GENDATA - free data for Australian ancestry and family history

Magdalen Retreat - Lutwyche, Brisbane

The Magdalen Refuge in Brisbane, established in 1888, was one of several institutions across Australia and the world that aimed to "rescue" and rehabilitate women perceived as fallen or morally at risk.

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Geographic counties, parishes and towns of Tasmania – 1850

List of counties, parishes, and townships in Van Diemen’s Land. In 1850 Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) was surveyed, apportioned, and divided into counties, hundreds, and parishes, by proclamation, dated June 23, 1836.

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Boundaries of the police and electoral district of NSW

This page details the boundaries of the various legal districts (police and electoral) as they existed in New South Wales 1858. In the absence of formal roads and towns etc, generally these boundaries were divided according to rivers and creeks or mountains and ranges.

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Historic weights and measures

Old texts often make reference to units of measurement that have long since fallen into disuse. To help researchers put these measures into context, below is a quick list of some of the more widely used in the 19th century and earlier.

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Headlines in Queensland 1860 to 1904

What made headline news in Queensland? The list below describes the notable events and issues that happened in Queensland in the second half of the 1800s.

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Australian Convicts

The history of Australian convicts is a fascinating, albeit often brutal, chapter in the nation’s past. Beginning in 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet, Britain transported over 162,000 convicts to Australia, primarily for petty crimes that would barely warrant imprisonment today.

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