Family history tools & resources

The Library is the perfect place to explore your family history. We offer a wealth of expertise and information for experienced family historians and those just starting out on the journey, including newspapers, letters, diaries and manuscripts, maps, passenger lists and electoral rolls.

As a starting point, some of our most popular resources are listed below, but you should also drop into the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust Family History Reading Room to talk with our expert staff. You'll find all the inspiration and resources you need to research your family's past.

More to explore

Browse our Family history research guides
Find out how to research your Victorian ancestors
See our family history eresources
Read our Family Matters blog
Watch our Family History Feast presentations
Need help finding information? Ask one of our librarians!

Black and white Edwardian portrait of a family group of 11 people, including parents, baby and children to young adults — Portrait of a family group of 11 people, Albert Jones (photographer), c. 1910–18

Online resources

Black and white photographic portrait of an extended family

Family history eresources

A must for family historians, our eresources include how-to guides, historical records, biographical information and the popular Ancestry Library Edition.

Family history research guides

For help with your family history research, take a look at our research guides, produced by our expert librarians.

Sands & McDougall's Directory of Victoria 1950

Sands & McDougall’s directories

A key resource for researching the history of Melbourne and Victorian properties, residents, businesses and streets. Indexed and divided into sections by location, name, trade and more.

Victoria Government Gazette 1836–1997

Access official notifications from the Governor, Government authorities and departments, local councils, companies and individuals from 1836 to 1997.

This view of Bourke Street looks east toward Elizabeth Street. The buildings on the right are the Metropole Hotel and Arcade, which have since been replaced by the Commonwealth Bank building on the corner of Elizabeth Street.

Old Melbourne street directories

Trace the changing face of Melbourne and its suburbs between 1912 and 1952 in our collection of historic street directories.

World War I unit histories

Our digitised World War I unit histories contain descriptions of battles and operations; listings of officers and soldiers; personal letters; and maps and photographs.

Robert K Cole Victorian hotels index

The Robert K Cole Victorian hotels index is an important resource to help you find information about Victorian pubs and publicans in the years 1841 to 1949.

Darragh index

The Darragh index is an invaluable resource to help you locate Germans living in Melbourne between 1861 and 1924.

Blog posts on Family History

Eresources

Ebooks for family historians

View a selection of our ebooks on family history

useful tips

Why can't I find my ancestor?

Are you hitting brick walls in your family history search? Read our useful strategies for dealing with common obstacles when researching Victorian records.

Explore more

Browse our blog channel for back stories on our exhibitions, events, heritage and more.

Read our blog posts

Online resource

Calling all descendants of country publicans!

Find out how the Cole Hotel Index can help your family history research