Victorian Genealogy
Finding People and Places in Victoria, Australia.
A Chief Commissioner of Insolvent Estates was appointed in February 1842. Commissioners for Insolvent Estates were appointed for Portland in 1844, Geelong in 1855, Beechworth in 1866 and Sandhurst (now Bendigo) in 1870. They acted under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip 1842-1852 and of the Supreme Court of Victoria 1852-1871.
A Court of Insolvency in Melbourne was begun in 1871; this was under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Victoria. All judges of County Courts in Victoria, except the judge of the County Court at Melbourne were also to be judges of the Court of Insolvency. The Melbourne Court of Insolvency was presided over by a judge of the Supreme Court.
The Office of the Registrar-General and Office of Titles registered copies of Orders and Adjudications of Sequestration forwarded to the Registrar-General.
A deed of composition is a type of deed of arrangement under which the creditors of an insolvent debtor agree to settle for a percentage of the amounts owed. Records of such arrangements were filed with the Melbourne Court of Insolvency.
KEN SMITH - PORT PHILLIP DISTRICT INSOLVENCIES INDEX 1842-1851 (TROVE)
This is no longer online. Snapshot dated 2 March 2022.
https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20220302123440/https://portphillippioneersgroup.org.au/pppg5m.htm
Weekly lists of insolvents were published in government gazettes. Orders of Sequestration which were Court orders temporarily giving control of an insolvent person's property to one or more other people called assignees or trustees were published in government gazettes. See Government Gazettes.
A notice of the sequestration of an insolvents estate was legally required to be published in a newspaper. Details of insolvency court cases may have published in newspapers. See Newspapers, Magazines and Journals.
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA GENEALOGICAL INDEX OF NAMES - MARION BUTTON INSOLVENCY INDEX 1840-1854
These have been extracted from Port Phillip Herald and The Argus.
https://www.gsv.org.au/article/our-collection
The records are not online. They have been indexed through the Public Record Office Victoria catalogue.
RECORDS FOR THE COURT OF INSOLVENCY, MELBOURNE 1871-1929 (VPRS 762, 765 AND 10246)
This is a finding aid for records of the Court of Insolvency, Melbourne. The records are not online.
INSOLVENCY RECORDS FOR COUNTRY AREAS 1871-1928
This is a finding aid for regional insolvency records. The records are not online.
GEELONG AND DISTRICT WEBSITE - GEELONG COURT OF INSOLVENCY c1854-1933 (VPRS 815)
These have been indexed into the Geelong and District Database. Indexing is ongoing.
http://zades.com.au/gandd/index.php/databases/potpourri/ppindexes
OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL AND OFFICE OF TITLES - ORDERS AND ADJUDICATIONS OF SEQUESTRATION 1842-1928
Registers and indexes which were created by the Office of the Registrar-General and Office of Titles to register copies of Orders and Adjudications of Sequestration forwarded to the Registrar-General are held by Public Record Office Victoria. These are not online.
RECORDS OF DEEDS OF COMPOSITION 1871-1898
These are indexed through the Public Record Office Victoria catalogue.
Bankruptcy is when an individual is legally declared unable to pay his or her debts.
A Federal Court of Bankruptcy was established and directly exercised its jurisdiction in Victoria from 1928.
The Federal Court of Australia took over the role of Federal Court of Bankruptcy in 1977. It still handles bankruptcy cases but most cases are now heard in Federal Circuit Court of Australia. This was known as the Federal Magistrates Court from 1999 to 2013.
From 1928 all bankrupts are listed in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette at the time the bankruptcy is declared. Details given include the name and case number. See Commonwealth Government Gazettes.
A sequestration order is an order handed down by the court which makes you bankrupt. The files have been indexed into RecordSearch.
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cth/
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cth/
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cth/
Currently bankruptcy proceedings are mainly dealt with by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. There is a listing of all recent judgments for the current month which may include bankruptcy.
http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/home/
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