Search Australia, Births & Baptisms, 1792-1981

Each record contains a transcript of the original record. The amount of information can vary but you can find out the following about your ancestor:

• Name
  
• Date of birth
  
• Date of baptism
  
• Place of birth
  
• Place of baptism
  
• Father’s name
  
• Father’s occupation
  
• Mother’s name

There are 413,959 records which cover births between 1792 and 1981. While this is not a fully comprehensive record of every birth and baptism across the whole of Australia between those years it does cover the following states:

• New South Wales
  
• South Australia
  
• Tasmania
  
• Victoria
  
• Western Australia
  
  The first European settlers arrived in Australia in 1888 with the arrival in Botany Bay on the south-east coast of 11 English ships carrying more than 1,000 convicts and military personnel. This initial landing point was found to be unsuitable so after a few days they moved to Port Jackson at Sydney Cove.
  
  The first Irish transportees arrived with the Third Fleet in 1791. The first free settlers arrived in 1793. The rapidly expanding colony became known as New South Wales. Six colonies were eventually created. In 1901 they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia.
  
  The introduction of civil registration and mandatory recording of all births, marriages and deaths varied colony to colony but in every case before civil registration was introduced birth and baptism records would have been parish records. In the early days of registration many births were not registered and the large distances involved often complicated matters.