Welcome

The Baptist Church Archives, Queensland, Australia is the main repository for the records of the Baptist denomination in Queensland, housed at The Queensland Baptists Centre, 53 Prospect Road, Gaythorne, Queensland 4051.

The Archives is open only by appointment:

The holdings consist mainly of the records of the Baptist Union of Queensland (minutes, year books, publications, newsletters, photographs etc) as well records of a number of (mainly defunct) churches, personal and family items and other material of a general historical nature.

Please note that most local church records are, according to Baptist administrative policy, in the hands of the churches of themselves (see your local telephone directory for contact details).

The denominational newspaper, The Queensland Baptist, has been published since 1881 (with some breaks and name changes). The years up to 1990 are available on searchable CD-ROM. Digital and print copies since 1990 are also available.

The denominational year books 1907-2005 are also on CD-ROM. These may be purchased from the Baptist Church Archives Qld or from the publisher -  click here for details

There are also only a few personal papers from ministers, denominational leaders or key lay people. The material is mainly confined to Queensland documents.

The collection also contains various other items including a small collection of books, church histories, biographies and other interesting material.

More detailed listing of contents

Please note that the Baptist Archives or local church collections contain almost little material that is popular with family history research such as baptism, marriage or death details. Where marriage registers still exist, the information available from them is minimal, and yields nothing more than is available from other sources.

The only kind of material giving personal, family and general biographical information relates to some leading individuals who were/are officials of the denomination.

Some of the obituaries in the Queensland Baptist, especially earlier issues, are also useful.

Please note also that as a matter of doctrinal belief, the Baptist denomination does not baptise or christen infants, so there are no records of infant baptisms available at the denominational or local church archives.