New South Wales Church Records

How to Find Records

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Online Resources

 * 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
 * 1816-1982 - Australia, New South Wales, cemetery, military, and church record transcripts : COLLECTION RECORD, 1816-1982, index and images. How to Use This Collection
 * 1814-2011 - Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 at Ancestry ($) - index and images
 * 1839-1963 - New South Wales, Australia, St Peters Cooks River Select Births, Marriages and Burials, 1839-1963 at Ancestry.com ($) - index and images
 * 1838-1918 - New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Church Records, 1838 to 1918 Ancestry.com, ($)

Civil Registration and Church Records

 * From 1788 to 1856 the only birth, death or marriage records kept in New South Wales were the registers maintained by the established churches. As registrar's offices assumed responsibility for registration, they requested copies of earlier church records to incorporate into their collections. The New South Wales Registry holds transcriptions of these early church records. Any surviving original registers are located in the NSW Archives.
 * Unfortunately, the extant records for this period are not comprehensive. Some ministers, missionaries and other authorized administrators kept records but not all were in a position to be this diligent. In addition many of the records contain inaccuracies and bad spelling. Distances to town centres, distrust of authority and lack of participation in formal church services contributed to the church registration system's inability to adequately record the details of all births, deaths and marriages that occurred in New South Wales.
 * The church records are indexed with civil registration.
 * 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 ($)
 * 1787-1986 - Australia, New South Wales Death Index at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1788-1945 - New South Wales Deaths at FindMyPast; index only ($)

FamilySearch Catalog
The FamilySearch Catalog includes a list of New South Wales church indexes at https://goo.gl/ZNGA08. Review the listing for a specific area of your research.