I can’t believe it … The South Australian BDM Indexes are now online. Last year there was rumours of them coming, and now they’re here. This is BIG, BIG news for everyone with family connections to South Australia … and they’re free to search.

The BDM Indexes cover the following:

– Newspaper Birth Notices Index from 1960 onwards
– Newspaper Death Notices Index from 1972 onwards
– South Australia Cemeteries Index
– Birth Registration Certificates Index 1842-1928
– Marriage Registration Certificate Index 1842-1916
– Death Registration Certificate Index 1842-1972

The data is part of the Genealogy SA website, which is the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society’s new revamped website.

The database allows you to search by Surname, and you can narrow it down by adding in a first name or initial, as well as a year (with + or – up to 7 years). You don’t seem to be able to narrow down search for just a birth, death or marriage … but the search results are grouped into each category, so are easily viewable by those you wish.

The above image is a screenshot of what you see when you’re looking at births.

The results you get with the various categories is:

Birth Index: Year, Registration Number, Surname, Given Name/s, Father Name, Mother Name, More Info

Marriage Index: Year, Registration Number, Surname, Given Name/s, Spouse Surname, Spouse, Given Name, More Info

Death Index: Year, Registration Number, Surname, Given Name/s, Relative Name, More Info

Cemeteries Index: Resting Place, Transcription Source, Surname, Given Name/s, Age, Year, More Info

Newspaper Birth Notice Index: Source, Surname, Other Surname, Given Name/s, Parents, Publication Year, More Info

Newspaper Death Notice Index: Source, Surname, Other Surname, Given Name/s, Publication Year, More Info

Remember that these are indexes only,  so the information you get is as above. If you want further info, you can click on the More Info button, which takes you to a page where you can submit details to the Society and request a lookup for $11/request, or a transcription at $15/request.