Victoria Business and Occupations

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Victoria Business and Occupations

Online Resources

Police and Government Gazettes

Directories

Online Records of New South Wales, Including Victoria Until 1851-1855

Bankruptcy and Insolvency

Licensing

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.

Occupations

New South Wales Archive Resources Kit, Including Victoria Prior to 1851

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." [1]

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.

For Further Reading

FamilySearch Library

Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog:

References

  1. "Archive Resource Kit," New South Wales State Archives and Records, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/archives-resources-kit-ark, accessed 3 March 2022.