Researching your Victorian ancestors

Cemetery records can refer to either monumental inscriptions or burial registers. Monumental inscriptions include memorial plaques, grave markers or monuments to the deceased, whilst burial registers or records are listing of burials for individual cemeteries. Cemetery records can be particularly useful for helping you identify full names, birthplace, dates and relationships. They may also provide a significant historical detail i.e. a soldier's rank and regiment.

Many cemeteries have indexed their burial records or records of monumental inscriptions. Further down this page you will find a list on online indexes to such records. The following  PDF document lists many of the cemeteries in Victoria and indicates whether their indexes are available online or can be accessed here in the library. For more comprehensive and current information please check the library catalogue.

The DHHS  Cemetery Search can help you to find the names of cemeteries in a particular area, Searching  by suburb or postcode will retrieve a map of the area, with known cemeteries listed. Click on each cemetery to display contact details.

Available in the library

Ancestry Library Edition includes access to the following collections

• Australia Cemetery Index, 1808-2007  It includes transcriptions from several, but not all Australian cemeteries.The information included varies for each cemetery.
• Australia and New Zealand, Find A Grave Index, 1800s- onwards. Contains an index to cemetery and burial details posted on the Find A Grave website.

Burial registers and monumental inscriptions for individual Victorian cemeteries are also available in the Newspapers and Family History Reading Rooms on a range of formats - print, microfilm, microfiche and CD-ROM. Many registers are also available online. Open the attached document to display a comprehensive list of Victorian cemetery records.

Available from home

• The Australian Cemeteries website provides an alphabetical list of most of the cemeteries in Australia. Use this find cemetery information and links to transcriptions, online data, headstone photographs, location maps, available look up services and contact details.
• The Find a grave website contains an index to nearly 4000 Australian cemeteries. You can search by name or browse by place. Not all cemeteries or burials have been indexed.
• The Billion Graves website indexes a huge range of records and images from many of the world's cemeteries, all tagged with GPS locations.

A cumulative index to the monumental inscriptions in approximately 90 Victorian cemeteries is available on selected PCs in Newspapers  and Family History Reading Rooms. It is also available on microfiche. Cemeteries include:

• Finding families In this introductory webinar, learn the principles of family history research and find out how to access family history resources through the State Library Victoria.
   
• Researching your home This webinar will help to answer the questions and curiosities you may have about your family home, whether it’s the house you’re living in now or the scene of your childhood memories. In this session we will include ways to research your family home, finding previous occupants and uncovering  the social history of the area.
   
• Newsworthy learn how to navigate the Library’s extensive newspaper collection in this live and interactive online session. You'll dive into the millions of words printed on both current and historical articles in our online databases, and discover how to find specific newspapers in hard copy, online and on microfilm.

A PDF copy of this publication is also available on the Department of Health website.

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