Research A-Z

Follow this quick link to the Register of Access Directions - a listing of records that are open or closed to public access under the State Records Act 1998. 

Records from the Colonial (Government) Architect; photos of public buildings in NSW, hospital buildings records relating to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

The ARK is held by 40 community access points across NSW and consists of microfilm copies of our most popular and heavily used colonial records.

Inmate records for the Infirm and Destitute Asylums and where to find them

A record of the Bubonic Plague that hit in Sydney of the early 20th century

As the rail system expanded across the State during the 19th century the provision and availability of refreshments became an essential part of travelling by train.

At the first establishment of the colony for a long time no piece of ground was set apart for a Burial place.

Records and indexes relating to child care and protection; child / youth migration from the UK; Randwick Asylum; Scheyville Training Farm.

Information on how to request permission to publish and how to cite records accurately.

The Conditional Purchase scheme, also known as 'free selection before survey', ran from 1862 to 1951.

How do you know if there was a convict in your family? Find out where to start your research

Most copy services are provided in-house. See the fees and guarantees on our copy services.

Civil and criminal court records; Court of Claims; Quarter Sessions; Supreme Court.

We are migrating our online galleries to the new Magazine section. Those still to be migrated may be accessed at gallery.records.nsw.gov.au. 

Sources in our collection that relate to divorce and procedures for accessing Divorce Case Papers.

A brief overview of the major sources in our collection that relate to fires.

In our collection are Australia’s earliest convict records dating back to the First Fleet in 1788.

Search for people and places across a variety of topics...

Government Architect, Surveyors, Land Grants, Crown Land, Conditional Purchase.

The Moreton Bay penal colony operated from 1824 to 1842 as another place of secondary punishment for convicts who committed serious offences. In 1842 it was declared open for free settlement. It became the city of Brisbane.

Naturalization records are a good source of information for tracing details of an immigrant's arrival and native place. Our guide lists the key records in our collection relating to naturalization, 1834-1903.

What happened #OnThisDay in history? Browse through the history of New South Wales and the State archives day by day, month by month.

Photographic highlights in the collection.

Records in a Probate packet include the last will and testament.

Your responsibilities when using our facilities and how to handle original (uncopied) State archives

A network of Regional Archives Centres, located in host institutions in Armidale, Broken Hill, Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Wingecarribee and Wollongong provide access to State archives of regional significance and to copies of key State archives.

Photos from the Department of Main Roads: New South Wales, Norfolk Island aerodrome construction, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Education in NSW 1788-c.1979 plus the main records, indexes, photos, teachers.

See also the LINC Tasmania (formerly Archives Office of Tasmania) website for the Tasmanian Names Index.

Watch films from the collection, interviews with NSW State Archives staff, 'moving images' and more