Research Guides: Births, deaths and marriages: Deaths and burials

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Deaths and burials

Researching deaths and burials

Begin researching your ancestor's death and burial by finding their death certificate, then using other resources such as church registers, newspapers and other genealogical resources to fill in the gaps.

Make sure you view (or buy a copy) the original records as they usually have more details than in the index.

Use this information to work back through the generations.

Beginning your family history research
For more tips and strategies see Beginning your family history research

About the resources

Your ancestor's record might not include all the details that we've listed. The information documented can vary from record to record, especially earlier records as they tend not to contain as much information as later records.

Find your ancestor's death certificate

NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages - Search
NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages offer free, unrestricted searching with no identification required for:
- Births over 100 years ago
- Deaths over 30 years ago
- Marriages over 50 years ago
These records of births, deaths and marriages in NSW date from 1856. Early church records from 1788 to 1855 are also available.
Australia death index, 1788–1985 – Ancestry Library Edition [eresource]
Use the index to search across deaths from registries in Australia. Find the year and place of your ancestor's death and registration, the volume/registration number and sometimes their parents' given names. The date range for the records indexed is different for each state due to privacy legislation such as you will only find deaths between 1788 and 1945 for NSW.
Use the information from the index to buy a copy of the certificate from the relevant registry.
Registers of births, deaths and marriages, 1787–1856 [catalogue record | microfilm]
Use the volume/registration number from the index to view the record of your ancestor's death. You will find more information in the record such as the date and place of their death, the date of their burial, their age, where they lived, details about their spouse and children, their mother’s maiden name and their profession (or their husband’s or father's). You might also find out if they were a free settler or a convict, the length of their sentence and the name of the ship.
You're not able to make copies of the register due to copyright restrictions. You can buy a copy of the certificate from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Grave of late Mr George Walker, Manly cemetery
Digital order number: hood_24353

Deaths from the past 30 years

You can apply for a copy of a death certificate for the past 30 years from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. You will need to be eligible to apply. Refer to the website to see if you meet the criteria.

You can buy certificates for deaths that occurred over 30 years ago through the Registry's website.

Family history transcription agent

You can pay family history transcription agents for full and partial transcriptions or verification of details. Unlike a certificate, the transcription cannot be used for legal purposes.

Family history at the library

Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room
You can find most of our family history resources in the Family history area on Lower Ground 2 of the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room. Ask staff for help with your research as well as using our collections.
Mitchell Library Reading Room
We also have resources in the Special Collections area in the Mitchell Library Reading Room and in stack storage.
Find out more about family history at the Library.