Footscray Historical Society Research Preserving and recording the past

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Research guide This page lists primary resources that are useful in researching family or local history. The majority of these resources are not held by the Society. See Resource Collection for the resources held by the Footscray Historical Society.   Birth records Church records - baptism/Christening Hospital records ( 20th century practice) Newspaper announcements ( 20th century practice - State and local library records) Birth registration - Births, deaths and marriages/ Public records office Legal documents - agreements for adoption. Educational records  Administration registers Class attendance records Records for public schools largely archived at public record repository with private schools largely held with in the schools Admittance and academic records - individual Universities and Technology Institutes  Employment Records Education Department - Teaching registration public record repository Local railways department - Employment registers Maritime and Harbours - Certificates of Competency Aust'asian Trained Nurses Assoc. - membership  Public Service List - State/ Commonwealth government Associations and memberships  with in field or company Marriage Records Registration of Marriage, Births, Deaths and Marriages, Public Records Office Church records  Divorce - Dissolution of Marriage - public record repository Electoral Rolls State and Federal - available from local electoral office or state libraries Records on women's votes after 1897 federally. Land Records Pre-Torrens title - official registration - Land Title Office Local government records - tenants (rent) Insolvency and bankruptcy Records Register of insolvencies - public record repository  Court Records Local public record archives  Supreme court (largely still held with in the court) Police Records Police Gazettes Station books (restricted access) Permission may be needed from Police Department to view records at state record archives  Medical Records Hospital Records - private and public Registration of Admission Directories Published form the late 1930's to until 1970's - alphabetical listing of  by street and district, valuable for tracing family movements Local state library may hold these records Newspapers Obituaries and funeral notices Papers archived in state and local libraries - including - state, national, local, community, evening, Saturday, weekend and country papers. Naturalization Records First naturalization given to non-British settlers Federally in 1881, state naturalizations vary. Records held in National Archives and state libraries Census Not all full census records have survived - local public record repository and libraries Immigration Records Passenger Indexes Newspaper indexes for ships for which no passenger list survives Indexes to Passenger lists Departures from overseas indexes Arrivals and departures from interstate indexes National Register of Shipping Arrivals  Available at National Archives and maritime museums Military Service Records Australian War Memorial data bases roll of honour and nominal rolls for conflicts - online and by request  War Service Records - National Archives RSL -  memberships Welfare Records Recipient records - for military, disability, widow and welfare allowances held at National Archives. Taxation Records Land tax records - public record repository  Income tax records - may be restricted Church and cemetery notices Church burial records Burial registers prepared by individual cemeteries - name, date, age, address Headstones - Cemetery Index - state historical societies and libraries Cemeteries Funeral director's records Inquests/ colonial reports Oral history  Oral history or interviewing people that have memory of events may also be a useful tool.  State libraries, archives and local historical societies often have extensive oral history collections. Oral history is particularly useful when researching histories of that may have not have been previously represented or documented, including women's, migrant and the oral nature of indigenous cultures. Other resources Film - National Film and Sound Archive, Screen Sound Australia, Filmworld Radio recordings - National Archives, libraries History books - as a secondary source - libraries, historical societies Locations of resources may vary from state to state and with in Australia and are vastly different for people doing research overseas. Please go to links page or contact local archive, repository or library for listings of their holdings. |Schoolspot | Local History | Industrial History | Indigenous Background| Images of the West |Home |  Top