Occupations in Australia
Need help with your Occupational
Research? See my book
Occupational Records in Australia.
General
Colonial
Occupations An alphabetical index from the Old Farmer's Almanac.
Genealogy Quest - Alphabetical
List of Occupations
.
Old Occupation
Names This collection is on the
Hall Genealogy website.
Scottish
Occupations This site lists and
describes 500+ unusual occupations, jobs and work found on 17th, 18th, 19th
and early 20th century records, census returns, and gravestone inscriptions in
Scotland.
The Luyken
Collection This Collection contains engravings from Dutch artist Jan
Luyken and illustrates trades from the late 17th century. Each picture has a
moralistic verse with it (in Dutch).
Australian
Dictionary of Biography Online This site features
12,000+ biographies of
significant Australians who died before 1980. This site offers an Advanced Search by
occupation.
Professions and Occupations: A select list of records This can be found on State Records New South Wales - Short
Guide No 10.
Society of Australian Genealogists - Research Guides The
Occupations, trades and apprenticeships guide
offers an overview plus information on trade and professional directories, old
occupations and terms plus details of records in Britain.
Updated
Artists
Design &
Art Australia Online This ongoing site currently has 7370+ biographies online
plus contextual information, commentary and images.
LINC Tasmania The
online indexes
include:
|
| | • Artists index
cards (1845-1992). This is a digitised version of the card index
(handwritten and typed) of Tasmanian visual artists (not including craftspeople)
represented in one-person and group exhibitions of which catalogues (some of
which remain uncatalogued) are held in the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
collection. |
Brass
Bands
Name Index to
some members of Brass Bands in Victoria from 1890 This index is on the Family Treasures site. Lists
surname, given name, year,
date, band name, position and notes. Also
details the musical history of Hilda Tansey (1901-1975) Australia's
first lady brass band conductor
in Sydney and the Trocadero's All Girls Band.
Business
State Records New South Wales - Index
to Registers of Firms 1903-1922
This index,
compiled from the Registers of Firms under the Registration of Firms Act of
1902, 1903-1922, lists name of firm, nature of business, place of business, date
of registration and persons carrying on business. In some cases only the name of
individuals operating the firm and the firm's name may be located. This is an
ongoing project with more material to be added.
Australian Society of
Archivists - Guide to Australian
Business Records
This gateway to Australian Business Heritage can be browsed
alphabetically.
The
University of Melbourne Archives This
business collection consists of records of businesses and the personal
papers of businessmen and women covering 150 years of Victorian
history. The collections are particularly strong in mining and metals
treatment and in manufacturing but cover a rich diversity f other
businesses such as architecture and building, law, primary industry,
publishing and transport. This site has an online list of over 220
companies with details of the company records.
Australian Securities
and
Investments Commission This site offers searches of the
National Names Index which is an index of Australian corporate and
registered business names. A search returns the company registration
number (ABN, ACN, ARBN); current status (registered or deregistered);
the town or suburb of the registered office and a complete list of
documents lodged by the company since 1 January 1991.
Queensland
State Archives - Companies Index 1863-1959 This index
relates to company files for companies which are no longer in
existence. The documents held in these files include Memorandum and
Articles of Association; lists of shareholders; share capital and
office holders; and other documents related to the striking off of the
company.
Circus
Circus-Folk
Genealogy Resource Page This US gateway site offers links to
a variety of sites.
Australian
Travelling Entertainers This emerging site by Mark St Leon
is dedicated to Australia's circus history and to travelling
entertainers.
Civil
Servants
Commonwealth
Public Service Seniority List 1956 This
list can be found on
ACT Records by Ann Gugler. Also includes a list of house
construction for Public Servants and the allocation of these houses
1927. Other occupational lists are also available.
Queensland State Archives - Index to
Civil Servants, Queensland 1865-1867
This index lists
name, position and birth date.
Victorian Public
Service Board Return for 1884 A site by the Dead Persons'Society
Melbourne.
Dancers
AustraliaDancing
This site is a directory of resources to current and
historical information about dance in Australia. The directory is arranged
by People, Companies, Performances and Oral Histories. This site is
now part of Trove.
Dentists
Queensland State Archives - Dental Board 1903-1932 These three
indexes are compiled from records created by the Home Secretary’s
Office which recorded the activities of the dental profession in
Queensland. There are indexes to Dentists, 1903-1932; to the Dental
Board, 1910-1932 and to Dentist’s Apprentices, 1903-1925.
Doctors
Australian
Medical Pioneers Index This site features a database of over
3,000 pioneer doctors 1700s-1875. It lists doctors who were registered
or qualified in Australia, were resident in Australia, or visited here
in a professional capacity, before 1875. Ships' surgeons, convict
doctors, general practitioners and medical specialists are included.
The amount of information given varies but all historical references
are listed.
Photographs
of Doctors (1889-1927) This set of records
list those who applied for
registration as medical practitioners in New South Wales. A sample
selection is available on State Records New South Wales - Photo Investigator.
Entertainers
History of
Australian Theatre This site has articles about theatre history, short biographies
from newspapers, autographs , historic pictures of theatres and performers and
links to other websites. The online database includes 18,500+ performers,
managers, musicians, behind the scenes personnel, and others associated with the
Australian theatre covering the years 1850-1960. There is also information about
Houdini's Tour of Australia and Australian Magic History.
The Australian Variety Theatre Archive: Popular Culture
Entertainment 1850-1930. This site is devoted to the period of theatrical
activity in Australia that might be considered the “golden years” of minstrelsy
and vaudeville. There are two indexes available to facilitate searching:
•
Index 1: People - Practitioners, Entrepreneurs, Stage Characters,
Troupes/Companies etc.
• Index 2: Miscellaneous - Theatres/Venues,
Organisations, Genres and Industry/Media etc.
These then link to any online
biographies or other material. The following genres are
covered: Burlesque, Minstrelsy (including minstrels
farces), Vaudeville, Revue
Revusical (one act musical
comedies) and Pantomime.
New
Gold
DiggersHill End & Tambaroora Gathering Group.
Hill End & Tambaroora were important gold mining towns in the Central
West of New South Wales, closely associated with the Turon and Macquarie Rivers.
The site has maps to find out where Hill End & Tambaroora are in relation to
Bathurst, Orange, Mudgee and Sofala. Other gold mining towns within the region
are Hargraves (Louisa Creek), Avisford, Chambers Creek, Pyramul, Palmers Oakey,
Sallys Flat, Wattle Flat, Burrendong and Stuart Town. The online databases
include 1891 NSW Census, Electoral Rolls, Mines and Claims on Hawkins Hill (to
come), Petitions, Book indexes and Hill End WW1 Honour Roll.
New
Family History South Australia - Gold Diggers from
South Australia 1852-1853
. A
searchable database of gold diggers who brought or sent their gold home from the
Victorian goldfields. It includes those who deposited gold at the SA Gold Assay
Office in February 1852, the consignors and consignees associated with the first
three mounted police escorts, and those who lost their receipts or failed to
claim their gold by 29 October 1853.
Goldminers of New
Zealand 1861-1868 This site, by Kae Lewis, has a searchable
database to 20,000+ gold-miners. Many of these gold miners
came for a short time from Australia.
Horse
Racing
Champions -
Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame A great site for
information about the horse racing industry in Australia. The Hall
of Fame offers access to biographies for jockeys, horses, associates
and trainers.
Legal
Queensland State Archives - Index
to Justices of the Peace 1857-1910 Justices of
the Peace are required to sign an oath of allegiance prior to carrying out any
duties as Justices. The oaths have been numbered and bound into volumes and this
index will allow easy access to the documents. The index lists name, date and
QSA references. Copies of the documents are available from QSA for a fee.
New South Wales Law Almanacs 1886 to 2008
Online There is a site search engine which
searches across
the collection or individual Almanacs can be downloaded as PDF files. Note that
the Almanac was not published in 2002.
MagiciansState Library of Victoria - Research
Guides - Magic & Magicians This guide is designed to
help you find out about magic, magicians and conjuring using magic resources
from the W G Alma Conjuring Collection held by the State Library of Victoria and
other sources.
Miners
Victorian
Mining Accident Index This index by Dave Evans lists
the names and some details of over 5600 Victorian miners who were killed or
injured in mining accidents in Victoria early 1850s to 1940s.
State Library of
Queensland - Index
of
Miners involved in Queensland Mining Accidents 1882 to 1900 This index is compiled from mining accidents that were listed
annually in the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes & Proceedings. It is
arranged alphabetically by surname and lists name, date, district, name of mine,
remarks (details of accident or death) and source. For access use
OneSearch - the Library catalogue and search for
Index of
Miners
.
Queensland State Archives - Online Index
to Mineral Leases, Queensland 1871-1940 This
alphabetical index lists name and references to the source documents.
The source documents relate mainly to the printed lease documents which
have identifying information filled in by hand. Samples of these
documents are available on this site.
Australian Mining History
Association This site
contains an extensive Bibliography of the Mining History of Australia, New
Zealand and Papua New Guinea compiled by Mel Davies, University of Western
Australia, 2002 with additional material to 2010. This bibliography is arranged
geographically. There is also a useful links page.
The Coal
Mining History Resource Centre This
comprehensive site covers the history of coalmining in the UK.
It includes a glossary of mining terms, photographs, maps and much
more. The searchable
National Database of
Mining Deaths in Great Britain by Ian
Winstanley contains over 164,000 names.
Mining
History Network This site includes Mining History Bibliographies for
Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Japan plus others. There is also an
extensive list of mining links.
MissionariesThe Mundus Gateway This is a web-based guide to more than
four hundred collections of overseas missionary materials held in the United
Kingdom. These materials, comprising the archives of British missionary
societies, collections of personal papers, printed matter, photographs, other
visual materials and artefacts, are held in a large number of libraries, record
offices and other institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales.
NunsReligious Orders of
Australia This site contains
information on Nuns within Australia and New Zealand. Information given varies
and can include burial details, biographical details and photographs if
available. Information is arranged by state and then by religious
order. A site search engine is available.
Women of Vision. An Index and
History of Nuns and Sisters of the Catholic Church in Australia (1838-1918).
This site has a database of over 14,000 entries contributed by more than fifty
religious orders or congregations. There is also histories of these orders and
congregations.
Updated
Nurses
Nurses who Died During or
as a Result of War Service since the Boer War
This list compiled by Phyllis Wilson.
Brave
Women
This web site is dedicated to the nurses who served in the South
Pacific area. It features personal narratives of nurses (both military
and civilian) imprisoned by the Japanese forces of occupation during
WW2, as well as information on Australian nurses' involvement in the
Vietnam conflict.
Midwives
Database This database is on Noeline Kyle's Writing Family History site.
This database covers New South Wales North Coast Midwives and their
Hospitals 1890s - 1940. It covers Armidale/Uralla, Ballina,
Alstonville,Broadwater, Bangalow, Byron Bay, Nimbin, Bellingen, Dorrigo/Guy
Fawkes, Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby, Casino and surrounding areas, Coffs
Harbour/Urunga, Kempsey, Smithtown, South West Rocks, Port Macquarie, Kyogle and
surrounding areas, Lismore and surrounding areas, Macksville, Maclean, Ulmarra,
and Murwillumbah/Tweed.
Photographers
Marcel
Safier's Homepage. This site includes details of early photographers of
southern Queensland; 19th century photographers of Victoria including
19th century photographers of Geelong. There are details of 19th
century card photographs in Australia & New Zealand and gem and
carte de visite tintypes plus
other relevant information.
Photohistory
SA A site dedicated to the history of South Australian
photography from 1845 to around 1915 by R J Noye. Includes information
on all aspects of photography including photographers, camera clubs,
magic lantern, hand colouring, daguerreotypes and much more.
Finding
Photographers This site offers a worldwide index of books
and websites, including Australian, that list photographers and when
they worked.
Geelong
& District Photographers This alphabetical list,
by Susie Zada, records photographer, studio, location, dates, notes
and links where available.
Photographers of Great Britain & Ireland
1840-1940
This site records
the names and addresses of tens of thousands of photographers. There are
pictures of over 5,000 named sitters who could be your ancestors plus
information on census and other internet based research into
photographers.
Physicists
Physics
in Australia to 1945 A bibliography and biographical
register of over 400 Australian physicists.
Police
Indexes
for researching Police History in Australia on the Genseek Genealogy site by Jenny Fawcett.
State Records New South Wales - Police
Service
Registers 1857-1913 A search of this index returns service number, names, date
of birth, native of, date appointed, references and remarks. The registers, held
by SRNSW on reel 3043, include registered number; name; mounted or foot; age;
height; colour eyes/hair; native place; marital status; calling; religion;
general appearance; district; date of appointment to each rank; date of leaving
force and cause.
South
Australian Police by 1838 to 1920
by Maureen M Leadbeater The Province of South Australia's Police Force was founded in
April 1838. This searchable database of more than 2,800 police who had left the
force by 1920 includes Northern Territory police until taken over by the
Commonwealth Government in 1911, and gold escort troopers. The search results
may include brief biographical notes and dates of joining and departing. Source
details are given.
South Australian District Constables 1853 to
1920 by Maureen M Leadbeater District Constables were special constables appointed
by South Australian District Councils and sworn in for a 12 month term to
maintain the law and protect life and property in rural districts where there
were insufficient officers of the Police Force. In 1861 the Municipal
Corporations Act authorized District Constables in city districts. District
Constables were not members of the Police Force. This database contains more
than 9,000 district constables appointed 1853-1920.
South Australia
Police Historical Society This site has
information on the Foot Police, Mounted
Police, Gold Escorts and Women Police. There is a list of Commissioners
of Police (1838-1997) which includes a brief biography and photograph.
A selection of photographs, including the various
uniforms, is available online.
State Records of
South Australia Offers online name searching of selected
records using the collection search engine, ArchivesSearch. Records
available for police officers include the defaulter and good conduct
book (Mounted Police) 1838-1858.
History of the Victorian Police
Force from 1836 This
includes a Victoria Police Timeline (1859-1987) and relevant links on theTall
Trees Family History site by Carolyn Harris.
State Library of Western Australia - Police Gazette
of Western Australia 1876-1900 Information can be found under various
headings and includes police appointments, dismissals, discharges,
promotions, resignations and transfers.
Politicans
Parliament
of Australia
The current parliamentary handbook, part
6 contains Historical information on the Australian Parliament. This includes
information dating from 1901 with detailed lists of senators, members
and other personnel.
Parliament of
New South Wales This site lists the Parliamentary service
history and biographical details of all current and former Members of
the Parliament since the first Legislative Council was constituted in
1824. There are over 2000 former members listed.
Parliament of
Tasmania This site includes a list of Parliamentary
Historical Resources which includes lists of and often photographs of
House of Assembly Clerks 1856 to date; Leaders of the Government -
Upper House; Legislative Council Clerks 1826 to date; Photographs of
Parliament 1856 to date Premiers 1856 to date; Presidents 1856 to date;
Tasmanian Labor Party Leaders 1901 to date; Tasmanian Liberal Party
Leaders 1945 to date; Tasmanian Green Leaders and Women
Parliamentarians.
Re-member A
database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. This site is fully searchable
or can be browsed alphabetically. Details such as when and where born
and died, parents, marriage, occupation, religion, education, career
and party are given plus details of political career. Photographs are
also included.
Publicans
State Records New South Wales - Index
to Publicans' Licences 1830-1861
This ongoing index contains 20,000
entries with a further four volumes to index. A search returns
surname, first name, hotel, locality, year day month, license number,
SRNSW references and remarks.
Hotels
and Publicans Licences (Western NSW) This index 1865-1900,
by Rusheen Craig, includes Balranald, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill,
Cobar, Hay, Nyngan, Walgett, Wentworth and Wilcannia. Part of Central
NSW 1865-1870 has been indexed and includes Albury, Carcoar, Corowa,
Cowra, Deniliquin, Dubbo, Forbes, Molong, Wagga Wagga, Warren and
Wellington. Information is arranged alphabetically by hotel name and
includes details of licensees some entries include further information
and photographs.
History of Mackay
Hotels (QLD) A site by the
Mackay Historical Society and Museum. There is also a biographical register of
publicans/hotel keepers from the Mackay area.
Public Record Office Victoria - Index
to Treasurer's
Correspondence Regarding to Publicans (1838-1855) This
details publicans' names, hotel names, hotel addresses, and the
names of persons to whom hotels were transferred (if applicable).
State Library of Victoria - Cole-Tetlow
Index An
index to 21,000+ names of hotel licencees taken from the Melbourne
city and metropolitan volumes of the Robert K Cole collection of hotel
records held at the State Library of Victoria.
Quarry
Workers
Stone
Quarries and Beyond This international site, by Peggy
B Perazzo, has a massive amount of information focusing on quarries, quarry
workers, stone cutters, stone carvers, historical dealers of stone,
stone dealers and stone products. Includes an extensive A-Z online
bibliography which includes publications relating to quarries in
Australia.
Railway
Workers
International
Railway Link
by TrainNet.org This links site lists over 10,320+ railway
related sites.
The Commissioner's
Office is a
Gateway to Australian Railway sites It includes the Link and Pin with
access to lists
of NSW Government Railway employees for 1872, 1887 1892,and 1902 plus
other
employee related records. There are also lists of employees who served
in the Boer and First World Wars.
New
South Wales Railways' Salaried Officers as at 31 December 1887
This alphabetical list shows surname, given name, date of birth,
section, position/location, classification/grade, date of first
appointment, date of current appointment and present salary.
New
South Wales Railway & Tramway Institute List of Members as at
30th November 1897 This list was published in the December
1897 issue of The Railway Budget.
An
alphabetical list of NSW Government Railways Staff as at 31 Dec 1902.
New
South Wales Government Railways Staff Appointments, Transfers &
Resignations. These lists are compiled from The Railway Budget
which was published from September 1892 to November 1917. This ongoing
project currently has September 1892 to December 1899 available for
searching.
State Records
New South Wales - Online Indexes for Railway Employees Includes an Index to
Railway Employment Records which lists entries
from the register of salaried officers working for the NSW Government
Railways and Tramways 1856-1890 and the personnel register for Darling
Harbour 1909-1932. Index
to the Railway Supply Detachment lists 65
names from a single photo (No 1331) now held by SRNSW. A search of the Index to the
Nominal Roll of the First Railway Section, (AIF)
1917-1920 returns surname, other names, age,
address, date of joining and
references. Index
to NSW Government Railways and Tramways Roll of Honour 1914-1919 lists those employees (1214) who lost their lives as a
result of their service in the First World War.
Scientists
Encyclopedia of Australian
Science This gateway to the history of Australian science, technology,
engineering & medicine brings together Bright Sparcs and Australian Science
at Work to form a register of the people and the many industries, corporations,
research institutions, scientific societies and other organisations that have
contributed to Australia's scientific, technological and medical heritage, with
references to their archival materials and a bibliography of their historical
published literature. You can search the site or browse by people,
organisations, archives or publications. Updated
Soft
Drink Manufacturers
List of all known
Aerated water/cordial/softdrink manufacturers. This list, by the Mackay Historical Society and Museum, covers the Mackay
and districts since first settlement The history, photographs of bottles
and labels and caps for each manufacturer are also included.
Teachers
State
Records New South Wales – Index to Teachers' rolls,
1869-1908. The Teachers' rolls provide a service record for each
teacher and include date of birth, examination results, appointments, promotions
and date of resignation. A photocopy service is available from this
index for a fee. New
Queensland State Archives -Index to
Teachers, Queensland, 1860-1904 This index lists name and
references.
Service
histories of SA State Teachers 1852-1960 This online
database, by Brian Condon, is searchable by name or can be browsed
alphabetically. Teachers can also be listed by school or service year.
The search results can include date of birth, date appointed school,
inspector's comments and other details.
Public
Record Office
Victoria - Online Resources These include indexes to Teacher Examination Papers
(1863-1872) and Teacher Record Books (1863-1959). Digitised records include
Inward and Outward Correspondence, Board of Education (1849-1851); Index to
Special Case Files, Education Department (1862-1977) and Register of Special
Case Files, Education Department, (1852-1977).
Murwillumbah Area School
Photograph Collection. This site features a collection of school photographs
from the Murwillumbah area of Northern New South Wales. The names of students
and teachers are shown if known.The photos date from 1890s to 1962. Each year
more photographs will be added as copyright expires. Schools (many now closed)
include public schools at: Blunobia, Bray's Creek, Byangum, Byrrill Creek,
Carool, Chillingham, Doon Doon, Dum Dum, Dungay, Eungella, Fingal, Kunghur,
Limpinwood, Midginbil, Mt. Burrell, Murwillumbah South (infants school), Nobby's
Creek, Numinbah, Pumpenbil, Rowland's Creek, Terragon, Tumbulgum, Tyalgum Creek,
Tyalgum, Uki and Uki convent school. New
Workers
Queensland State
Archives - Index to Coloured Labour and Asiatic Aliens
in Queensland 1913 This index contains the names of
non-British subjects who lived in various Queensland Police Districts including
Townsville, Normanton, Roma, Rockhampton and Toowoomba. The index lists family
name, given names, birthplace, naturalized, age, occupation, year of arrival in
Qld, residence, police district and police subdistrict.
Pylon Lookout - Sydney Harbour
Bridge. If you have any family who were involved with the construction of
the Sydney Harbour Bridge this site offers a PDF download of the Sydney Harbour
Bridge Workers Honour Roll 1922-1932. The 4th edn, 2012 runs to 74 pages and
celebrates the ambition and vision of the bridge builders and their teams of
workers including engineers, surveyors, architects, blacksmiths, boilermakers,
carpenters, concreters, stonemasons, riggers, crane drivers, painters and day
labourers. There are three alphabetical lists of workers with brief biographical
details. These lists record those who worked on the bridge in Sydney, the Moruya
workers and workers from Kandos, 87 km north of Lithgow where the concrete was
made. New
Writers
A
Celebration of Women Writers This site recognises the
contributions of women writers throughout history and aims to promote
awareness of the breadth and variety of women's writing. Searches can
be made by several categories including name or country. There is a
comprehensive listing of Australian authors.
Home
©
Cora Num 1997-2013. Last
updated 17 March 2013