race leases.
  • Search Miners rights 1874-1880—index to registers of miners’ licenses and business licenses issued mainly between 1 November 1874 and 31 May 1876. Created by the Warden’s Office at Maytown however also includes Edwardstown, Palmerville and Kingsboro.

Search the catalogue

ArchivesSearch provides access to QSA’s collection of records, including documents, letters, land orders, maps, plans and images. For help searching, read the ArchivesSearch help guide.

Why can’t I find what I’m looking for?

There are several reasons why you may not find a record at QSA.

  • Some records have not survived.
  • Some records are restricted or closed to public access and may not be immediately available to view.
  • The name may have been written in the record phonetically as the clerks wrote the names as they heard them. Think about how it could be spelt as it was heard. Also, spelling of all names was not as consistent as it is today.
  • The name may have been incorrectly indexed as the handwriting is sometimes difficult to read or the ink has faded. The capital letters L, T, F and S are often confused as are lower case letters n, m, u and w. Taylor may be indexed as Laylor or Brum may be indexed as Bruin.  Also, the use of double ‘s’ (ss) often looks like fs, so Ross will be indexed as Ross but may appear in the record as Rofs.
  • Many miners may have held a sub-lease on a mineral claim and did not hold the mineral lease in their own name.

Contact us

Contact us if you need further help.