“I have historical artifacts I would like to donate.”
Please be aware that our Society does not maintain a collection of records or a museum, so that regrettably we must decline your kind offers. If you wish to donate such items, please search out other institutions, such as a local historical society, library or specialist museum (e.g. railway, aviation, RSL) to see if they would be interested. See the ‘Kindred Organisations’ section under the ‘Useful Resources’ tab: https://historicalsocietysa.com/kindred-organisations/.
Local historical societies are listed here: Historical Societies – South Australian History Network, and a more comprehensive directory is South Australian History Network.
Where possible, we are happy to make suggestions of likely recipients, depending on the donation.
“I have old books I would like to donate.”
We do not maintain a library. For organisations that may be interested in receiving historical books, pamphlets, etc. please see above.
However, we are grateful to receive donations of books on South Australian history to use as prizes in our monthly raffle. We also hold a yearly book sale for fundraising.
“I have a collection of historical photos I would like to donate/would like identified.”
We are happy to receive digital photos we can use on our website or Facebook pages. In appropriate circumstances we may be able to ask members to identify South Australian locations or suggest possible dates but we would need permission to show photos in meetings or on the relevant websites.
For permanent donations, see the question on donating historical artifacts above.
“I am looking for information on an ancestor. Can you help?”
https://trove.nla.gov.au is a fabulous resource for newspapers (funeral notices, births, marriages, divorce and court appearances). But best of all are the obituaries for well-known citizens. It also has links to pictorial collections, publications, government gazettes and more.
For births, deaths and marriages (BDM) resources in Australia try https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/births-deaths-and-marriages. For SA specific BDM go to https://www.genealogysa.org.au, which also offers a research service and transcriptions of BDM records for a fee.
For cemetery records in Australia go to https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/family-history-research-guide/cemetery-records. For SA specific, select SA for the main cemeteries. Also contact local councils for their cemetery. Another good site is https://www.australiancemeteries.com.au/sa/index.htm, which has photos of headstones.
Other queries could be answered by visiting https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au and in particular almanacs and directories at https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/directories, where you can search a surname and find out where they lived.
Contact the council and historical society of the location of your ancestors for any extra information they can provide.
For immigrant information, State Records have online resources at https://maritime.history.sa.gov.au/research-types/passengers-in-history or https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/immigration/onlinepassengerlists
The Pioneers Association of SA is able to help with ancestors who arrived in the first 10 years of South Australia’s founding as a colony. They also have detailed records on early schools. https://www.pioneerssa.org.au/
Other links which may be of use are https://www.cyndislist.com/categories or any of the genealogy websites. Also see ‘Useful Resources’ tab: https://historicalsocietysa.com/useful-links/.
“Could you please give me information on a historical topic.”
The specialist societies and museums already mentioned may be of more use to casual researchers, though we may know of society members with particular interests to whom we could pass your information.
If you are a researcher with material that may be of interest to our members, we have a bi-monthly newsletter and seek articles on South Australian history. You could use this method to solicit additional information from our members.
“Do you have any information on a property?”
Heritage properties may be listed in a heritage survey here: Department for Environment and Water – Heritage surveys. Or contact the local council or library for extra information. Check books on local history and Trove for images held in the national and state libraries.
Searching lands titles in SA from 1858 can be done online at sailis.lssa.com.au/home/public. Log in as a guest.