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Koorie Heritage –
Koorie Family History Research at PROV
Click
here for a PDF version (43k)
For researchers of Koorie family history, the Public Record
Office Victoria (PROV) collection holds a wealth of information. Through
PROV you can access a variety of records that hold information about the
people, institutions and government of Victoria. As the State's archival
authority PROV holds records created by Victorian government departments and
authorities, the State's courts, municipalities, schools, and other public
offices.
The records date from the earliest days of the colonial
administration of the Port Phillip District in the mid 1830s. They include
information relating to areas of activity managed or regulated by government
such as the administration of justice, health and welfare, education, land,
planning, transport, and immigration.
The early official records, up to 1860, relating to the
administration of Aboriginal affairs in Victoria are located at PROV. The
holdings are most extensive for the period 1839 to 1859, the period of the
Chief Protector of Aborigines and his successor the Guardian of Aborigines. For
further information about these records researchers can consult PROVguide 67
Aboriginal Records at PROV and My Heart is Breaking:
A joint guide to records about Aboriginal People in the Public Record Office of
Victoria and Australian Archives, Victorian Regional Office (Australian Government
Publishing Services, Canberra, 1993). The records detailed in My Heart
is Breaking provide a rich source of material for people interested in
researching family or community history, or the history of interactions between
government and Indigenous people in Victoria. This publication is
available for use in PROV Reading Rooms and in many local libraries around Victoria,
and is available for purchase from PROV Reading Rooms. You can also print an
order form from the Publications section of the Public Record Office Victoria
website: www.prov.vic.gov.au/publications.
The publication Finding Your Story has been produced
by Public Record Office Victoria, Aboriginal Affairs Victoria and the Victorian
Koorie Records Taskforce as a reference tool for individual Indigenous
Victorians seeking information on their separation from family and
community. Finding Your Story will also help organisations that
assist the Stolen Generations on their journey of discovery and healing.
For information on how to obtain a copy visit Finding Your Story online
at www.prov.vic.gov.au/findingyourstory
or contact PROV on 1800 657 452 or ask.prov@dvc.vic.gov.au.
A Select List of Records for Koorie Family History Research
Births, Deaths & Marriages in Victoria (Microfiche Indexes & CD-ROM)
Consolidated Index to Births, Deaths and Marriages (Pioneer
Index) 1837–1888
Index to Births 1853–1913
Index to Marriages 1853–1930
Index to Deaths 1853–1980
Index to Deaths 1921–1985
Inquest and Magisterial inquiries into accidental or unexplained deaths
Index to Inquest Deposition Files 1840–1985 (CD-ROM)
Index to Inquest Deposition Files 1986–1995
Inquest Deposition Files 1841–1995
Wills, Probate and Administration: records relating to the administration
of deceased estates
Wills 1853–1995
Probate and Administration Files 1841–1995
Register of Wills (Transcripts) 1842–1922 (Microfilm)
Probate Index 1841–1992 (Microfiche)
Education: records of the Education Department and of individual schools
The following series often contain information on children
and families:
Primary Schools Correspondence Files c. 1873–1962
Inward Registered Correspondence from High Schools, c. 1907–1960
Using PROV’s online catalogue you can search by school
name for records of individual schools.
For further information about Education records see PROVguide 56
Education Records.
See also:
Koorie People
and Places Research Pathway
Getting Started
Research Pathway
PROVguide
19 Registering and Maintaining a Public User Account
PROVguide
20 Searching for Records Online
PROVguide
21 Ordering Records available from the Research Tools menu on PROV's
online catalogue at www.access.prov.vic.gov.au
Crime, Law and Punishment: records of the courts, prisons and Law
Department
Criminal Trial Briefs 1841–1927
Index to Criminal Trial Briefs 1841–1927 (Microfiche)
Capital Case Files 1852–1985
Central Register of Male Prisoners 1850–1948 (part
closed)
Central Register of Female Prisoners 1857–1948 (part
closed) (Microfiche)
Victorian Prisoner Index 1850–1900 (Microfiche)
Victorian Prisoner Index (Females) 1855–1918
(Microfiche)
Divorce Case Files 1861–1917
Divorce Index Victoria 1861–1924 (Microfiche)
Mental Health: records of mental health institutions (very few records of
public hospitals are held)
Types of records held:
Admission Warrants
Registers of Patients/Admission Registers
Case Books (to 1912) and Patient Clinical Notes (from 1912)
Annual and Quinquennial Examination Registers
Trial Leave Registers
Discharge Registers
Nominal Registers of Patients
For records of individual institutions and for further
information see PROVguide
59 Mental Health Records from the 1840s to around 1915.
Unless otherwise noted, all original records are available
and may be ordered for viewing in PROV Reading Rooms. Records on microfilm, microfiche
and CD-ROM formats are available for viewing at the Victorian Archives Centre
and the Ballarat Archives Centre and do not need to be ordered.
Koorie Family History – Organisations and Online Resources
Koorie Heritage Trust – Koorie Family History Service
295 King Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Tel (03) 8622 2600
Website www.koorieheritagetrust.com
Oral histories, family history, photographs, exhibitions,
artwork, artefacts, library and education programs.
Link Up Victoria
139 Nicholson Street
East Brunswick Vic 3057
Tel (03) 8388 1855
Website www.linkupvictoria.com.au
Family tracing, reunion, support and counselling assistance
for Aboriginal people removed from their families as children.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies
(AIATSIS)
Family History Unit
GPO Box 553
Canberra ACT 2601
Tel 1800 730 129
Website www.aiatsis.gov.au
Free assistance for people with Indigenous heritage to do
family history research.
Stolen Generations Victoria
391 St Georges Road
North Fitzroy Vic 3085
Tel (03) 9486 6122
Website www.stolengenerationsvictoria.org.au
Supporting and addressing the needs of people affected by
practices and policies of removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
from family, community, country and culture.
Adoption and Family Records Service
Level 20, 570 Bourke Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Tel (03) 8608 5700 (Melbourne metropolitan)
Tel 1300 769 926 (Tollfree in Australia)
Website www.office-for-children.vic.gov.au,
and navigate to, Placement and Support, and then, the Adoption
and Family Records Service.
Assistance for access to Victorian adoption and state
wardship records, support and counselling for those who have been adopted and
for their adoptive and birth parents, or for those who are former State Wards.
Registry of Birth, Deaths & Marriages
Transport House
589 Collins Street
Melbourne Vic 3001
Tel 1300 369 367
Website www.dvc.vic.gov.au/bdm.htm
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Tel (03) 8664 7000
Website www.slv.vic.gov.au
Genealogy Centre, pictorial collection (photographs) and
Aboriginal bibliography.
Bunjilaka
Melbourne Museum
Carlton Gardens, Carlton Victoria
GPO Box 666E
Melbourne Vic 3001
Tel 13 11 02 (within Victoria)
Tel (03) 8341 7777
Website www.melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au/bunjilaka/index.asp
Family history service, Tindale genealogies, exhibitions,
photographs, artwork and artefacts.