Sources for Researching ACT Family History - Deaths

 

Pre-Capital Period

VITAL RECORDS - INDEXES

The NSW indexes to Births (1788-1905), Deaths (1788-1973) and Marriages (1788-1955) are searchable online at the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages website. 

Earlier incarnations of these indexes are also available on CD-ROM and microfiche.

Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages in this district are most often, but not exclusively, recorded in the District of Queanbeyan.

VITAL RECORDS – CERTIFICATES

Certificates can be purchased from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages .  Transcription agents are also available to provide transcribed copies of certificates at a reduced cost.  A list of these is also available on the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages site.

NEWSPAPERS – INDEXES

Bombala Herald : births, deaths and marriages, 1901-[1911] compiled by Betty Guise Forster, 1992.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.39447 BOMB
Microfilm of this newspaper is available in the ACT Heritage Library.

Index to Queanbeyan newspapers : news from around Australia and New Zealand. Volume 1, September 1860 to December 1861.  Volume 2, January 1962 to December 1863 compiled by Brooke Watson and Wendy Eldridge.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 079.9447 INDE
Microfilm of this newspaper is available in the ACT Heritage Library.

Calamities, fatalities & realities : local and regional anecdotes from, The Golden Age, 1860-1864, Queanbeyan NSW, Patricia M. Frei, 2005.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 994.47 FREI
Microfilm of this newspaper is available in the ACT Heritage Library.

The Queanbeyan Age 1864-1927 is fully text searchable online using Australian Newspapers.

Manaro Mercury 1864-1905 (covering the Cooma and Monaro Districts)
Extracts of birth, deaths, marriages and general information (Hotel Licences, Land Grants, Bankruptcy), 1864-1905 by Sue and Mike Grieves.
WEBSITE
Microfilm of this newspaper is available on request in the ACT Heritage Library.

Yass Courier 1857-1905
Extracts of engagements, marriages, births, deaths, probates, memoriams and other general information, 1857-1905 by Sue and Mike Grieves.
WEBSITE
Microfilm of this newspaper is available in the ACT Heritage Library.

NEWSPAPERS – FULL TEXT

Some historical local newspapers are available online and are fully searchable through the Australian Newspapers resource

•  Age (Queanbeyan, NSW : 1904 - 1907)
•  Braidwood Independent (NSW : 1867) 
•  Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1867 - 1904) 
•  Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1907 - 1915)
•  Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser (NSW : 1864 - 1867)
•  Queanbeyan Age and Queanbeyan Observer (NSW : 1915 - 1927)
•  Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate (NSW : 1905 - 1927) 

MONUMENTAL AND CEMETERY TRANSCRIPTIONS

Monumental inscriptions : Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay, edited by Don Mountain, 2001.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.509947 MONU

Monumental inscriptions : Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay, edited by P Ray and G Thom, 1977.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.509947 MONU

Monumental inscriptions : Braidwood Cemetery, 1998.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099447 MONU

Canberra : St John's Churchyard 1844-1988, Jean Salisbury, 2000.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099471 SALI 

Cuppacumbalong (De Salis Cemetery), Tharwa, Maura O'Connor, 1994.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 363.69 OCON

Galong Cemetery, Max Barrett, 1995.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.509948 BARR

Monumental inscriptions of Goulburn New South Wales [CDROM], edited by Andrew Eliason, 2004.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H CD-ROM 929.2099447 MONU

Monumental inscriptions : Gundagai North Cemetery ; Gundagai South Cemetery, 1998.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099448 MONU

Cemeteries in Gundaroo NSW and the surrounding district : containing alphabetical index, diagrams, and monumental inscriptions, Graeme Challinor., 1998.
ACTHL LOCATION: H 929.5099447 CHAL

Michelago Cemetery : grave matters, Colleen Cotter and Genevieve Power, 2007.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5 COTT

Monumental inscriptions, Monaro, 1999.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099447 MONU

Monumental inscriptions, Monaro: Counties of Beresford, Wallace and Wellesly, edited by P Ray and G Thom, 1982.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099447 MONU

Queanbeyan pioneer cemeteries : register of the Oaks Burial Ground and headstone sections at Riverside and Thawa Road, nd.
ACTHL LOCATION: H 929.5099447 QUEA

Monumental inscriptions : Yass Cemetery and St Clement's churchyard, edited by Pam Ray, 1996.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.5099447 MONU

Monumental inscriptions, Young Cemetery, edited by Jan Grant and June Penny. 2004.
ACTHL Location:  H 929.5099448 MONU

 

Capital Period

VITAL RECORDS - INDEXES

ACT Historical Death Index 1930-1981 
A free, online, searchable index from the ACT Registrar-General.  Typical information from this index is registration number, name of the deceased, date of death and given names of parents when recorded.

VITAL RECORDS - CERTIFICATES

The ACT Registrar-General maintains a Certificate Access Policy which outlines who, and under what circumstances, a person may access information.  In general terms where a birth occurred more than 100 years ago, a marriage occurred over 75 years ago, or a death occurred more than 30 years ago, the limitations imposed upon applicants are less stringent.

BURIAL AND CREMATION – INDEXES

Burials 1936+
Canberra Cemeteries maintains a free, searchable index to interments 1936+ in the Gungahlin, Hall, Tharwa and Woden cemeteries, 1936+ on its website.

Typical information from this index is full given and surnames of the deceased, cemetery of burial including section and allotment number, date of death if known and date of burial.

Cremations 1966+
Canberra’s crematorium, Norwood Park, is privately run.  There are no published indexes to cremations in the ACT.

Information about cremations may be gained by direct application

Norwood Park
Sandford Street
MITCHELL ACT 2911
Phone (02) 6241 3866
http://www.norwoodpark.com.au

PROBATE - INDEXES

The ACT Supreme Court is responsible for the probate of wills in the ACT.  The Court has not published indexes to probate.

There is an index to probate notices appearing in The Canberra Times compiled by local genealogist Betty Forster.  It is published in three sequences: 3 September 1926-31 December 1952; 1 January 1953-31 December 1961; 1 January 1962-? 1968. Typical information includes given and surnames, aliases, date of death and name of beneficiary.

Probate jurisdiction : legal notices, Betty Guise Forster, 1993.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.3947 PROB

Card index to The Canberra Times deaths, probate, change of name and anniversaries, 1975-1999. 
The index is in five sequences: 1975-1983, 1984-1989, 1990-1995, 1996-1999, Supplementary cards. Microfiche Drawer no.: 15; Call no.: mc N 2091, National Library of Australia. 

PROBATE - RECORDS

To obtain a copy of a probated will you should write to the

Registrar of the Supreme Court
GPO Box 1548
CANBERRA ACT 2601

The Supreme Court prefers a letter but you may also email SCRegistry@act.gov.au for the attention of the Probate Officer.  The Court requires full name and date of death and date of probate if possible.  There may be a fee payable.

NEWSPAPERS - INDEXES

The Angelus : Queanbeyan-Canberra Catholic Monthly, April 1923-February 1953
[Index to the Birth, Death and Marriage notices in The Angelus, April 1923-August 1939; February 1955. Compiled from incomplete holdings at the National Library of Australia] by Betty Guise Forster, 1993.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.394 FEDE

Federal Capital Pioneer, December 1924-August 1926
Index to the Birth, Death and Marriage notices in the Federal Capital Pioneer, December 1924 to August 1926 by Betty Guise Forster, 1993. Microfilm of this newspaper is available on request in the ACT Heritage Library.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.394 FEDE

Federal Capital Pioneer Magazine, October 1926- May/June 1927
A fully searchable CD-ROM and microfilm of this newspaper available on request in the ACT Heritage Library.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H CD-ROM 994.71 FEDE 

The Canberra Times (3 September 1926+ )

No single index exists to this publication, several indexes are available for different types of information and for different periods. 

The Canberra Times-deaths, anniversaries, etc. 1926-1970 [card index & printed volume]
In Metal Filing Cabinet near Newspapers Photocopy Room of the National Library of Australia

Canberra Times index deaths, probate, change of name and anniversaries, 1975-1999
The index is in five sequences: 1975-1983, 1984-1989, 1990-1995, 1996-1999, Supplementary cards. Microfiche Drawer no.: 15; Call no.: mc N 2091, National Library of Australia.

Microfilm of this newspaper is available on request in the ACT Heritage Library.

Ryerson Index  
The Ryerson Index is an index to death notices appearing in current Australian newspapers. It also includes some funeral notices, probate notices and obituaries.  Originally created by the Sydney Dead Persons Society, it concentrates on notices from NSW papers and includes some local newspapers.

• Bega District News 2002+
• Bombala Times 2002+
• Boorowa News 2002+
• Braidwood Times 2006
• Canberra Times 2003+ 
• Cooma Monaro Express 2003+
• Crookwell Gazette 2002+
• Eden Magnet 2002+
• Goulburn Post 1930+
• Merimbula News Weekly 2008+
• Moruya Examiner 2003+
• Queanbeyan Age 2008+
• Yass Tribune 2002+

NEWSPAPERS – FULL TEXT

Some historical local newspapers are available online and are fully searchable through the Australian Newspapers resource

• Canberra Community News (Canberra, ACT : 1925 - 1927) 
• Canberra Illustrated: A Quarterly Magazine (ACT : 1925)
• Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1954)
• Federal Capital Pioneer (Canberra, ACT : 1924 - 1926)
• Federal Capital Pioneer Magazine (Canberra, ACT : 1926 - 1927)

CHURCHES AND OTHER COMMUNITIES OF FAITH

Church registers remain the property of the congregation or denomination.  They are private records which may or may not be made available to family historians.  Some denominations maintain central archives repositories, some have deposited their records with collecting libraries and archives and some continue to be held by the congregation.

Parish register index in parish order Church of England Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn [microform], 1999.

Parish registers cover the following areas: Adaminaby, Adelong, Albury, Barmedman, Bega, Berridale, Binda, Bodalla, Bombala, Boorowa, Braidwood, Bribraree, Bungendore, Cobargo, Cooma, Cootamundra, Crookwell, Goulburn, Gundagai, Gunning, Holbrook, Junee, Kameruka, Koorawatha, Lake Bathurst, Marulan, Moruya, Murrumburrah, North Goulburn, Pambula, Queanbeyan, Taralgo, Tarcutta, Temora, Tumbarumba, Tumut, Wagga Wagga, West Goulburn, Yass, Young. Period covered varies for each area, general range 1850s to 1920.
ACTHL LOCATION:  H 929.39447 PARI 

Do you know of sources we've missed?  Please let us know.