Early Australian census records

Illuminate Australian society and your family history using census records from 1788 to 1901

Records of people

Listed below are pre-1901 New South Wales census resources available at State Library Victoria. Resources which include details about individuals are listed first, in date order. Resources for statistical information are listed at the bottom of this page.

An excellent summary of the censuses and musters collected in New South Wales can be found in the Museums of History New South Wales' Census and musters guide.

To locate copies of records relating to the process of taking the census from 1810-1825, search for the subject Musters in the online Index to the papers of the New South Wales Colonial Secretary 1788-1825. 

Records relating to Aboriginal people may be inaccurate.

In 1882, a fire destroyed the New South Wales census records for 1846, 1851, 1856, 1861, 1871 and 1881, including the detailed household forms from 1861, 1871 and 1881. 

Birds eye view of garden palace building on fire. Bay and riverbanks in foreground

The Burning of the Garden Palace, seen from the North Shore, [1882]. Watercolour painting by J.C.Hoyte. Courtesy of Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Statistics

An excellent summary of the censuses and musters collected in New South Wales can be found in the Museums of History New South Wales' Census and musters guide.

To locate copies of records relating to the process of taking the census from 1810-1825, search for the subject Musters in the online Index to the papers of the New South Wales Colonial Secretary 1788-1825. 

Statistics relating to Aboriginal people may be inaccurate.

Census dates

Musters took place in:
1800 (settlers)
1806 (first complete muster that has survived)
1811 (convicts, including those given tickets of leave, pardons etc)
1814
1816 (convicts)
1817 (convicts)
1818 (convicts)
1819 (convicts)
1820 (convicts)
1821 (convicts)
1822
1823 (military not included)
1824 (military not included)
1825 (military not included)

Censuses took place in:
1828 (military not included)
1833 (military not included)
1836 (military not included)
1837 (convicts, including Norfolk Island)
1841
1846
1851
1856, 1 March
1861, 5 April*
1871*
1881, 3 April*
1891, 5 April
1901, 31 March

*Household forms (detailed forms giving information about individuals) collected in these censuses were destroyed in a fire in 1882

Extract from newspaper article reads: The Garden palace destroyed by fire. The losses by the fire. First amongst these came the census returns...the destruction...was complete, and is irreparable.

Detail from news article: 'Garden palace destroyed by fire', Moruya Examiner, 30 September 1882, p 2

Original records

The books and online resources on this page contain information extracted from original records. Many of the earlier original records have been copied and are now available online as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP). These include records relating to New South Wales from 1787 to 1837.

A more complete listing of the available records - with references to their location on the original AJCP micofilms - can be found in the Australian Joint Copying Project handbook: part 3: Home Office, pages 16-17.

Physical copies of the AJCP handbooks and a set of microfilm are also available at the Library. 

The book Checklist of nineteenth century Australian colonial statistical sources: censuses, blue books and statistical registers also includes well organised references to the relevant AJCP reels, and often gives information about what kinds of details you are likely to find in these records.

View of Sydney harbour. The buildings of Sydney are visible in the background. There are several tall ships in the harbour, and trees and shrubs on bank in foreground.

North view of Sidney, [i.e. Sydney] New South Wales, 1825. Engraving by Joseph Lycett; 30328102131561/3 

1841 census index data

SRNSW index harvester (GitHub) 

Code to harvest and save data (csv format) from the 1841 NSW census index published online by State Records NSW. Also includes pre-harvested data (csv) from the 1841 NSW census index. Code and data harvest by Tim Sherratt.