Australia Genealogy & History A Research & Resource Guide

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Last Modified 02 Apr 2009
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Australia - Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990s, a performance due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s. Long-term concerns include climate-change issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and more frequent droughts, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. (CIA - World Factbook)

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See Earliest Combs &c. Families of Australia

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Australia Today
Click State/Territory on map for project links.

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Locating Records & Resources

Across Australia

• National Archives of Australia: www.naa.gov.au/services/family-historians/
• National Library of Australia | Family Historians: www.nla.gov.au
• AustraliaGenWeb Project: www.australiagenweb.org
• E-Resources (National Library of Australia): http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/eresources/action/browse?sid=2&tid=115

- First Inhabitants -
Indigenous Records

• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/home
• Family History Unit - (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies): www.aiatsis.gov.au/library/family_history_tracing
• Aboriginal Colonial Court Cases, 1788-1838: http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/searchform.aspx?id=1
• Aboriginal people in the Register of Aboriginal Reserves, 1875-1904: http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/searchform.aspx?id=47
• Records about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/indigenous-australia/

Census

Census Websites:

• New South Wales 1841 Census: Index Serach

Military

Military Websites:

• Australian War Memorial Database The Australian War Memorial has an excellent online military database with details of servicemen who fought for Australia.:
  • Commemorative Roll
  • Honours and Awards
  • WWI Nominal Rolls
  • Boer War Nominal Roll
  • Roll of Honour
• World War Two Nominal Roll: http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/