Research Guides: Births, deaths and marriages: More marriage records

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are kindly advised that this website includes images, sounds and names of people who have passed.

All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified. Certain words, terms or descriptions may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.

Key to library resources

	In the Library (or anywhere with a Library card for NSW residents)
	Only in the Library
	Publicly available

More marriage records

Learn more about your ancestor's marriage or divorce

Trove digitised newspapers [external website]
Find marriage announcements published in Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1954. You can search across newspapers from metropolitan and regional areas of New South Wales.
Sydney Morning Herald (SMH and Sun-Herald) Archive, 1955–1995 [eresource]
Search for engagement and marriage notices to find information about your ancestors' marriage. You may find their full names, the date of their engagement or marriage, where they were married, the date and place of their birth, and their parents' 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 marriage notices found in newspapers and marriage records from parish registers. You can find the date and place of your ancestor's marriage as well as where to find the indexed record.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): volume 3 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Search across 864,000 names from newspapers for information about your ancestor's marriage. You can find the date and place of their marriage as well as where to find the indexed record.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): volume 4 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Search 550,000 names from newspapers to find the date and place of your ancestor's marriage 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 ancestors' marriage such as both their names, the date and place of their marriage, where they lived and the names of the witnesses. You may also find their occupations, ages and if they had been married. Churches of all denominations in NSW documented the marriages 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 marriages 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 marriages 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.

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.

What are Parish Registers?

Parish registers are records of marriages that were performed by churches of all denominations. Churches recorded the marriages they performed in the registers.

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

Find parish registers on microfilm in the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room and in the Special Collections area.

What is Civil Registration?

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

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 find engagement and marriage notices.

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.