Australia, South Australia, Court Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This is a collection of court and legal records from the state of South Australia, Australia for the years of 1837 to 1982. The original records are located in the State Records Office of South Australia, Adelaide.

Collection Content
This collection could contain a variety of legal and court records, including:
 * Indictments (charges of crime)
 * Police Reports
 * Affidavits (written statement given under oath)
 * Matrimonial Petitions (marriage applications)
 * Inquest Files (Coroner reports)
 * Petitions (requests)

These are merely the primary types of record which might be included in the collection. Other documents may be present as well.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The following list indicates potential information provided in these records. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all of the listed information, as record-keeping practices varied greatly over time.

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the record entry for future reference. See below for assistance in citing this collection. Save or print a copy of the image if possible.
 * Use the information which has been discovered to find more. For instance, use the estimated age given in a marriage or burial record to calculate an approximate year of birth, if that is yet undetermined.
 * Record the names and other vital information of any family members that appear in the census entry. Use this information to continue to search the index to identify further children, siblings, or other relatives.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for a person with a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which individual is correct. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to determine which candidate is the correct person. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names; transcription errors could occur in any record. Also remember that it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name. See Abbreviations Found in Genealogy Records for examples of common abbreviations.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of possible candidates which can then be examined for matches.
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. While it was uncommon for an individual in this period to move more than about 20 miles from their place of birth, smaller relocations were not uncommon.
 * Look at the actual image of the record to verify the information found in the online description, if possible.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Australia.
 * Record Finder
 * Australia Research Tips and Strategies

Citing this Collection
Citing sources correctly makes it easier to refer back to information that has already been discovered; proper citations are therefore indispensable to keeping track of genealogical research. Following established formulae in formatting citations also allows others to verify completed research by helping them find and examine records for themselves.

To be of use, citations must include information such as the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records, if available. The following examples demonstrate how to present this information for both this particular collection as well as individual records and images within the collection: