Family History
The State Records archive collection holds records from state and local government in South Australia.
You may be able to use archival records to find out information about when and where ancestors lived, worked, and died in South Australia.
Our Family History Research page gives more information about uncovering your family history.
Discover our Collection gives more Information and indexes to popular family history topics.
State Records’ Aboriginal Access Team provides services for people looking for their Aboriginal family history.
For more information see Finding your Aboriginal history.
Our records are arranged by the Government Agency that created the record. Find more tips on Searching for records.
You can search for a name in ArchivesSearch – but keep in mind, we have not indexed all records in the archive.
Popular records that have been indexed by name include:
- Passenger lists and some migration and assisted passage records
- Register of admissions to the Destitute Asylum
- Register of admissions to Industrial Schools and Reformatory Schools
- Ledgers of children boarded out
- Register of prisoners at Yatala Labour Prison
- Teachers’ history sheets
- Record of land held by Soldier Settlers
Find more indexes in the Discover our Collection pages on our website.
You will need to consider the bigger picture to find records that have not been indexed by name.
Your family may be found in records not indexed in ArchivesSearch.
General information about your family can help find relevant records, such as:
- Do you know where your ancestors lived in South Australia?
- Did they attended the local school?
- Did they own property?
Search by a school’s name to find any records from that school. Your ancestor may be recorded in a school admission register.
If your ancestor owned land, try a search for the local council. The ownership of land may be recorded in local council records, such as assessment books.
Our Family History Research page has more suggestions and topics.