New South Wales Civil Registration

How to Find the Records

 * FamilySearch Webinar: Using the New South Wales Birth, Death, Marriage Index
 * FamilySearch Webinar: Australia BDM Civil Registration Index online tutorial.


 * National Library of Australia Website: Australian birth, death and marriage records

Online Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes

 * New South Wales Birth, Death, and Marriage Index
 * 1788-1914 - New South Wales Births at FindMyPast; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage ($)
 * 1788-1856 - New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1788-1945 - New South Wales Marriages at FindMyPast; index only ($)
 * 1788-1966 - Australia, New South Wales Marriage Index at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1813–1835,1894 - New South Wales, Australia, Butts of Marriage Licenses at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1825-1851 - New South Wales Registers Of Convict Applications To Marry at FindMyPast; index & images ($); Also at Ancestry ($)
 * 1826-1856 - New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Letters at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1828-1839 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1850-1942 - Military records : marriages, baptisms and births of military units in New South Wales, ca. 1850-1942 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1787-1986 - Australia, New South Wales Death Index at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1788-1945 - New South Wales Deaths at FindMyPast; index only ($)
 * 1826-1879 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1873-1923 - Divorce records Index 1873-1923 at NSW Archives, index


 * Australia, Birth, Marriage, and Death Exchange, index
 * 1776-1980: at FamilySearch; index & images
 * 1788-1922 - Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922, index - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1792-1981 -, index, incomplete. How to Use this Collection
 * 1792-1981 - Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981, index - at Ancestry.com ($). Also at FindMyPast ($). Also at My Heritage ($)
 * 1788-1950 - Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950, index - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1788-1935 - Australia, Marriages, 1788-1935, index - at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1810-1980 -, index, incomplete. How to Use this Collection
 * 1810-1980 - Australia, Marriages, 1810-1980, index - at MyHeritage ($)
 * 1787-1985 - Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, index - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1816-1980 -, index. How to Use this Collection
 * 1816-1980 - Australia Deaths & Burials, 1816-1980, index - at FindMyPast ($). Also at My Heritage ($)
 * 1851-1997 - Australia Newspaper Vital Notices, 1851-1997 - at Ancestry, ($), index, incomplete.
 * 1860-2019 - Australia Death Notices, 1860-2019, ($), index

British Armed Forces

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials at FindMyPast; index & images ($)

Archive Resources Kit

 * Archive Resources Kit
 * Abstracts of all licences for marriages granted to free persons, 1813-27
 * Registers, 1787-1856
 * Reports of inquests, 1796-1828
 * Indexes and registers of Coroners' inquests and magisterial inquiries, 1834-1942

"The ARK is held by 40 community access points across NSW. The majority of access points are libraries. The ARK consists of microfilm copies of our most popular and heavily used colonial records. Included are records relating to convict arrivals, assisted immigrants, births, deaths and marriages, publicans' licences, electoral rolls, naturalisation, returns of the colony ('Blue Books'), land grants, and the wide range of functions of the Colonial Secretary (1788-1825). You may find that the ARK (or parts of it) are held at a library near you."
 * Community Access Points A list of libraries and archives which hold microcopies of the Archive Resource Kit records

Ordering Records Online or Visiting a Registry Office

 * NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages offers a wide variety of services to help with family history research. Family History Search
 * Online ordering of Birth certificate   Marriage certificate    Death certificate
 * Locations and Links for Registry Service Centres

Transcription Services

 * In obtaining certificates of events listed in the New South Wales Birth, Death, and Marriage Index it is more economical to hire a transcription agent. For a list of New South Wales agents, see Ancestry research help and support: Hire a transcription agent
 * Research Agents

History

 * Civil registration began in New South Wales with the commencement of the 1855 Act for Registering Birth, Deaths and Marriages on 1 March 1856.
 * Until 1st January 1976, the registration of births, deaths and marriages was a duty and function of the Registrar General, when they were transferred to the Principal Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
 * Prior to the start of civil registration, the government required most churches to send copies (called "Clergy Returns") of their birth, marriage, and death records to the Registrar of the Supreme Court. The dates of these records for New South Wales are 1788–1856. The records are included in the New South Wales Birth, Death, and Marriage Index.

Rights of Privacy
Rights of privacy laws limit access to records recent enough to contain information about living persons. You can access any of the following records: For records created since the cut-off dates, only these people have access to a record:
 * births that happened over 100 years ago
 * deaths that happened over 30 years ago
 * marriages that happened over 75 years ago
 * the person named on the birth, marriage or change of name record
 * an immediate family member named on the death certificate, such as a spouse, parent or child
 * a parent, grandparent or guardian of a child over 18 years old who wishes to apply for a birth certificate and who has given written permission.

Birth certificates issued before 1856
Certificates issued before 1856 include the following information.
 * Full name, sex, date of birth and date of baptism. Some only show the date, or an age at baptism instead of a date of birth.
 * Parents are listed but not all information, such as their age at the time of the baptism, their place of birth and date of marriage.
 * Maiden name of mother is not always recorded and the baptism may only be listed under the surname of the father.
 * Birth place of child is not listed but some baptisms will state where the parents were living at the time.
 * Name of minister not always given, although denomination is shown.

Birth certificates issued after 1856
In general certificates issued after 1856 include the following information.
 * Birth certificates
 * Marriage certificates
 * Death certificates
 * Full name, sex, date and place of birth.
 * Mother's details — full name and maiden name, age, occupation, place of birth.
 * Father's details — full name, age, occupation, place of birth.
 * Date and place of parents' marriage.
 * Previous children of the relationship.

Marriage certificates issued before 1856
Certificates issued before 1856 include the following information.
 * Names, date of marriage and the area where the event occurred.
 * Names of the parents to the parties are not given. On some records, where a consent is provided the register will only state the consent was given by the parents, but may not state their names.
 * Some records have more detail such as ages and whether they were born in the colony or the name of the ship on which the parties arrived in the colony.

Marriage certificates issued after 1856
In general certificates issued after 1856 include the following information.
 * Bridegroom's full name, occupation, place of residence, conjugal status, place and date of birth, age, father's name and mother's maiden name.
 * Bride's full name, occupation, place of residence, conjugal status, place and date of birth, age, father's name and mother's maiden name.
 * Name of celebrant and witnesses.

Burial certificates issued before 1856

 * Name of deceased, their age, date of death or date of burial and place of burial.
 * A burial may include other details, such as occupation, name of the ship they arrived on, or a cause of death.
 * The name of the minister is not always given, although the denomination is shown.
 * The names of both parents are not given.
 * Rarely included are the name of the spouse or any children.

Death certificates issued after 1856
In general certificates issued after 1856 include the following information.
 * Full name, sex, age, date and place of death, place of residence, occupation and marital status.
 * Place of marriage, age when married, full name of spouse.
 * Children's name and ages.
 * Parents' names and mother's maiden name.
 * Cause of death and duration of last illness.
 * Burial or cremation date and place.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: