Millions of South Australian Records Added to FamilySearch

For those with connections to South Australia, the wait for records to go online has been long, but now is your time to clear the calendar, and get ready to do a heap of serious research.

State Records of South Australia holds more than 90km of South Australian records, covering almost every facet of state and local government administration in South Australia. Trust me, that’s a LOT of records.

Now they have partnered with FamilySearch to digitise and publish some of their most popular records relating to family history. These include passenger lists, school admission registers, hospital records, police records, social welfare and more. The digitised records are viewable on the FamilySearch website, after you have created a free account, and log in.

As more records are being digitised all the time, be sure to check back regularly for updates. Note: you will not find most of these in the FamilySearch list of datasets. At least not at this stage. So click on the links below to take you to the records for each collection.

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Births, Deaths and Marriages

GRG56/68/20 Index to deaths prior to compulsory registration, from 1802
GRG56/68/18 Index to marriages solemnized in South Australia, from 1836

GRG56/68/21 Index to marriages prior to compulsory registration in June 1842, from 1836

GRG52/88 Ooldea mission rough register of births, deaths and marriages, from 1936

GRG52/44 Record of births and marriages of Aborigines in the Kingston District, from c1940

Boarding Out

GRG27/5 (Units 1-9) Ledgers of children boarded out – Destitute Board, later State Children’s Department, from 1862

Census

GRG24/13 Returns of Census compiled in January 1841

Courts

GRS 12820 (Units 1-15) Criminal record books – Supreme Court of South Australia, from 1845

GRS 13039 Criminal record books, chronological series – Supreme Court, from 1842

Destitute Asylum
GRG28/5 (Units 1-6) Register of admissions – Destitute Asylum, from 1870

GRG29/15 (Unit 1) Register of infants born in the Destitute Asylum, from 1883

GRG28/13 Register of admissions to the lying-in home, from 1886

Gaols
GRG54/23 Register of prisoners in the gaol for assaults, fines, debt etc. – Adelaide Gaol, from 1838

GRG54/24 Registers of prisoners committed and tried – Adelaide Gaol, from 1839

GRG54/210 (Unit 1) Register of prisoners and charge books – Redruth Gaol, from 1861

GRS 2414 (Units 1-12) Register of prisoners – Adelaide Gaol, from 1857

GRG54/41 (Units 1-4) Register of prisoners – Yatala Labour Prison, from 1866

GRG54/205 Register of prisoners – Port Lincoln Gaol, from 1880

GRG54/125 (Unit 1) Register of prisoners – Gladstone Gaol, from 1881

Hospitals

GRG78/49 (1 to 43) Admission registers – Adelaide Hospital, from 1840

Inquests

GRG1/44 Police Reports to the Coroner – City Coroners and successors
Police Reports to the Coroner are listed by file number. To identify the file number refer to Police Reports to the Coroner Special Lists where you can search by year and name.
1879-1918
1919-1931

1936-1937
1938-1941
1942-1944
1945-1947
1948-1951
1954-1955

1956-1957
GRG5/301/00001 Blinman Police Station Inquest register, from 1884

GRG5/302/00001 Carrieton Police Station Inquest register, from 1884

GRG5/275/00002 Jamestown Police Station Inquest register, from 1885

GRG5/291/00001 Waukuringa Police Station Inquest register, from 1885

GRG5/294/00003 Yongala Police Station Inquest register, from 1887

Insolvencies

GRG66/1 Register of insolvencies, from 1841
GRG66/9 Register of arrangements by deed under the Acts of 1857-1858 and 1860-1886 (dated from 1858)

Passenger Lists and Ships’ Papers

The best way to view the Passenger Lists is via the Passenger Lists page on the State Records website. Below are links to the Lists uploaded by FamilySearch.

GRG35/48/1 Records relating to official assisted immigration – Crown Lands and Immigration Office – Official assisted passage passenger lists 1845-1886

GRG41/35 Lists of outgoing passengers departing from Port Adelaide for overseas ports 1888-1940

GRG41/34 Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1888-1940

GRG35/48/2 Records relating to official assisted immigration – Crown Lands and Immigration Office – Immigrant ships’ papers 1849-1885

Probate

GRS 11585 Probate and administration books, from 1892

GRS 16377 Probate record books, from 1844

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I’m sure you’ll all have fun with the links above, but if you’re after even MORE South Australian records online to help with your research, be sure to check out the following:
– 33 Free Websites for South Australian Genealogy
– More Free Websites for South Australia Genealogy and History