The current cost of living crisis has made researching family history inaccessible for many. I believe that everyone should have access to the tools for researching their family tree, no matter their financial situation, so in this three part series I’ll be sharing tips and tricks for doing family history for free or at a lower cost. 

Today, let’s look at some free resources specific to 3 different areas of family history research in Australia:

Let’s begin!

Convicts:

• Convict Records of Australia

“Welcome to Convict Records. This website allows you to search the British Convict transportation register for convicts transported to Australia between 1787-1867.”

–https://convictrecords.com.au/

• Libraries Tasmania Convict Records

“The British Government transported about 76,000 convicts to Tasmania between 1804 and 1853. You can search for them online. Tasmania’s convict records are part of the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register along with the convicts records for New South Wales and Western Australia. The register is the equivalent for documents of the World Heritage List for built and natural sites.”

– libraries.tas.gov.au

Graves/obituaries

• Find a Grave

“Find the graves of ancestors, create virtual memorials or add photos, virtual flowers and a note to a loved one’s memorial. Search or browse cemeteries and grave records for every-day and famous people from around the world.”

–https://www.findagrave.com/

• The Ryerson Index

“The Ryerson Index is a free index to death notices appearing in Australian newspapers. The date range covered extends from the Sydney Gazette of 1803 up to newspapers published within the last week or so. The Index also includes many funeral notices, and some probate notices and obituaries.”

–https://www.ryersonindex.org/

• You can also search for obituaries and death notices on Trove (trove.nla.gov.au), which I spoke about in the last blog post – Affordable Family History #2.

Immigration

• National Archives of Australia Passenger arrivals index, 1898 – 1972

“The National Archives’ collection includes thousands of records documenting Australia’s rich migrant history. Research your family’s migration to Australia, find out more about Australian citizenship and discover a wealth of information about post-World War II immigration.”

–https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/immigration-and-citizenship

Public Record Office Victoria – Passenger records and immigration. Early Victorian inward and outward passenger lists.

“Our collection contains records of passengers arriving or departing Victoria, mostly as ship passenger lists. 

They are divided into:

1. inward bound passengers 

• “assisted” (subsidised)
• “unassisted” (paying their own way), or
• “coastal” (travelling to Victoria from an Australian port), and     

2. outward bound passengers, regardless of destination.”

– https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/passenger-records-and-immigration