Search our extensive online databases for your South Australian ancestors.
You are about to search the following Genealogy SA databases:
Category
Records
Time Period
# Records
Last Updated
More Info
BDM Registrations
Birth Registrations
1837 to 1928
727,659
17 Dec 2020
Death Registrations
1842 to 1994
824,530
08 Nov 2024
Marriage Registrations
1842 to 1948
245,972
13 Apr 2024
Newspaper Notices
Newspaper Births# **
1839 to 2018
911,984
17 Dec 2020
Includes Birthdays and Birthday memoriam (some incomplete years).
1967 to 2018
Newspaper Death Notices#
1852 to 2020
1,815,687
06 Aug 2024
Includes Deaths, Funerals, In Memoriam, Lest We Forget and Return thanks.
Newspaper Marriages#
1852, 1859 to 2018
422,478
13 Oct 2022
Includes Matrimonial Petitions
1859 to 1893
Includes Engagements, Approaching Marriages, Marriages and Wedding Anniversaries
1852, 1889 to 2018
Newspaper Divorces
1859 to 1954
14,744
20 Dec 2023
Cemeteries Burial Records
South Australia Cemeteries#
1802 onwards
606,269
17 Dec 2020
Includes Adelaide Catholic burials and some Funeral Directors.
Church Records
South Australian Church records - Burials#
1847 onwards
2,222
17 Dec 2020
South Australian Church records - Baptisms#
1839 onwards
40,482
17 Dec 2020
South Australian Church records - Marriages#
1842 onwards
36,950
13 Oct 2022
Admission Records
South Australian School Admissions#
1847 to 1996
119,868
02 Dec 2024
Hospital, Asylum and Lying-in Home Admissions#
1839 to 1970
327,865
21 Nov 2024
Other Records
All Other Records#
1836 onwards
1,609,698
18 Nov 2023
Biographical Index of South Australians#
1836 to 1885
197,191
17 Dec 2020
Irish Born South Australians (IBSA)#
36,194
18 Dec 2020
Not all people found in IBSA are Irish, however, people in the dataset are connected with an Irish born person.
Ship passenger arrivals in South Australia#
1836 to 1952
277,959
02 Dec 2024
Ships to South Australia#
1836 to 1910
14,822
17 Dec 2020
South Australian Public Trustees/Deceased Estates#
1841 to 2023
234,592
19 Aug 2024
Search Tips - for search tips on our databases - Search Tips
Important notes
# All databases with this suffix - # - are "works in progress" and are continually being added to and will be updated both in our library and online regularly.
Lookups for Members – Lookups for members is now disabled as all data that is available for a record in a particular database is displayed. For more information you will need to ask for a research request - Research request
Transcriptions of Birth, Death and Marriage registrations are still available for members.
* Please note, we do not have original death registrations after 1989 (Book 83A), only index records, therefore we cannot transcribe death registrations after 1989.
** Newspaper births - non-members are provided with a limited view and do not have the ability to order look-ups. Members are provided with all the data that has been recorded on a particular record and there-fore the look-up service will not be available to them. However, we can offer a research request service for both members and non-members which can be accessed via the "View details" link for each record.
Before requesting a birth, death or marriage certificate, check our “What is in a Certificate When?” document. This lists all of the fields that may be available in the certificate that you request.
Our index records contain abbreviations that are defined on our site at Abbreviations Explained
Great! A Result! Is there any more?
If your search narrows down to a person of interest, remember that you have only searched an index. An index is usually an extract taken from a more detailed source document. If you get a result from our index and you want more details, order a source document transcription or lookup, which you can do online through this website.
Transcriptions and Lookups are processed on Monday and Fridays, you can expect a response within one week.
No! Didn't find a thing?
Well don't quit! If you are certain your missing relative should be in South Australian records, try varying your search criteria. Indexes sometimes have spelling or other errors, often reflecting an error in the original document. Untick the 'exact matches' box and look for different spellings, places or time periods.
People often contact us about errors they believe they have found. The Society will receive advice of suspected errors, and we may be able to correct index errors in the future, where we can access the original source document. Please send error reports to the webmaster or our research co-ordinator.
Be persistent and try different ways of searching. If your efforts don't help your research, or you still face a brick wall, you could always consider a Genealogy SA Research Request.
