South Australian Birth, Marriage & Death Directory

General

• Our free online historical births database (1836-54), marriages database (1836-56) and deaths database (1836-55) include corrected & expanded details from the latest civil registration indexes including full dates and places plus numerous unregistered events from church baptism, marriage & burial registers. The same data is also available in the colonial South Australian pioneers database of combined early arrivals and vital records.
• Certificate indexes covering the periods from mid 1842 up to 1928 for births, 1937 for marriages and 1972 for deaths with limited information are available online at Genealogy SA together with newspaper birth (1960+) & death (1972+) notices and cemetery indexes. Further information is available for a fee as is a duplicate certificate transcription service.
• The same BMD index data is available in the vital records of Ancestry.com.au (requiring paid subscription or free access at a participating library).
• The Government of South Australia Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Office does not make any records available online although certificates can be purchased from their website, by post, or over the counter at their Adelaide office.
  • Compulsory civil registration commenced in mid 1842
  • Certificate application fees
  • How to apply for a certificate online
  • All certificate application and progress enquiries must be sent to the BDM Registration Office, not to us at FamilyHistorySA.

• Use the form below to search for the current locations of the original books of duplicate bdm records. These duplicates or microfiche of them are available for viewing. The historic birth, death and marriage registration districts are those that existed up to 1992. Many divisions and amalgamations occurred at previous times, mostly 1855-6 and 1928-35 respectively. Numerous boundary changes occurred. Initially, in 1842, there were two districts only, Adelaide and Flinders. At present there is a single district for all of South Australia.

  Location of BDM registration district records

  district name, abbreviation or place name

    Search

  Clear
• State Library of South Australia
  • Births, deaths and marriages
  • Church records — baptisms, marriages & burials
  • Library Catalogue [searchable]
  • Trove digitised newspapers [including personal notices and obituaries]
• State Records of South Australia [records available at their reading rooms]
  • Indexes to marriages prior to compulsory registration — GRG 56/68/21 (A 1486)
  • Indexes to divorces — GRG 36/23 & 36/51 give petitions to the Supreme Court in the period 1859-93. The results of the petitions are often not given
  • Indexes to deaths prior to compulsory registration — GRG 56/68/20 (A 1485)
  • Other records duplicated from originals held at the State Library of SA

Births

• Births 1836-54 including those prior to civil registration, all of those registered & others not submitted to the registrar [free searchable database]

• Information included on SA birth certificates and district records

  Provision was made on the certificates for the information tabulated below and marked yes. However, on many certificates, some of that information was omitted by the informant and/or registrar. Theoretically, the same information was provided in the district records. Note that in some cases certificates were issued on the older stationery until it was exhausted.

  Registration date from: to:	7-1842 6-1856	6-1856 12-1874	1-1875 7-1907	7-1907 6-1948	6-1948 1-1968	1-1968 present
  Date of birth	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Place of birth	no	yes	>1882	yes	yes	yes
  Name of child	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Gender	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Father's full name	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Father's age, birth place	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Father's occupation	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
  Usual residence	no	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
  Mother's maiden name	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Mother's age, birth place	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Mother's former married surname	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Year of marriage	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  No. of previous living, dead issue	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Informant signature, descript, res	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Authorized person	no	no	no	no	yes	no
  Registration District	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
  Registration date	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes

Marriages

• Marriages 1836-56 including those prior to civil registration, all of those registered & others not submitted to the registrar [free searchable database]

• Information included on SA marriage certificates and district records

  Registration date from: to:	7-1842 8-1856	8-1856 12-1868	1-1868 12-1907	12-1907 4-1937	5-1937 8-1963	9-1963 present
  Date of marriage	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Place of marriage	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Full names of both	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Ages of both	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
  Dates of birth of both	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Places of birth of both	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Occupations of both	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Usual prior residences	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Conjugal status of both	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Both fathers names	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Both mothers maiden names	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Declarations of no impediment	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Witnesses names	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Witnesses residence & occ	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
  Registration District	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
  Registration Date	yes	no	no	no	no	no
  Celebrant signature	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Religion or denomination	no	no	no	no	no	yes

Deaths

• Deaths 1836-55 including those prior to civil registration, those registered & others not submitted to the registrar [free searchable database]
• Gazetted deaths 1845-1941 [searchable database of sudden deaths]
• South Australian returned servicemen deaths [searchable database]
• WWI South Australian servicemen deaths [searchable database]
• Courts Administration Authority of South Australia
  • Probate Registry [contact information for obtaining deceased estate wills & grants of probate]
    • Supreme Court Building, 1 Gouger Street, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
    • Telephone: +618 8204 0505

• Information included on SA death certificates and district records

  Registration date from: to:	7-1842 6-1856	7-1856 12-1874	1-1875 12-1907	12-1907 5-1937	5-1937 6-1948	7-1948 12-1967	1-1968 present
  Date of death	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Place of death	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Name of person	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Gender	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Age	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Cause of death	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Occupation	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Usual residence	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Birth place, time in Aust	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Age at first marriage	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Age at last marriage	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Name of spouse	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Conjugal status	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  No. of m/f issue living/dead	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Death within 3 m of birth	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Informant sig, desc, res	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
  Authorized person	no	no	no	no	no	yes	yes
  Date & place of burial/crem	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
  Undertaker	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
  Registration District	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
  Registration date	yes	no	>1904	yes	yes	yes	yes

Burials

• Cemetery directory [comprehensive]
  • South Australian cemeteries and burials [comprehensive searchable database]
  • Help on searching for SA cemetery burials

Obituaries

• Obituaries Australia [searchable database]
• Ryerson index to contemporary death notices & obituaries in Australian newspapers [searchable database]

In memoriam, death & funeral notices

• The Advertiser newspaper [recent notices only]