The first local councils in NSW were incorporated in 1842, with 29 District Councils established under the provisions of the Imperial Act of 1842, An Act for the Government of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.
This Guide lists a number of resources in our collection to help local historians trace the history of a place (rather than focusing on individuals).
One of our ongoing projects is the digitisation of these archives which relate to Aboriginal people, 1832-1835 and 1837-1844. The 19th century ‘blanket returns’ are lists of Aboriginal people who received blankets from the Colonial authorities. The records are broadly arranged by locality and include both Indigenous and European names for each person as well as their age. Returns are also included - these provide detailed information about individuals and their movements.
Search series, items, digital images and online index entries all in the one place. The new Collection Search is a powerful single search tool that provides access to the 1.9 million items in the State Archives Collection and the 1.7 million Online Index entries in the one place for the first time. This includes 6,500 never before seen series and 300,000 new items.
