Tasmania Church Records

Online Records

 * Tasmania Names Index, Libraries Tasmania Index and images
 * 1803-1933 Tasmania Birth, Death & Marriage Records 1803-1933 Now Online Index
 * 1803-1933 -  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1803-1933 Tasmania Births 1803-1933 - at Findmypast, Index ($)
 * 1803-1899 Tasmania Marriages 1803-1899 - at Findmypast, Index ($)
 * 1803-1933 Tasmania Deaths 1803-1933 - at Findmypast Index ($)
 * 1833-1854 Tasmania, Australia, Baptisms of Children of Convicted Women, 1833-1854 at Ancestry ($), index and images.
 * 1839-1938 -  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images

'''Church records predate civil registration, and as registrar's offices assumed responsibility for registration, they requested copies of earlier church records to incorporate into their collections. Civil registration indexes may include church records going back to 1803.'''

New South Wales Online Resources and Websites, Including Tasmania Prior to 1825

 * The New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages includes church records that were kept from 1788 to 1855, prior to collection of vital records by the government.
 * Card index to New South Wales church records
 * New South Wales church records - at FamilySearch, index and images. Contains registers for different denominations throughout New South Wales, particularly around the Sydney area.
 * 1787-1810 Index to baptisms, N.S.W., 1787-1800 ; Index to burials in New South Wales 1787 to 1800 (including deaths at sea on first fleet) ; Index to marriages in New South Wales, a.d. 1788-1800 ; Index to marriages in New South Wales from January 1, 1800 to December 31st, 1810, transcribed from "The Kerrison James" records - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1788-1830 Kerrison James Index to church records, 1788-1830 - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1801-1981 Church record transcriptions : New South Wales, 1801-1981 - at FamilySearch, index and images.
 * Births, St. John, Parramatta, 1801-1814 -- Births, St. John's Anglican, Wilberforce, 1825-1831 -- Births, Presbyterian, Clarence Town, 1843-1862 -- Births, Pitt Town, 1826-1842 -- Baptisms, St. Peter's Anglican, Richmond, 1839-1855 -- Births, Whitingham Parish Anglican, Singleton, 1835-1862 -- Baptisms, Anglican, Wilberforce, 1826-1870 -- Marriages, Anglican, Richmond, 1856-1914 -- Marriages, Presbyterian, Morpeth, 1840-1860 -- Births, St. James Catholic, Morpeth, 1857-1981 -- Marriages, St. John's Anglican, Wollombi, 1856-1899


 * 1804-1900 New South Wales Parish Registers, Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle at Findmypast, ($), index.
 * 1814-2011 Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 at Ancestry ($) - index and images
 * 1816-1982 Australia, New South Wales, cemetery, military, and church record transcripts : COLLECTION RECORD, 1816-1982, index and images. How to Use This Collection
 * 1818-1894 Church record transcriptions : Sydney and the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, 1818-1894 - at FamilySearch, index.
 * 1818-1976 - Parish register index for the Hunter region (New South Wales) : church records indexes, 1818-1976- at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1824-1864 Church of England in Australia records : Port Macquarie and surrounding areas, 1824-1864 - at FamilySearch, index and images.

FamilySearch Library

 * Click on "Places within Australia, Tasmania". Choose a location to see if additional online church records are available.

Archives
Tasmanian Government
 * Researching Family Trees

[https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/tas/? Tasmanian Archives] Archives Office of Tasmania 91 Murray Street Hobart, Tasmania 7000 Telephone: 03 6233 7488 Facsimile: 03 6233 7902 Email [mailto:taho@education.tas.gov.au taho@education.tas.gov.au]
 * Church Registrations
 * Church registers held in the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office / State of Tasmania, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
 * Searching Tasmanian Archives

Catholic Diocese of Hobart Archives and Heritage Collection 35 Tower Road New Town, Tasmania 7008 Australia GPO Box 62 Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Australia Telephone: 03 6231 4740 Website

Anglican Diocese of Tasmania Registry Office Level 1, 125 Macquarie Street Hobart TAS 7000 Australia GPO Box 748 Hobart TAS 7001 Phone: 03 6220 2019 Email: registrar@anglicantas.org.au -

Libraries
Libraries Tasmania
 * Family History
 * Church Registrations

National Library of Australia Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 6262 1111 Address postal enquiries to: Reader Services National Library of Australia Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
 * How do I research my family history?
 * Catalogue Search
 * Ask a Librarian

Societies

 * The Society of Australian Genealogists, based in Sydney, provides an expert and specialist family history service, and holds microfilms of records of churches of all denominations throughout Australia and overseas. The SAG sells copies of their microfilms to family history societies, historical societies, and libraries.

Writing for Records
Originals of parish records may still be held at the local church. See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help in composing a letter requesting information from a local church. Address directories for major religious groups are listed here. Baptist, Pentecostal, and Reformed churches have multiple umbrella organizations. For those, use Google.
 * Anglican Directory Australia Parishes
 * Catholic Find A Church, Australia
 * Churches of Christ in Australia
 * Greek Orthodox Churches in Australia
 * Jehovah's Witnesses Find a Meeting in Australia
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Find a Ward
 * Find a Lutheran Church Australia
 * OCA Orthodox Church Parishes in Australia
 * Russian Orthodox Church Directory of Parishes and Monasteries in Australia
 * PresKey OnLine Directory, Find a Presbyterian Church in Australia
 * Salvation Army Churches in Australia
 * Seventh-day Adventist Congregations in Australia
 * Uniting Church Congregations of Australia (Congregational)

Historical Background

 * The island was initially part of the Colony of New South Wales but became a separate colony under the name Van Diemen's Land in 1825.
 * Approximately 80,000 convicts were sent to Van Diemen's Land before this practice, known as transportation, ceased in 1853.
 * In 1855 the present Constitution of Tasmania was enacted, and the following year the colony formally changed its name to Tasmania.
 * Parish registers began for:
 * Baptist Church in 1841
 * Church of England in 1803
 * Congregational Church in 1830
 * Presbyterian Church in 1823
 * Roman Catholic Church in 1835
 * Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1828

Information Recorded in the Records
The information recorded in church or parish registers varies somewhat from religion to religion, and later records generally give more complete information than earlier ones. Most church registers for the Anglican, Catholic, and Presbyterian denominations provide the following information:

Baptisms

 * Birth and baptism dates
 * Place of baptism
 * Christian name of the child
 * Christian and surname of the father
 * Christian name of the mother (some include maiden surname)
 * Parents’ abode
 * Occupation of the father
 * Name of the officiating minister

Children were generally baptized within a few days of birth. If a child died soon after birth, death information was sometimes added as a note.

Marriages

 * Date and place of marriage
 * Full names of the bride and groom
 * Parish of residence of the bride and groom
 * Marital status of the bride and groom prior to this marriage
 * Married by banns or license
 * In the case of a minor, whether with consent of parents
 * Name of the officiating minister
 * Signatures or marks of the bride and groom
 * Signatures or marks of witnesses

Marriage registers may also include other information about the bride and groom such as their ages, occupations, and names of parents. In cases of second and later marriages for a woman, they may include her former married names along with her maiden name.

Marriage registers sometimes include the published banns. These were announcements of intent to marry which were made for two or three Sundays prior to the marriage, and gave an opportunity for anyone to come forward who knew of any reason why the couple should not be married.

Burials

 * Dates of death and burial
 * Place of burial
 * Name of the deceased
 * Place of abode at time of death
 * Age of the deceased
 * Occupation of the deceased
 * Name of the officiating minister

Occasionally parents' names, cause of death, and even the date and place of birth are given for the deceased. Burials were recorded in the records of the church where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death. Burial records exist for individuals for whom no birth or marriage record exists. In addition, stillbirths may have been recorded in a burial register when no baptism occurred.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: