Post Tagged with: "family history"

Tracing your Victorian Police ancestor

Tracing your Victorian Police ancestor

October 23, 2025

Collections, Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

A common question we receive on desk is how to trace the career of an ancestor who was a police officer. To begin, I would recommend researching their birth, death,… Read More ›

he Twins, directed by Lynne Ellis, La Mama, 1990. Photo by Maggie Diaz. This item is in copyright;  H2014.1059/99b

Cracking the narrative: pruning the misinformation from your family tree

August 11, 2025

Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

Is misinformation sinking its tendrils into your family tree? Are dates not lining up, people aren’t where they should be, or maybe there’s no record of Grandma Joan before the age of 25? Our Family History Librarians are here to help you separate fact from fiction in your lineage, and give you some tips to strengthen your research.

Passengers On the Deck of 'SS Ballarat' Arriving a..., 1925, © Museums Victoria. Migration to New Worlds

Online Collection Spotlight: Migration to New Worlds

May 16, 2025

Family matters:

Migration to New Worlds charts the emigration experience of those who travelled from Great Britain, Ireland and Europe to Australasia and North America in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Here at last! The 1921 census for England and Wales

Here at last! The 1921 census for England and Wales

March 19, 2025

census, census records, British records, Family matters, Uncategorized:

Great news for anyone interested in British history. The 1921 census for England and Wales can now be accessed onsite at State Library Victoria through both the FindMyPast and Ancestry databases.

Online Collection Spotlight: Life at sea

Online Collection Spotlight: Life at sea

January 17, 2025

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:

Where can I learn about the American whaling industry? What would a ship’s master have in his chest? What would the dying words of a pirate be? And can anyone help me to tell the flags of the Union and Orient shipping lines apart? Find out all of this and more in the AM Digital database Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900.

How our ‘genies’ saved the census

How our ‘genies’ saved the census

July 29, 2024

Ask a librarian, Family matters, Our stories, Victorian history:

Researchers visiting the Library are often dismayed when they discover that prior to 2001, there are no surviving census returns for individuals in the Colony of Victoria. What were the reasons behind the destruction of our census records? And how did our ‘genies’ save the day?

New family history ebooks

New family history ebooks

January 31, 2024

Family matters:

The State Library Victoria’s ebook collection continues to grow at a rapid place. We now provide free access to over 200,000 ebooks on such topics as social sciences, family history,… Read More ›

Online Collection Spotlight: Victorians on Film 

Online Collection Spotlight: Victorians on Film 

January 24, 2024

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:

Interested in the early history of cinema? Curious about what daily life was like over 100 years ago? Would you like see the moon playing a banjo? Explore a collection of early cinematic wonders from the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras.

Online Collection Spotlight: British Library Newspapers (1732–1950)

Online Collection Spotlight: British Library Newspapers (1732–1950)

September 27, 2023

Collections:

The British Library Newspapers database (1732-1950) includes over 240 newspapers sourced from the British Library. Find out more about this incredible resource – the depth and scope of this collection being unparalleled.

Mysteries from the Rosenberg Collection of Vincent Kelly’s Bendigonian portraits

Mysteries from the Rosenberg Collection of Vincent Kelly’s Bendigonian portraits

August 30, 2023

Family matters, Photography:

Explore some of the mysteries in Vincent Kelly’s Bendigo photographic portraits.