Niara Workshops: Aboriginal Family History

How to research your Family History

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In accordance with traditional laws often followed by Indigenous communities in Australia the mentioning of and photographs of deceased people may offend. Please note on these websites there is mention of Aboriginal people who are deceased.

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Even though Australian historical primary records are mostly European based, when researching Aboriginal ancestry the principles of family history methodology differ very slightly if at all. Australian Indigenous cultures and experiences are diverse across the country and vary greatly across the localised areas of the South Coast.

The South Coast Region includes Aboriginal communities of:
Yuin Nation - Yuin is the general or generic name for all tribes from Merimbula to Nowra (maps do vary)
Wodi Wodi – Illawarra Bundalong – Shoalhaven River Jeringa – Shoalhaven (North)
Jervis Bay Kangaroo Ground (Kangaroo Valley) Parramarrago (near Bungonia)
Alleluen (Araluen) Wandandian – Wandandian & Jervis Bay Budawang
Walbanga Munkata (maybe Monkittee nr Braidwood) and others
Murramarang and Budawang

Most local history books, mention Aboriginal people in the first chapter only as pre-European history and some early European settlement. Whilst the majority of Pioneer registrars fail to even acknowledge Aboriginal people. Europeans first saw aboriginal people in 1770 when Captain Cook and Joseph Banks on the Murramarang beach.

Indigenous Family History
Use these 6 steps for every new generation when doing research.
What do I want to learn about my family?
What do I already know about my family and how do I record it?
What photos do I have of them?
What records do family history groups, historical societies, libraries, historians and other organisations have?
How do I obtain the records or information required?
Where do I go from here?

How Do I Start?
A good rule is to work backwards from yourself. This is the only way to be almost certain that you are tracing the right family. Never assume a connection with some particular family then try to fit yourself into one of its branches. It doesn't work!!!!! Fill in a birth brief chart place yourself as No.1. Then move on to parents and grandparents with the information you already have. The missing gaps will be filled in later as you complete your research .... Useful Family History Research Forms

Other Items from Home for Family Historians
• Photographs. Never use pen. A label on back and details written in pencil.
• Oral history form Elders
• That shoe box of old papers and newspaper clippings that Granny kept is a gold mine.
• Spend time listening to older family members
• Write down any family story it will be a good source of truth or half truth later on.

Many people record their family history research on computer. There is a large range of software available however I suggest one uses Brothers Keepers.

Type of Records to use in Aboriginal Research
Birth Details can be obtained from: Civil Registration – Birth, Death, Marriage Church Records – Headstones
Marriage Details can be obtained from: Civil Registration – Birth, Death, Marriage Birth certificates – many times will list marriage by Traditional rites and Church Records
Death Details can be obtained from: Civil Registration – Birth, Death, Marriage Cemetery Records, Headstones and Newspaper articles, Civil Registrations - Church Records - Death & Cemetery Records

Not all Aboriginal births were registered, or European births for that matter. A must is to check local church records, and these are many times overlooked as a resource for family history research. Many include baptism of Aboriginal adults.

Check with a Family History or Historical Society to see if records have been indexed. Is there a local historian who has transcribed the records? If not contact the individual Church.

See also Dunn, Cathy. Miryyal : Budawang Aborigines featured in church records, the author, Milton, 2000. more details

Many times Church records have details that were omitted on the civil registration information such as tradational name. Civil registration began in 1855, the place of registration is not necessarily the place of event – birth, death, marriage.

A death certificate will show name, age at death, place and cause of death, parents, name and relationship of informant, when and where buried, witnesses at funeral. Also where married and to whom, age at time of marriage, the names and ages of living children and the number of dead children. Not all death certificates have complete information.

Using the index for BDM's online at www.bdm.nsw.gov.au obtains a reference Number for the certificate; these can be purchase online or use a transcript agent. Also check Church records, cemetery records and newspapers for death notices.

Most South Coast Cemeteries have being researched. These are available at books at your local library, family history group. Historical society, whilst some are available online, many can be purchased.

NSW & Victorian Birth Death and Marriage Certificate transcriptions
can be obtained from transcriptions.com.au

Newspapers: An example from a Newspaper as a source for Aboriginal Family History:
Moruya Examiner, 23 Aug 1919
On Friday night last Pte. Frank Stewart was the recipient of the usual Shire address and a presentation from the Bay to honor [sic] him as a returned Australian soldier. The occasion was rather unique, in as much as the ceremony took place during the interval of a picture show. To this entertainment about 50 of Private Stewart's friends and relatives from the Aboriginal Reserve had been invited. The presentation was made by Mr D F Mackay and was received by much acclamation and to the accompaniment of the indispensable leaf strains of music from the darkies [sic]."

More details on Frank Stewart

Tindale’s Genealogies:
Anthropologist Norman Tindale visited various Aboriginal Missions and reserves throughout Australia in the 1930’s including the South Coast. The information that Tindale gathered during these visits was included in his Collection of genealogical information. Contact: Ronald Briggs Indigenous Services State Library, phone: (02) 9273 1577

War records
Servicemen Enlistment and Service Records contain great information on your family members can be obtained for their enlistment records. Such as surname and given names, service number, Army unit and/or battalion, age on enlistment, place of birth, date of enlistment, place of enlistment, next-of-kin, marital status at time of enlistment, distinctive physical marks (e.g. scars, birthmarks, tattoos, etc.). Copies of war service records are also available to download. The Australian National Archives have scanned over 453 individual Aboriginal service records from WWI are a great source for Aboriginal genealogy as many include additional papers. They are available from www.naa.gov.au

1891 Cencus - Microfilm records at State Records NSW Includes a separate column for number of Aboriginal people included number of male and female.

Aborigines Welfare Board – State Records NSW Minute books, correspondence files, photographs and Aboriginal reserves records, many of the records of the Aborigines Welfare Board are closed to public access

1901 Householder Collectors Books
The Collectors’ Books are arranged alphabetically by census district. Each subdistrict is allocated a number or letter and is arranged chronologically within the census district. Many of the subdistricts include a map and a brief description of the area boundaries; all identify the collector responsible for the area. Within the subdistrict, the Collectors’ Books record the locality (including names of the street, road, gully or other variations), occasionally the number of the house, the name of the householder and the total number of persons in the household (divided into male and female). The books also list separately how many of the residents are Chinese or Aboriginal. Additional information may include the type of dwelling. The 1901 Collectors books are available on Microfiche at various repositories, some Family History Groups and Historical societies and author collection.

Example: 1901 Milton Ulladulla Aboriginals listed in household collection data

Name	Address	M	F	AM	AF	Notes +
Charles Stewart Beattie	Ulladulla Road	2	4	1	3	Wife Susan and daughters Sarah and Mary
Mary [sic] Billyboy	Aboriginal Camp		1		1	also known as Maria Coomee
P…. Hunt	Aboriginal Camp	1		1		maybe George Hunt
Charles Kerry	Aboriginal Camp	4	3	4	3	Self, wife Mary, daughter Ethel, mother Mary, brothers Tony, Thomas and Robert
Lewis Licey	Aboriginal Camp	2	3	2	3	Self, wife Emily, son Ernest, Daughters Muriel and baby (unnamed)
Harold Nyberg	Burrill St	5	1	4	1	Self, wife Ellen, sons Harold, Richard, Cecil (Rignal), Oscar
Andrew B Nye Snr	Murraramang St	3	2	2	2	wife Jane, sons Andrew, Bertie and George, daughter Eupemia, possible incorrect numbers

Electoral Rolls
Are always worth checking, results will vary from region to region. Noted that some areas around Jervis Bay will be listed under the ACT. Example of 1903 Electoral Roll Milton Ulladulla District

Surname	Christian name	Place of Living	Occupation	Notes +
Andrews	Prosper	Termeil	Laborer
Andrews	Robert James	Termeil	Laborer
Andrews	Rachel	Termeil	Domestic Duties
Beattie	Charles	Ulladulla	Carter	Married to Susan Allen (Coomee daughter)
Campbell	George	Ulladulla	Fisherman	with Ethel Brother
Dashwood	William	Bally Point [sic]	Labourer	Married to Phoebe Butler (aboriginal)
Nyberg	Ellen	Conjola	Domestic Duties	Aboriginal married to Harold Nyberg (German)
Nye	Andrew	Ulladulla	Labourer	Married to Jane Campbell (aboriginal). Jane herself not on electoral roll, yet her sister Ellen Nyberg is listed

Example from the 1922 Electoral Roll Milton Ulladulla District

Surname	Christian name	Place of Living	Occupation	Notes +
Brown	Ethel Mary Jane	Milton	Domestic Duties	Widow of Jimmy Governor, now wife of local Aboriginal Frank Brown
Brown	Francis Joseph	Milton	Labourer	Frank Brown
Brown	Thomas	Redhead	Millhand
Cooley	Henry	Ulladulla	Fisherman
Cooley	Jane	Ulladulla	Domestic Duties
Cooley	Thomas Charles	Ulladulla	Fisherman
Nyberg	Harold Augusta	Conjola Lake	Fisherman
Nyberg	Regnold [sic]	Conjola	Fisherman
Page	Elizabeth Jane	Ulladulla	Domestic Duties	nee Cooley
Page	William George	Ulladulla	Labourer	Brother of Ethel Brown
Wilson	Ambrose Ivor Earl	East Milton	Labourer
Wilson	John	Narrawillee [sic]	Fisherman	married to Aboriginal Sarah Evans
Wilson	John Robert	Conjola	Fisherman
Wilson	Sarah	Narrawillee [sic]	Domestic Duties

Sources:
Please note that wording in some of the records can offend Aboriginal people such as: black, coloured, darkie, ¾ or ½ caste. [sic] Other primary sources to check are School records, parish maps, newspapers, Court & Goal Records, Council minutes and blanket returns.

All sources will have their strength and weaknesses for family history research, depending on location and time period and type of source inline with the information being sought.

Note: Some language used is as found in primary sources, these are noted as [sic] in order to verify to the reader that the writer did not create a typographical error, but instead exactly reproduces the way the word/s or statement appeared in the original material.

Publications:
Byrne, Denis. The mountains call me back: a history of the Aborigines and the forests of the far south coast of New South Wales, NSW Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Sydney, 1984.

Chittick, Lee and Fox, Terry. Travelling with Percy: a south coast journey, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra 1997.

Dunn, Cathy. Miryyal : Budawang Aborigines featured in church records, the author, Milton, 2000. more details

Egloff, Brian. Wreck bay: an Aboriginal fishing community, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1990.
Howitt, A. W. The native tribes of south-east Australia, Macmillan, London, 1904. Reprinted 1996, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.

Organ, Michael. A documentary history of the Illawarra & south coast Aborigines 1770-1850: including a chronological bibliography 1770-1990, Aboriginal Education Unit, Wollongong University, Wollongong, 1990.

Organ, Michael, Illawarra and South Coast aborigines, 1770-1900, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 1993.

Townsend, Joseph. Rambles and observations in New South Wales, Chapman and Hall's series London, 1849. With sketches of men and manners, ... Aboriginal people from Ulladulla, Batemans Bay and Moruya. Available from the NSW State Library & National Library.

Young, Michael. The Aboriginal people of the Monaro. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney, 2000. Compiled by Michael Young with Ellen and Debbie Mundy "

Wesson, Sue. An historical atlas of the Aborigines of eastern Victoria and far south-eastern New South Wales, Monash University. School of Geography and Environmental Science, Melbourne, 2000

pdf downloads
Aboriginal women's heritage - Nowra
Aboriginal women's heritage - Wollongong
Biamanga and Gulaga
Aboriginal Sites and History of the Eurobodalla

Articles and Phamplets:
Briggs, Ron and Jackson, Melissa. Pathfinder no. 6: Black routes through the library, a guide to Aboriginal family and local history resources relating to NSW. State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, 1996.

Brindle, Ken, An Index to the Aboriginal Welfare Board Correspondence Files, 1945-1969, unpublished manuscript held by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, compiled 1987. Also held by the New South Wales Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service: Coastal Custodians Newsletters also available online

Mathews, R.H. Ethnological notes on the aboriginal tribes of New South Wales and Victoria. Originally published in Journal of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 38 (1904), pp. 203-381.

Websites
Aboriginal People & Cultural Life
A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Aboriginal People
AIATSIS MURA catalogue for bibliographic references
Braidwood Gaol Entrance Book (1856-1899)
Budawang Aboriginal Families
Eastern Sydney Memorial Park: A searchable database to burials at Botany Cemetery.
A good source for South Coast Aboriginal familes, who moved to La Perouse.

NSW & Victorian Birth Death and Marriage Certificate transcriptions
can be obtained from transcriptions.com.au

Index to the Koori Mail and biographical information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from the magazines Our Aim (1907–1961), Dawn (1952–1969), New Dawn (1970–1975) and Identity (1971–1982) and other primary records.

Mura Gadi - A guide to manuscript, pictures and oral histories in the National Library of Australia relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples also provides links to digitised copies of material, so that users, wherever they live, can have immediate access to the Collection

National Archives of Australia

NSW Birth Death and Marriages

Mailing Lists
RootsWeb: Genealogy Australia: AUS-KOORI Discussion of genealogy, family history, and cultural history.
RootsWeb: Genealogy Australia: NSW South East Discussion of genealogy and history relating to the south-east of New South Wales, Australia. The geographical area covered is from Helensburgh to the Victorian border along the South Coasr and inland to the Great Divide, including Braidwood and Araluen.

Facebook - Koori N Mates

The Niara Workshops were jointly funded by the Eurobodalla Shire Council and the Australian Government of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Cathy Dunn - Historian & Publisher
Heritage & History Consultant
PO Box 52 Milton NSW 2538 Email
Ph: 02 44554780 - ABN 14 804 330 342
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