Family History Online
Gladstone City Library’s Local Collection Room houses some genealogy materials as well as resources about the local area. Information about our onsite resources is on our History & Genealogy page.
Do you have some family history questions? For information about Gladstone Libraries’ Tech Help programs and assistance with basic family history research, or try some of the links below.
Looking for some local cemetery records? Access records for Gladstone Region Cemeteries here. For cemeteries further afield, try other local government websites or an online database (see below).
Family History from Beginner to Advanced
Searching for primary sources and vital records? Try an internet search of the following organisations, as many have useful details available online
- State/county/district libraries and archives
- National libraries and archives
- State or local government websites
Planning to start researching your family history, or experienced but stuck? These useful sites may help you on your way. Each one has tips, guides, and resources for family history research.
State Library of Queensland provides research guides, webinars, online videos, blogs, and eresources to help you with your family tree. Some useful starting points are:
National Library of Australia provides similar types of information, with their Research Guides page being a good access point.
AIATSIS includes a Family History kit to help you get started with your research. It contains resources specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family research.
Many organisations and institutions provide access online, in-person, or by request to records that assist with family history. Text Queensland is a great site for researching some historical background information or perhaps discovering a family member in the digitised books and records.
Online Research Databases
Tip: Use a variety of records and online databases to build facts and to add details to search terms.
Some online databases have different records, but even those with the same ones index them differently, so your search results may vary. Using multiple sources can provide more details to retrieve a different result in a source you have previously searched.
Remember that records are still being digitised and/or transcribed, so sometimes it may be useful to put a search aside and return to it at a later date.
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Ancestry Library Edition is available on the public computers at each of our library branches, including the two dedicated research machines in the Local Collection Room at Gladstone Library. Ancestry Library Edition doesn’t allow you to create your own family tree, but you can research a wide variety of records for free! Ask our friendly staff for help in accessing this resource (if the desktop link doesn’t work).
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Family Search has information from around the world, including transcriptions of many parish/church records, to help you find that elusive piece of information to help you on your family history journey. Registration is required, but access is free.
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Find My Past is similar to Ancestry, but it has some different record sets and also indexes differently. It allows you to do some searching and often see previews of records for free, only charging to access the full record. It even includes Northern Territory records, rarely accessible online! |
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My Heritage is similar to Ancestry and FMP. Signing up allows some free searching, but a paid subscription is required to access many records. My Heritage has a large quantity of European records. |
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FreeBMD as well as FreeCEN and FreeREG
Some useful sources for information about UK vital records.
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