Research Guides: Births, deaths and marriages: More birth and baptism records

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More birth and baptism records

Learn more about your ancestor's birth and baptism

Trove digitised newspapers [external website]
Find birth announcements published in Australian newspapers between 1803 and 1954. You can search across newspapers from metropolitan and regional areas of New South Wales.
Sydney Morning Herald (and Sun–Herald) Archive, 1955–1995 [eresource]
Search for birth notices to find information about your ancestor's birth. You may find their full name, the date and place of their birth, their parents' names and sometimes their siblings' names.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): volume 1 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Use this index to search 3.9 million records from the 19th and 20th centuries including birth notices found in newspapers and baptism records from parish registers. You can find the date and place of your ancestor's birth and/or baptism as well as where to find the indexed record.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): volume 3 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Search 864,000 names from newspapers that have been indexed. Find information about your ancestor's birth or baptism such as the date and place of their birth and/or baptism as well as where to find the indexed record.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): volume 4 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Search 100,000 birth records and 550,000 names from newspapers to find the date and place of your ancestor's birth and/or baptism as well as where to find the indexed record. The index includes records from 1800 to 2009 though there are some records before 1800.
Mitchell church registers [microfilm]
Find details about your ancestor’s birth and baptism such as the date of their birth, the date and place of their baptism, and their parents' names. You might also find their mother’s maiden name, their father’s occupation and where they lived (though only Sydney or the parish may be listed). Churches of all denominations in NSW documented the baptisms they performed in these registers. Keep in mind that not all registers have survived.
Mutch index [catalogue record | microfilm]
Use the index to find records of births and baptisms that occurred between 1787 and 1957. The index is split into two date ranges; 1787–1814 and 1815–1957. In the first part you will find information about records of baptisms performed at St Philip's (Sydney), St John’s (Parramatta) and St Matthew’s (Windsor). In the second part you will find information from church registers of all denominations across NSW with the exception of the Methodist Church. You may also find headstone inscriptions and newscuttings for later years.
Parish registers in Australia: a list of originals, transcripts, microforms and indexes of Australian parish registers [catalogue record]
Use this book to find out which institution has the parish registers that you're looking for. The book is arranged by state and includes an index.
Also available in the Library in CD-ROM.
St Margaret's Hospital records, 1894–1998 [catalogue record]
Search the hospital records to find information about your ancestor who was a patient at St Margaret's Hospital in Darlinghurst, NSW. The records include baptismal registers, baby books, patients admission books and some medical records.
You must obtain written permission from the Sisters of St Joseph to view the records. Some of the material is kept offsite and may take up to four days to retrieve.

Newspapers at the Library

Newspapers are great for researching your family history as they hold a wealth of information. Newspapers can expand on the information you've already gathered and can contain information that isn’t available elsewhere.

We have a large collection of NSW newspapers that are available in a variety of formats including online, microfilm and print. You can find many early Australian newspapers on Trove.

Looking for asylum records?

Records from asylums, other mental health facilities and charitable organisations in NSW may be held with us or at State Archives & Records NSW.

Some of the information you might find includes date of death, place of birth, marital status and names of family members.

You will need to seek permission from the NSW Health Department to view records that are less than 110 years old and may also need permission from the hospital.

State Archives & Records NSW research guide on Asylum records
Check out this research guide for further information.

Hospital records at the Library

We have records from several NSW hospitals in our collections.

Search for hospital records in our catalogue
We recommend searching the name of the hospital with the keywords 'hospital records'. The hospital records are not available online.
You may need to apply for permission to access the records.
Search for hospital records held by State Archives & Records NSW

Two mothers holding their babies
Digital order number: hood_04470

What is Civil Registration?

Civil registration is the official recording of births, deaths and marriages by the government. Compulsory civil registration began in NSW on 1 March 1856. Each state and territory has a registry that is responsible for these records.

What are Parish Registers?

Parish registers are records of baptisms that were performed by churches of all denominations. The churches would record all baptisms that they performed in registers.

These records are the official source of information for births that occurred before 1856 when civil registration began in NSW. Churches continued to record baptisms after this date. These records after 1856 can be a useful supplement to the official certificate.

Find parish registers on microfilm in the family history area in the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room.

States once part of NSW

ACT, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and even New Zealand were once part of the colony of NSW. It may be worth checking the NSW birth, death and marriage indexes for these areas.

Notices in newspapers

Use newspapers to also find birth notices. Notices tend to include the date and place of birth and the parents' names.

We have indexes of birth, death and marriage notices for several newspapers. You can find online indexes on our eresources page or search our catalogue to find print indexes.

Koori Mail Online Collection

Search the Australian Indigenous index to find information about births, funerals and marriages in the Koori Mail newspaper, Dawn magazine as well as historical missionary magazines.

You can view issues of the Koori Mail, 1991-present in the Koori Mail Online Collection.