Government Gazettes in general contain a vast amount of historical and genealogical information. However they are largely an untapped resource. The few complete runs that are available are usually only found in major libraries. And even for researchers who do have access to these the sheer size and extent of the Gazettes is daunting.

Now that is all changing - with the publication of the gazettes on affordable and searchable form on CD-ROM. Tens of thousands of ordinary people and localities, small and large, are mentioned EVERY YEAR in Government Gazettes But they offer researchers much more than simply names and places. They will help you reconstruct events and circumstances in the life of individuals and communities.

Information such as in the following list can often be found in most Gazettes:
land sales, government appointments, lost stock, unclaimed letters, police reports, desertions, ships arrivals, insolvency notices, permits, licences, even petitions (with names) and trademark applications... and the list could go on and on.

As well as the those features listed above, unique to the Hobart Gazette is an immense wealth of information specific to the convicts that were sent to Tasmania. You will find not only Wanted and Reward notices for many who absconded, which include physical descriptions of the person; but also hundreds of listings of convict marriages; as well as listings of convicts together with the ship they arrived on, and the date they are due to receive their 'Certificate of Freedom'.

"I'm totally in awe of the potential of the Government Gazette project ... the accessibility, ease of use ... having done the hard slog through many original volumes" - Greg Slattery, South Australian historian.

For an outline of the kind of records typically found in Government Gazettes click here

High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD can be viewed by any computer using Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4 or later recommended). The data on this CD is completely self-contained, and requires no installation.

More information

• Sample file - download a sample file (1.8MB) containing the complete index for the 1844 Gazette - as originally published - and a few sample pages of the text. This requires Adobe Reader to view. (right click on the link and select save as - then load the saved file to view).
• General description and information on Government Gazettes - a resource for all, searching the text, publishing schedule and more.
• The value of Government Gazettes - article by well known South Australian historian, Maggie Ragless

Searching that unlocks the gazettes

The whole text of the 1582 page volume is searchable. Search for any word in the text - names, places and more.  To illustrate the potential value of the records see examples of search results from a typical gazette given in the Gazettes General description page.

System Requirements: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT or better, CD-ROM drive, Adobe Acrobat. Also suitable for Macintosh or Unix operating systems.

Standing Order Discount: Up to 50% discount is available to libraries, societies or others placing standing orders for partial or complete series of 19th Century Government Gazettes and/or other Australian series from the Archive CD Books Project. For further information click here