Christmas Island, Australia Genealogy

Australia

The Territory of Christmas Island is an external territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is located 2600 kilometers north west of Perth, Australia and makes up part of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories.

Christmas Island was annexed by the British in 1888 and settlement began soon after; it was administered from the Straits Settlements, later the Crown Colony of Singapore. It was occupied by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945. Control was passed to Australia in 1957.

The Indian Ocean Territory of Christmas Island should not be confused with:
 * Christmas Island (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia, Canada;
 * Christmas Island, one of the New Year Island group, Tasmania, Australia;
 * Kiritimati, also called "Christmas Island", a Pacific Ocean island of Kiribati;
 * Little Christmas Island, one of the Schouten Island Group off eastern Tasmania, Australia.

Vital Records
Christmas Island birth register, 1942-1958; Also includes births during Japanese occupation. FHL BRITISH film 1514773.

Under Australian administration, births, deaths and marriages are registered with an office provided by the Western Australian Government.

Cemeteries
Old European Cemetery.

Voting Registers
Australian citizens resident on Christmas Island are required to enrol and vote in Australian elections. They are represented in the House of Representatives through the Northern Territory Division of Lingiari and in the Senate by Northern Territory Senators.

Research Tools

 * Christmas Island GenWeb (CXRGenWeb)


 * Margaret Neale and Jan Adams, We were the Christmas Islanders : Reminiscences and Recollections of the People of an Isolated Island - the Australian Territory of Christmas Island, ISBN : 0-7316-4158-2
 * Jan Adams and Marg Neale, Christmas Island - The Early Years - 1888 to 1958 : Historic photographs with many untold tales from the early years of Christmas Island, ISBN : 0-646-14894-X