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.  For more information on searching indexes, see Start your research.

Building and land records

• Read Brief guide describing records about buildings constructed, owned or occupied by the government.
• Read Brief guide to land codes (or abbreviations) of land types used for land selection.
• Read Brief guide to the main series of maps including cadastral maps, topographic maps, survey plans and thematic maps.
• Read Brief guide to records of town commons files from 1866 to 1918.
• Read Brief Guide to Soldier Settlement about the soldier settlement scheme
• Search Soldier Settlement Ledger 1917-1929—index to ledgers for soldier settlers from Coominya, Cecil Plains, Maria Creek and Mount Gravatt that provide details of money allocated to each settler, and its use.

Lands sold, purchased or leased

• Read Brief guide to Alienation and sale of Crown lands describing records about the alienation of land from the Crown, and the subsequent sale of the land after auction.
• Read Brief guide to land agents’ records of registers from 1855, including land transactions, leases, purchase and licences. 
• Read Brief guide describing records about land exchanges and commonwealth acquisitions from 1868.
• Read Brief guide to records describing the form of land tenure such as pastoral lease, occupation license, selection, special lease or freehold.
• Read Brief guide to registers and files from each Land Agent District that includes name of locality or run, name of licensee, application date, land size and location, rent paid and forfeiture of land.
• Read Brief guide to records of special leases for a period not exceeding thirty years.
• Search Land orders 1865-1866—index to records regarding the disposal of crown lands issued under the provisions of a Non-Transferable Land Order. Includes a general description of the land includes measurement, location by county and parish and portion number. Created by the Lands Department.
• Search Land selections prior to 1884—to locate records about land which was subsequently purchased or forfeited, as well as applications which were rejected, cancelled or withdrawn. Search for a Name of a selector for land selected prior to the Crown Lands Act of 1884 is available in Queensland State Archives' online catalogue ArchivesSearch.
• Search Register of land sold 1842-1859—index to registers divided into volumes and sections for town purchases, land purchases and pre-emptive right including date of sale, place, purchaser and residence. Lists supplied by the NSW Lands Department of lands sold in what became the Colony of Queensland.
• Search Register of lands 1861-1868—index to registers of land listing lands open for selection and their purchase as wells as leases for agricultural reserves under the Leasing Act 1866. Created by the Surveyor General’s Department.
• Search Register of lands sold 1849-1861—index to registers of lands sold or selected that include date of sale, place, area, purchaser and residence etc. Created by the Surveyor General’s Department.

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 Brief guide to records Mining Warden’s records and miners’ homestead leases including lease applications, maps, and a list of the various acts from 1869 - 1990.
• Read Brief 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.

Search tips

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

There are a number of 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 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.