Finding family history- some handy sites for beginners

There is an increasing expectation that family history resources will be available free online. There are some useful free sites to begin from; mainly indexes, with the full records available either from pay for view sites or by physically searching microfilm and other hard copy resources. I have only just begun to learn what is available free online, so I thought I'd pass it on here, on case there are some other beginners out there! Lots of other people know a lot more about this than I do- so please forgive me if I'm stating the bleeding obvious!



When searching for people born in NSW, a good place to begin is with the Historical Indexes of the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. Here you can check the indexes to find the most basic details, and also the registration number you need to be able to request a copy of a certificate. The online index to marriage records covers 1788-1958, births records cover 1788-1908, and death records cover 1788-1978.


Another useful site is the online index of the NSW State Records Authority. Here you can do a simple keyname search. I searched a name from my family and found that State Records have a record of an assisted immigrant of that name arriving in 1853, aged 8, with his family on a ship called the Talavera. The dates seem about right, so the next step would be for me to further investigate by looking at the actual record which is on a microfilm reel that I could view at one of the two records centres in Sydney, at The Rocks and at Kingswood.


Some, but not all, of these types of records are also available at the 40 designated NSW State Records community access points. These are mostly public libraries, which State Records have made repositories of the Archives Resources Kit; a collection of books and microfilms of records valued at about $20,000. Our nearest community access point is Macquarie Regional Library in Dubbo. I would jot down the details of the microfilm reel number from the State Records website, and then check the Macquarie Regional Library website to see whether they hold this reel. To do this, go to http://www.mrl.nsw.gov.au/ and in the search box at the top of the page, type in “Archives Resources Kit”. This takes me to a listing of the State Records items which can be viewed in Dubbo Library.



Alternatively, if I was certain this record would be useful to me, I could order a photocopy of it on the State Records website. This costs $25 for the first record, although up to 9 extra records can be added to the same order for $6 each.

So you can see that an internet search can start you off on a fascinating journey to find your family history. This is just a tiny taste of the experience, but people tell me it is highly addictive.