The Colonial Record Records of Colonial Australia

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Every notice, filed by kind.

The gazettes printed the official life of the colony — who was granted land, who went insolvent, who was licensed, pardoned, appointed or pursued. Each notice is classified, corrected from the original print, and cited to its exact page. Start with the kind of record you're after.

Land & Crown grants

Town and country land sales, selections under the Land Acts, Crown grants and reserves — with allotment, section, county and parish as printed.

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Convict records

Tickets of leave, conditional pardons, certificates of freedom and lists of absconders — often the only printed trace of a convict ancestor's movements.

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Insolvency & estates

Insolvency notices, meetings of creditors, probate and deceased estates — rich in names, occupations, residences and dates.

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Appointments

Magistrates, postmasters, poundkeepers, commissions of the peace and public offices across the colony — careers traced through the official columns.

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Licences

Publicans, auctioneers, hawkers, slaughterhouses and more — annual licensing lists that place a person at an address in a given year.

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Mining leases

Gold and mineral lease applications and grants, with claim numbers, localities and partners' names from the mining districts.

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Rewards & notices

Rewards for apprehension, missing persons, stolen stock, lost and found — the colony's incidents as officially proclaimed.

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Companies & partnerships

Partnership formations and dissolutions, company registrations and government tenders — the commercial record of the colony.

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Collections in the Record

NSW Government Gazettes, 1832–1901

The founding collection — corrected, classified and cited page-by-page.

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Lodged documents

Records deposited by members at the Lodgement Office — examined, transcribed and filed alongside the gazettes.

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