We are delighted to announce that the official launch of the Harry Gentle Resource Centre’s Dictionary of Biography is taking placing on 7 November 2024 at Queensland State Archives at Runcorn. The function and content of the Dictionary – which includes First Peoples, convicts, soldiers, settlers and immigrants – will be demonstrated at the launch.

Launch details:

Thursday, 7 November 2024

11.30am – 1.00pm

Queensland State Archives

435 Compton Road, Runcorn

Light refreshments will be served

RSVP to [email protected] by Friday 1 November 2024

The Harry Gentle Resource Centre and Dictionary of Biography

The Harry Gentle Resource Centre (HGRC) is a digital initiative established in 2016 to honour the generous bequest of Mr Robert (Harry) Gentle, an alumnus of Griffith University. It promotes and supports the histories of the region that became colonial Queensland through digitising and curating resources on people, institutions and landscapes.

The HGRC Dictionary of Biography is a biographical record of the peoples who lived in colonial Queensland. It includes information about First Peoples of this region under conditions of colonisation; the convicts and soldiers who occupied the Moreton Bay penal settlement; and settler immigrants, as well as indentured labourers, who followed them.

The dictionary is a living document, with information collated from a wide range of archival and printed sources, updated as new material comes to light. It draws on the contribution of researchers associated with the Centre, as well as the genealogical research of volunteers and collecting institutions over many years.

Information in the dictionary about First Peoples is drawn from sources most commonly associated with colonisation practices and government administration. For this reason, most individuals of First People origin are known only through an anglicised name. Their inclusion in this dictionary is an important step in acknowledging their original possession of the land.

Image (above): Australian School, 19th century View from Main Range near Spicers Peak, Queensland, Australia c.1880s Watercolour on paper, 28 x 48.2cm, Purchased 2005 Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.