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Cemetery records: print resources

Cemetery records

The National Library has a large collection of cemetery records for regions throughout Australia. Many records are kept on microfiche and are listed in the Family history sources in the Newspapers and Microforms Reading Room guide. Other records are listed on the catalogue and can be found using the search tips below. This guide contains print resources only.

There are two main types of cemetery records:

  • Monumental Inscriptions - listings of gravemarkers, memorial plaques or church monuments that contain a memorial to the dead
  • Burial registers - sometimes known as burial records or undertakers' records, these are a more comprehensive listing of burials for a particular cemetery

To find contact information and details of record availability for cemeteries not listed in our guides, you may find it useful to visit the Australian Cemeteries website.

Catalogue search tips

To find cemetery records in the catalogue, select the Browse Subjects option and try searching on one of the subject headings listed below:

To locate records for a particular state, territory or region, use the following format:

Some well known or large cemeteries have their own subject headings. For example:

Selected print resources

These resources must be requested through the catalogue unless otherwise specified.

Cemeteries in Australia: a Register of Transcripts. 1994.
An alphabetical listing of cemeteries and burial record locations. N 929.50994 C394-3.
Sydney Burial Ground 1819-1901: Elizabeth and Devonshire Streets and History of Sydney's Early Cemeteries from 1788. 2001.
. RXq 929.5099441 J67.
The Last Word: Two Centuries of Australian Epitaphs. 2005.
A collection of epitaphs divided into ten themes. Also includes name and burial location indexes. Nq 929.5 G465.

See also: