Local History Collection

The collection includes:

  • The Queanbeyan Age from 1860
  • The Queanbeyan Chronicle from 1976
  • The Bungendore Mirror from March 2004 to September 2015
  • The Bungendore Bulletin from May 1990 to December 2013
  • The Braidwood Dispatch from October 1966 to June 1970
  • A general genealogy collection
  • A small map collection
  • Historic monographs from the old Queanbeyan School of Art
  • Early Queanbeyan rates books
  • A number of research collections
  • The Sheedy Memorial Local History Collection
  • The collection of Frederick J McCauley

QPRC also have access to an extensive number of digitised images from the collection of the Queanbeyan District Historical Museum and the Braidwood District Historical Society. To view the image correctly please click on the title, not the thumbnail image. Access the images here.

Cemeteries

Most villages have a cemetery and there are four main cemeteries in the Queanbeyan-Palerang region. Braidwood cemetery had its first burials 1840. The earliest record of a death in Bungendore is 1838 and the oldest headstone is from 1853. The Oaks Burial Ground was the first burial ground for Queanbeyan. It was used from 1838 to 1846 with the one exception; an unknown Indian juggler was buried there in 1863. The Riverside cemetery is Queanbeyan's earliest remaining cemetery. There is also the Queanbeyan Lawn cemetery on Lanyon Drive. The QPRC Library catalogue has some very useful resources including some maps to help you find your way around the cemeteries.
Find general information about cemeteries in the Queanbeyan-Palerang region here. 

Photographs

The collection contains aerial Photographs of Queanbeyan 1968-1998 and Queanbeyan Age proof sheets and negatives from 1968-2002.

Council Minutes

Download Council meeting minutes here.

Historical Council Records

Queanbeyan rates books from 1885 and onwards are available, as well as other council records, such as water and sanitation records. These are useful for tracing where people lived and determining whether they owned the property in which they resided.

Oral History

The collection includes over 170 audio cassettes of interviews with local people. The interviews were recorded by Bert Sheedy and Errol Lea-Scarlett, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Special collections

Research Notes of Mr Errol Lea-Scarlett: This collection of notes is the result of Erroll Lee Scarlett’s research into the history of Queanbeyan and Gundaroo. He is the author of Queanbeyan, District and People. The collection includes photo albums, 30 volumes of research and ephemera.

The Sheedy Memorial Local History Collection: The books, research notes and papers of local historian and avid researcher Mr Bert Sheedy form the basis for the wider local history collection and contain many obituaries and death notices.

Sister City- gifts and ephemera from and visitors.

Queanbeyan Landcare- images, minutes, documents and poster.

Queanbeyan Poets- historic records.

Floral Festival- documents and records.

Family History

The collection included family files, phone books and electoral rolls.

Newspapers

The Frank Pangallo Heritage Library holds many local newspapers. The Queanbeyan Age is on microfilm from its Golden Age origin in 1860 until its closure in 2018 and the printed newspaper from 1930-2018. The collection also includes past and current local papers from around the region.

Useful websites

  • Braidwood Museum
  • Queanbeyan Museum
  • eHive Queanbeyan and District Historical Museum Society Online Collection.
  • Trove Trove is a wonderful resource giving access to Australian newspapers, government gazettes and many other documents, images and records. Most newspapers are searchable up to 1954. The Canberra Times is up to 1994.
  • National Library of Australia The National Library has a vast collection of resources, some digitised.
  • NSW Births Deaths and Marriages This is an index to these records. You can look up births 100 years or more ago, deaths 30 years or more and marriages 50 years or more.
  • National Archive of Australia This holds military service records and immigration records. Many have been digitised.

 

Local History Enquiry

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