Police Gazette Inquests 1875-1885
State Library of Queensland

Explanatory Information
This open dataset contains an index of information from the Queensland Police Gazette Inquests records.
About the dataset
Inquests were conducted by the coroner to gather information about the cause and circumstances of a death. Reports relating to deaths were compiled by police officers and forwarded to the coroner, who decided whether an inquest was necessary. For more on inquests: https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/courts/coroners-court/coroners-process/inquests
This dataset was created from an index of those reports of deaths about which an inquest was held. The reports include surname and given names of the deceased, location of death, a note of other details (i.e. cause of death, date of death, age at death, occupation, etc.), and the date and page of gazette in which it was reported.
The Queensland Police Gazette is held on microfilm at MFL 363.209943 and on CD-ROM at QCFS 363.209943 2007 on Level 3 of State Library’s South Bank building.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material is accessed and used in accordance with State Library's Protocols for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections. 
Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that collections and records may contain names and images of deceased people. 
Users should also be aware that certain words, terms or descriptions may be culturally sensitive and may be considered inappropriate today, but may have reflected the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written.
About the data files
This index was prepared by volunteers transcribing the original gazette records from microfilm into a database. The data has been extracted from the database and some records have been edited for clarity and consistency. Edits include:
•	corrected missing and incorrect values
•	replaced blank or null values with “-“
•	added corresponding numerical date columns for date text strings
•	added corresponding decimal coordinate columns for location text strings 
•	added additional columns to separate, standardise, and manipulate categories of content found within ‘Full details’ text strings (e.g. Age, Cause of death, etc.)
The data is provided in a comma separated values (CSV) file. The file can be opened as a text file, or in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel. Please note that if you are using Excel, it is best to use the Text Import Wizard and import all columns as ‘text’ rather than ‘general’ format. This will prevent Excel making changes to numbers or dates in the file.
Fields in the dataset
ID
Number – A unique identifier number from the original database. E.g. ‘98’ or ‘4127’
Surname
Text – The surname or family name of the individual who died, sometimes including aliases or explanatory text. E.g. ‘Russell’ or ‘Dickson (alias Davidson)’
Given Names
Text – First names identifying the individual who died. In some cases, a description or additional descriptive information is included. E.g. ‘Joseph’ or ‘Marmaduke (supposedly)’
Location
Text – Location where the deceased was found. This may be the name of a town, general directions from the nearest town, or a specific location like hospital, property, or creek.
E.g. ‘Port Douglas’ or ‘near Ballo river, about 50 miles from Thargomindah’
Latitude
Decimal coordinates – Latitude coordinates matched using bulk data manipulation based on the location text string. For text strings with no exact match, coordinates are matched more generallly on city or region. E.g. ‘-27.597553’ or ‘-10.5675529’
Longitude
Decimal coordinates – Longitude coordinates matched using bulk data manipulation based on the location text string. For text strings with no exact match, coordinates are given for a more general match on city or region. E.g. ‘137.683333’ or ‘153.067689’
Date of Death
Textual date – Death date when recorded in the ‘Full details’ of the original report in the format ‘D Month YYYY’. Some are date ranges or estimates. 
E.g. ‘28 June 1881’ or ‘middle of December 1884’
Date of Death YYYYMMDD
Numerical date – Date of Death field translated to the computational format YYYYMMDD. Ranges and estimates are translated with a range of earliest to latest date. 
E.g. ‘18810628’ or ‘18841210-18841220’
Cause of Death
Text – Death cause when recorded in the ‘Full Details’ of the report. Standardised across the dataset into similar categories. On some rows, multiple causes are recorded (separated by ‘;’) to accommodate varying levels of specificity in the ‘Full details’ column.
E.g. ‘Run over by a vehicle’ or ‘Apoplexy;Apoplexy, Cerebral’ or ‘Shot;Accident’
Age
Text – Age at death when recorded in the ‘Full details’ of the report. The age is often given in years or months, but sometimes also as an age group. E.g. ’45 years’ or ‘Infant’
Occupation / Status
Text – Occupation or status in the community when recorded in the ‘Full Details’ or name fields of the report. Standardised across the dataset into similar categories. On some rows, multiple occupations are recorded (separated by ‘;’) to accommodate varying levels of specificity in the ‘Full details’ column. E.g. ‘Farmer’ or ‘Analytical chemist;Chemist’
Ethnicity
Text – Ethnicity when recorded or implied in the ‘Full Details’ or name fields of the report. Standardised across the dataset into similar categories. E.g. ‘Aboriginal Australian’
Gender
Text – Gender when recorded or implied in the ‘Full Details’ or name fields of the report.
E.g. ‘Male’ or ‘Female’
Full Details
Text – Transcribed notes from the report in a full text string. Usually includes date of death and brief description of cause of death. May include age at death, occupation or status in the community, ethnicity, gender or other descriptive information. 
E.g. ‘Died 19 June 1875 - aged 50 - killed by a log falling on him - laborer [mh]’
Gazette Date
Textual date – The date of publication for the police gazette inquest reporting this death. In the format ‘D Month YYYY’. E.g. ‘6 October 1875’
Gazette Date YYYYMMDD
Numerical date – Gazette Date field translated to the computational format YYYYMMDD. E.g. ‘18761006’
Gazette Page
Number – Page number of the police gazette inquest reporting this death. Number is padded to three characters. E.g. ‘045’
Code
Text – A short code at the end of ‘Full Details’ that does not correspond to the original microfilm record. Possibly initials of those who transcribed the original index. E.g. ‘[mh]’
Please send any questions or feedback about any of the datasets released publicly by State Library to opendata@slq.qld.gov.au.