Genealogy Centre

The Genealogy Centre is located on the 1st floor and was opened in December 1999 to cater for an increased interest in family history in the community. It houses an extensive collection of books, journals, microform material and electronic resources which can be used to trace your ancestors from around the world.The collection is particularly strong for other Australian states and territories, Britain and New Zealand and we are beginning to collect material for other parts of the world where available.

Services

The Genealogy Centre is accessible during normal library opening hours. Volunteers from the Western Australian Genealogical Society (Inc.) provide extra assistance to family history researchers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9.30am to 1.00pm.

Overview of the Collection

The collection houses material in printed format, on microfilm, microfiche, CD-ROM and also provides PCs for access to the internet and databases. Material on microfiche and microfilm can be scanned and printed, emailed or saved to your thumb drive using the ST200X scanners.

The types of resources available for family history researchers include indexes to births, marriages and deaths, newspapers, electoral rolls, directories and maps. There are also records relating to cemeteries, census, convicts, courts, immigration, land allocation, probate and the military.

Major Collections

Australian Joint Copying Project

The Genealogy Centre holds approximately 2,000 reels of Australian Joint Copying Project microfilm. These reels contain copies of original records relating to Australia and the Pacific held at the National Archives at Kew as well as other libraries and archives in Britain.

Genealogical Research Kit

A collection of microfilm reels containing copies of original records held at the State Records Authority of New South Wales.

General Register Office Indexes to Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales

The State Library holds the GRO Indexes to Births, Marriages & Deaths in England and Wales, also known as St Catherine's Index, for the period 1837-1970.