- About this Archives in Brief
- Regulatory background to the records
- Searching for individuals in the records
- A select list of record sources
- Other records
About this Archives in Brief
This AIB provides a brief overview of the major sources in the State archives relating to German settlement in New South Wales.
Other records may be identified in Archives Investigator, and the Departmental Special Bundle listings, which are available in both reading rooms. Researchers should consult the Register of Access Directions to confirm the public availability of records. State Records' staff can advise you on the availability of records if they are not listed on the register.
Regulatory background to the records
A number of Germans, such as Augustus Alt (appointed the first Surveyor of Lands on May 1787), the astronomer Carl Ludwig Rümker and Phillip Schaffer who established one of the earliest vineyards in Australia, played key roles in the early development of New South Wales. They were a minority however, as few Germans settled in the Colony in the early part of the nineteenth century.
The first 'assisted immigrants' (predominately British) began arriving as early as 1828, but it was not until 1847 that the Colonial Government widened the scheme to include European workers with special skills, such as vine dressing and carpentry. Significant numbers of Germans then began migrating to New South Wales and by 1856 the number of German-born immigrants in the colony had risen to 5245. German immigration peaked in the 1880s and early 1890s and at the census in 1891 the figure had increased to 9565 [1].
There were large German settlements in towns such as Albury, Grafton, Tenterfield, Armidale, Bega and Temora. It has been estimated that as many as 15% of Germans living in rural districts were located on the goldfields near Young and Uralla (Rocky River) with smaller settlements at Araluen, Bingara, Tumut and Cooma [2].
While German settlers were generally absorbed into the rest of the population, the outbreak of WWI generated considerable anti-German sentiment. Towns with 'German-sounding' names adopted new names — for example Germanton became known as Holbrook. The government also introduced a number of measures. German subjects in Australia were required to report to their nearest police station (government proclamation issued on 10 August 1914) and the War Precautions Act 1914 provided that citizens of enemy countries could be interned for the period of the war [3].
During World War II the National Security Act 1939 provided for the internment of enemy aliens. There were internment camps at Liverpool, Orange, Cowra and Hay. Internees included 'enemy aliens' (especially Germans and Italians), naturalised and Australian born persons of enemy alien descent, enemy aliens arrested overseas and transferred to Australia, and prisoners of war transferred to Australia [4].
[1] Australian Encyclopaedia, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1958, p 286
[2] Geoffrey Burkhardt and Nola Mackey, History of the German Community in the Clarence River District of NSW, Grafton Family History Centre, Grafton, 1999, p.17.
[3] National Archives of Australia, Fact Sheet 171, WW I internee, alien and POW records held in Sydney, 2000
[4] National Archives of Australia, Fact Sheet 101, World War II internee, alien and POW records held in Sydney
Searching for individuals in the records
Particular individuals may be difficult to trace because the records are generally arranged by the NSW government agency that created them rather than by persons' names. When searching for individuals, your first step should be to determine what dealings the person may have had with the Government of the day. You then need to consider which public office would have created these records.
A select list of record sources
Colonial Secretary's records
The main series of correspondence and the list of Special Bundles should be consulted. Examples from the records include: the 'memorials' of those applying to be naturalised. Consult Archives Investigator and the interim guide to the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence. See also
Archives in Brief 64 Archives in Brief 65and Archives in Brief 104 (PDF).
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Example from the Colonial Secretary: Special Bundles, 1826-1982: |
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Complaints of foreign immigrants on voyage — the Swiss and Italian immigrants on the Ledunia; the Americans on the Georges; and the Germans on the Marbs and Aurora. Bill to regulate foreign immigration, 1855-56, [4/7170] |
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This bundle contains material that relates to complaints by the German passengers who arrived at Moreton Bay (Queensland) on the Marbs and the Aurora in March 1855. |
Passenger and crew records
Many Germans arrived in New South Wales as assisted immigrants.
Search the online indexes to these records..
Germans also arrived in the colony after paying for their own passage or working as crew on board the vessel. Research into the records of paying passengers and crew can often be difficult as there is no comprehensive index to the records of nineteenth century passenger and crew arrivals. Furthermore, some lists record only the numbers on board rather than listing the passengers and crew by name. Details on a settler's arrival may be found from other sources, for example, naturalization records (see below).
Passenger and crew records can be found in the series NRS 13278, Passengers arriving (or Shipping lists, or Passenger lists), 1855-1922. These records are described in more detail in
Archives in Brief 1.Convict records
Just over 160 000 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies between 1788 and 1868. While most were from the British Isles, there some German-born convicts among them.
Archives in Brief 2 and Archives in Brief 34 outline the main sources to be used for convict research. For a comprehensive listing of convict records held by State Records, researchers should consult Archives Investigator and the Guide to Convict Records (Convict Guide) which is available in both reading rooms.
Naturalisation records
Naturalisation legislation came into force in New South Wales in 1849 (Act 11 Vic. No. 39). Prior to then, the only way that a non-British resident could be naturalised was by a special act of Parliament. Following this legislation any person born outside the British Empire who had resided in New South Wales for a period of five years and who wished to vote or own land needed to become naturalized.
Naturalization records are an important source as they can provide both the date of arrival and the name of the ship. See Archives Investigator, Short Guide 9 and
Archives in Brief 3 for a full list of records relating to denization and naturalization.
The National Archives of Australia holds post 1903 naturalisation records and information on alien registration and internment in New South Wales. The National Archives may be contacted on telephone: 1300 886 881, web site www.naa.gov.au.
Internment and 'alien' registration
The Department of Corrective Services' records relating to internees are listed in Archives Investigator. See also Bathurst Internment Camp; NRS 2014, Entrance and disposal book, 1939; [5/1523].
- The notebooks of F. R. Jordan, CJ relating to the Internment Camps at Hay, Orange, Cowra and Liverpool may also be of interest. One notebook of P. W. Street, CJ relates to complaints from German Concentration Camps in New South Wales, 1916. See
Archives Investigator. TIP: use Advanced Search - Person.
- The Court of Petty Sessions, Newcastle
NRS 3248, Files relating to the naturalization of aliens, 1939-54; [7/1456.1]. See Archives Investigator for further information.
The records of the Attorney General, in particular the incoming correspondence for the period 1911-56, the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence and Special Bundle listings as well as the Premier's Department Special Bundle lists should also be consulted.
Business records
Many German immigrants opened small business, often as wine growers, beer brewers and shopkeepers. The Act No. 100, 1902 — An Act to provide for the Registration of Firms — which came into operation on 1 January 1903, required all firms, defined as 'two or more persons lawfully… carrying on any business', to be registered.
The series NRS 12961 Registers of firms under the Registration of Firms Act of 1902, 1903-22 includes details about the address and the persons carrying on the business. This series is partially indexed - the index is available online.
There are also a range of records for companies that were incorporated between 1875 and 1969. The records are accessible via a company number which can be found in the Australian Securities Commission's Dead Companies Index Pre-1969, available in both reading rooms.
Once an entry is located in this index, check with a reference archivist to see if the particular company packet has survived.
More information on these records can be found in Archives Invesigator under Agency No. 24, Registrar General. See also records of Agency No. 78, the Corporate Affairs Commission. Commercial directories such as Sands should also be checked for information on businesses. Bankruptcy records may also include German businesses. For more information see
Archives in Brief 58.Police, court and prison records
NRS 10958, Police Gazettes, 1852-1929, Reels 3129-3143 (1862-99), Reels 3594-3606 (1900-30) contain entries and photographs of German people. Consult Archives Investigator for details about the Gazettes.
Court records, depositions and related documents provide a wealth of information about Germans convicted in New South Wales. The various court jurisdictions can be found in Archives Investigator.
Prison records include, from the period of the late 1870's, photographs of prisoners with details of conviction and personal history.
The photographs are being progressively indexed and the index is available online. Details of prison records can be found in Archives Investigator.
Online indexes
See the
online indexes
under the heading Court, Police and Prison.
Hospital health and death records
Records of psychiatric institutions dating from 1838 may include German patients. Records of State government run mental institutions are listed in Archives Investigator. See Archives in Brief 85, Archives in Brief 86 and Archives in Brief 87. Coroners' records such registers of coronial enquiries can establish basic details (age and birthplace) of individuals into whose deaths an enquiry was held. Detailed reports have not survived for the years 1828 to 1911. See Archives in Brief 4.
Deceased Estate records relate to the payment of death duties, may also prove useful. See Archives in Brief 29.
Intestate Estate files should be consulted in instances where a person died without a will. See Archives in Brief 53 for full details.
Probate records are available at State Records for the period 1817-mid 1965. See Archives in Brief 84.
Other records
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Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1788-1945 (see the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages indexes online). |
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Census of New South Wales, 1841, 1891 and 1901. See the Index to the 1841 Census, |
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Gold mining records. References to miners can be located in the records of the Gold Commissioners and in the records of Mining Wardens' Courts in the Department of Mines. See Archives Investigator. |
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Land sales and transfers. Records relating to the purchase of land from the Crown can be found in the Archives Investigator. Records relating to the transfer of land between individuals are available from the Department of Lands
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Records of professions and occupations. Short Guide 10 lists a selection of the more significant State archives relating to particular professions and occupations. |
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Public service records. For records relating to public servants see Agency No. 573, Public Service Board. See also Archives in Brief 19, Archives in Brief 20, Archives in Brief 54, |
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School records. Files, which cover the years 1876-1979, include administrative documents relating to government schools may be useful for areas where Germans settled (see Archives in Brief 26) and the Schools index. In addition, there are some records, such as admission rolls, from individual schools. These records are included in the Schools index. |
© State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority, 2003.
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