1. Introduction to Australian Indexes
For conducting a Surname Study

3. Births, Deaths & Marriages
New South Wales
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Indexed online at ttp:// history/family-history.aspx
Covers early parish registers and official registration from 1856 for
- births up to 100 years ago
- deaths up to 30 years and
- marriages up to 50 years ago
Pre 1856 parish records available on microfilm at major libraries and genealogical societies
Post 1856 certificates can be purchased online from the Registry or a transcription can be purchased from an official Transcription Agent

4. New South Wales continued
Births
Deaths
Marriages

5. New South Wales continued
Convicts
Approximately 80,000 men and women arrived as convicts between1788 and 1842
Trial in the UK – Quarter Sessions, Old Bailey, prison & hulk records
Transportation – shipping indents
Life after arrival in Australia –
assignment records & musters trials/punishment for colonial offences petitions for mitigation of sentence applications to have wives and families brought out tickets of leave certificates of freedom
convict bank accounts convict death registers convict pardons exemptions from government labour memorials for land grants applications to marry and, in a few cases – departure records for convicts returning to the UK
The majority of convict records can be searched online at State Records of NSW – archives/indexes-online/indexes-online

6. New South Wales continued
Free Settlers
Not everyone who arrived in the colony was a convict –
military personnel accompanied convicts government officials free immigrants who arrived for one reason or another gold seekers and assisted immigrants brought out to specifically settle the new colony
Immigration and passenger list indexes can be searched online at State Records NSW – archives/indexes-online/indexes-to- immigration-and-shipping-records
Index to Bounty immigrants at FamilySearch
Fare-paying passengers are among the poorest records, often only recording a surname and/or initial
The Colonial Secretary Papers (available on the SRNSW website) has a comprehensive index of early settlers in the period
The Colonial Secretary Letters re Land covering is another good source – again available on the SRNSW website
Passengers and settlers can also be found in early newspapers which can be searched for free on the TROVE website –

7. New South Wales continued
Probate
Online indexes at State Records of NSW archives/research-topics/death-records
include –
Deceased Estate Files (1880-c1923) raised for stamp duty payable and include lists of assets
Intestate Estate Case Papers ( )
Probate Packets ( ) includes the testator’s will – a great way to obtain a copy of the will without having to purchase it!
Other Sites
Various Sydney cemeteries at Heaven Address
Irish Famine Orphan Girl Database atabase/
50 Hawkesbury district cemeteries html and various church registers
Browse the Monaro Pioneers website or free registration allows search across whole database

8. Births, Deaths & Marriages
Tasmania
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Official registration commenced in 1839
Note:  The Tasmanian Registry does not have an online search facility to access birth, death and marriage records
Access to
- Tasmanian baptism records , and
- birth, death and marriage records
is available online for free downloading and can be found by using the Tasmanian Names Index at

9. Tasmania continued
Births Index
Detailed view

10. Convicts Free Settlers
Tasmania continued
Convicts
76,000 convicts were sent to Tasmania between 1804 and 1853
LincTasmania – – is the government portal for the state’s official records and family history material will be found under Tasmania’s Heritage
Detailed list of digitised convict records can be found at by-category/familyhistory/convict
Free Settlers
Records with varying levels of detail covering are described at /search/guides/arrivals-and-departures
Access to many of the records is via the Tasmanian Names Index at AU/names/
Good coverage of Tasmanian newspapers available on TROVE at Tasmania

11. Tasmania continued
Probate
Tasmanian Probate Office wills up to 1989 can be searched and downloaded by using the Tasmanian Names Index at AU/names/
Other Sites
AUS-Tasmanian Genealogy Mailing List s/indexes/indexes.htm
Tasmanian Genealogy Links index.html
Gravesites of Tasmania
Over two dozen cemeteries of the Northern Midlands Council e/Page.aspx?Page_Id=107

12. Births, Deaths & Marriages
Western Australia
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Originally known as the Swan River Colony, civil registration began in West Australia in 1841
The Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages offers free online searching for the following range of years at ault.aspx
- births
- deaths
- marriages
A Reverse Marriage Index covering is available at

13. Western Australia continued
Search results will give you a lot of information for your study but there is also a link for purchasing certificates if more information is required
Births
Deaths
Marriages

14. Western Australia continued
Convicts
Around 9700 convicts arrived in WA between and 1868
Records held at State Records of WA – current website difficult to follow but a new search facility is due soon
Convict arrivals indexed by ship (drop down menu) at cts/con-wa.html
Free Settlers
Several indexes available for passengers arriving in WA but they are not online – check with local or state library or genealogical society if they hold copies of the following examples
Passenger Arrivals into WA, (cd-rom)
Passenger Arrivals into WA, (cd-rom)
Shipping Passenger Arrivals from Overseas, Albany, WA, (mf)
Albany Interstate Passenger Arrivals Index, [mf]
Fremantle Passenger Arrivals Index, [mf]
Fremantle Interstate Passenger Arrivals Index, [mf]

15. Western Australia continued
Probate
Probate records held by State Record Office of Western Australia
Files over 75 years old are on open access
No indexes online
Information leaflet at /infosheet-probate_000.pdf
Other Sites
Perth Dead Persons’ Society -
Western Australia Genealogy Links australia/index.html
Metropolitan Cemeteries Board alogy/Search.aspx
Various records at Swan Genealogy
Ozburials – Western Australia

16. Births, Deaths & Marriages
South Australia
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Civil registration commenced 1842
No online indexes at SA BDMs Registration Office – but do have online ordering at marriages/bdm-other-topics/apply-online/
Search Genealogy SA indexes at databases.html and use their references for the above online ordering. Indexes cover:
- births
- deaths
- marriages

17. South Australia continued
Membership of Genealogy SA gives you access to all the information on the certificate or transcriptions can be purchased for half the price of official certificates Births Deaths Marriages

18. South Australia continued
Free Settlers
SA wasn’t a penal settlement
UK emigrants from 1836 onwards were usually part of a government scheme
Online search of South Australian passenger lists up to 1853 available at State Library of SA at d=99525&sid=
A search of official assisted passage passenger lists can be done online at State Records of SA but there are no digital images and results only give name and year of arrival with no name of ship –
NOTE: State Records of South Australia has a Name Search available online but it doesn’t cover all records
Probate
The Probate Registry comes under jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of South Australia
No online indexes

19. South Australia continued
Other Sites
Family History SA – excellent resource for cemeteries, passenger arrivals and bdms
Savill Index of The Advertiser Funeral Notices
South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau
South Australian Government Gazette

20. Births, Deaths & Marriages
Victoria
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Originally known as Port Phillip district of New South Wales, civil registration began in Victoria in 1853
Online search of historic BDMs covering
births marriages deaths , and church baptisms, marriages and burials
available at search?action=getHistIdxSearchCriteria but you have to pay to see the search results – up to 20 entries per page
Uncertified certificate images can also be purchased and downloaded
Pre1836 need to search NSW records

21. Convicts Free Settlers
Victoria continued
Convicts
No convicts were transported directly to Victoria
However, convicts made their way to the district through assignment, ticket of leave for work, or as an Exile
There are digitised records of prisoners available on the Public Record Office of Victoria’s website at convicts
The Westernport Settlement of westport.htm
Free Settlers
Index to Assisted British Immigration online at
Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria online at
Index to Outward Passengers to Interstate, UK, NZ and Foreign Ports online at

22. Victoria continued
Probate
Index to Wills, Probate and Administration Records available at
Other Sites
Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust search index.aspx
Geelong and District databases and indexes
Victorian Government Gazette
Search across the State Library of Victoria’s digital collections

23. Births, Deaths & Marriages
Queensland
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Compulsory BDM registration introduced in 1856
Historical indexes can be searched online and copies of certificates downloaded from divorces/family-history-research/ covering
- births
- deaths
- marriages

24. Convicts Free Settlers
Queensland continued
Convicts
Until 1840, Moreton Bay was established as a place of secondary confinement for convicts who had committed another offence in the colony
Several pdf indexes available online relating to the Moreton Bay establishment at history/letters
After cessation of convict transportation some Exiles were transported to Moreton Bay in and 1850
Free Settlers
Various pdf indexes on immigration to Queensland including Assistant Immigration Agent Maryborough Assisted Immigration Registers of immigrants, Brisbane online at exes/Immigration/Pages/Default.aspx

25. Queensland continued
Probate
Queensland State Archives has the following online indexes – Index to Wills at exes/Courts/Pages/Wills.aspx
Equity Files at exes/Courts/Pages/Equityfiles.aspx
Instruments of Renunciation at exes/Courts/Pages/Renunciation.aspx
Trustees Files Index at exes/Courts/Pages/TrusteeFiles.aspx
The online Probate Notice Database is a record of all public notices published in the Queensland Law Reporter since 1 January – ases/probate-notice-database/
Other Sites
15 Brisbane Cemeteries & Crematoria
South East Queensland cemeteries at ory/Photos/index.htm

26. Births, Deaths & Marriages
Northern Territory
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Civil registration began in 1870
No online indexes but certificates can be ordered online at
Early records may be located interstate, try –
– search and order from the NSW Registry Office
– use the SA Registry Office searchable at GenealogySA

27. Northern Territory continued
Probate
No online indexes to Northern Territory probate
Information leaflet available at s/pdf_file/0018/144054/Probates_Oct2012.pdf
Online genealogical indexes are basically non existent for Northern Territory – I welcome any links people might have

28. Australian Capital Territory
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Civil registration commenced on 1 Jan 1930
Deaths are online as a pdf document at oric_death_index.pdf –use Ctrl F to find surname of interest
Marriages are online as a pdf document at oric_marriage_index.pdf –use Ctrl F to find surname of interest
Prior to 1930 search and order from the NSW Registry Office

29. Australian Federal Records
Military
World War I Attestation papers – need to choose WWI from drop down menu terface/NameSearchForm.aspx
World War II Nominal Roll
Vietnam War Nominal Roll spx
The AIF project
Immigration
Passenger Arrivals Index ngerSearch.asp
Other Records
Name Search across several databases Interface/NameSearchForm.aspx