TIPS

#national family history month challenge – week 3

My tip for Family History month has a focus on South Australia and the use of State Records SA.

For researchers of South Australian Family History it is useful to remember the State Archives exist and that they contain a treasure trove of information to enrich our family history. Establish in 1919 and State Records SA was the first government archive established in Australia. The records date back to colonisation in 1836. While the archives or state records as they are know hold a lot of Aboriginal records these are often not on line.

Since 2018, many of the records that the Family Historian is interested in have been digitized in partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ company FamilySearch.

The following records are now available FamilySearch and Ancestry:

• Immigration Records 1845 to 1940
• Children in State Care including industrial schools, reformatories and boarding out registers.
• Royal Adelaide admissions – indexes state record, digital copies 1840 to 1930
• Destitute asylum
• Infants born in the destitute asylum lying in home
• Police Records including – Police Gazettes and Police reports to the coroner
• Goal Records – Adelaide and Yatala
• School Admission Registers – some, not all schools have deposited their registers at State Records SA
• Employment Records – some exist for SA Railways, Government Teachers and Nurses
• Deceased Estates – early wills and succession duties

Have a look at https://vimeo.com/staterecordssa to review the training and information videos on what is available at State Records SA and where to access them. The did a great talk titled “Using State Records Online Resources” for Family History Month. This is available for viewing as well.

Having not used State Records SA for a while, I was pleasantly surprised earlier this year when I saw the amount of information that is now accessible from home. So if your research is SA based don’t forget to give State Records a go.