Australian Joint Copying Project Research Guide
The Australian Joint Copying Project or AJCP is a collection of historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific dating from 1560 to 1984. The material has been drawn from records held in the United Kingdom and microfilmed.
The microfilms in the collection are divided into two series:
- Public Records Office (PRO) – copied from records held in the UK Public Record Office (now The National Archives)
- Miscellaneous (M) – archives and manuscripts copied from a variety of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh institutions and organisations.
To find descriptions of material and the related microfilm reel/s, use this guide and the printed AJCP handbooks held in the Newspapers and Family History zone. You may then order the relevant films via the Library's catalogue.
For detailed descriptions of PRO records, use the Research Guides on the website of The National Archives.
The Australian Joint Copying Project was established in 1945 by an agreement between the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales to jointly microfilm material in the Public Record Office, London and elsewhere relating to Australia and the Pacific. In 1988 the SLNSW withdrew from the project, which continued until June 1993 under the direction of the NLA and with the participation of the State Library of Victoria, the National Library of New Zealand, the National Archives of New Zealand and other Australian state and academic libraries. From 1960 filming included private records of Australasian interest throughout the British Isles. The Project ceased in 1993.
The collection comprises 10,095 reels of 35mm microfilm.
How are the AJCP microfilms arranged?
For purposes of arrangement and description the AJCP film is divided into two series: the Public Record Office Series and the Miscellaneous Series.
Within the Public Record Office Series, the records of the Colonial Office and Dominion Office are predominant. Almost half of the AJCP film is taken up by the despatches, correspondence, letterbooks and registers, dating from 1788 to 1951, of these two departments.
What other libraries hold copies of AJCP microfilms?
At the time of publication of the third edition of the Introductory Handbook in 2000, the following institutions held all or part of the AJCP microfilms:
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Customs Service
- Australian National University - Noel Butlin Archives
- Australian War Memorial
- National Library of Australia (COMPLETE)
NEW SOUTH WALES
- Archives Authority of New South Wales
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- Bathurst City Library
- Central Coast Family History Society
- Charles Sturt University - Regional Archives, Wagga Wagga
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- Genealogy Research Service Centre
- Macquarie Family History Foundation
- Macquarie University Library
- Nepean Family History Society
- Newcastle Public Library
- Richmond Tweed Regional Library
- Ryde Municipal Council Library
- Society of Australian Genealogists
- State Library of New South Wales - Mitchell Library (COMPLETE)
- Taralaga Historical Society
- Tumut Family History Group
- University of New England Library
- University of New South Wales Library
- University of Newcastle - Auchmuty Library
- Wollongong City Reference Library
NORTHERN TERRITORY
- Northern Territory Archives Service
- Northern Territory University Library
- Port Keats Community Archive
QUEENSLAND
- Genealogical Society of Queensland
- James Cook University Library
- Queensland State Archives
- State Library of Queensland - John Oxley Library
- University of Central Queensland Library
- University of Queensland Library
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
- Flinders University of South Australia
- South Australia Heraldry and Genealogy Society
- State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Library
- State Records of South Australia
- University of Adelaide: Department of History
TASMANIA
- Archives Office of Tasmania
- Port of Launceston Authority
- Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
- University of Tasmania: Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies
- University of Tasmania Library
VICTORIA
- Deakin University Library
- Monash University: Humanities and Social Sciences Library
- State Library of Victoria: Latrobe Library (COMPLETE)
- University of Melbourne: Department of History
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
- Library and Information Service of Western Australia (now State Library of Western Australia)
- Murdoch University Library
NEW ZEALAND
- Auckland Institute and Museum
- Auckland Public Library
- Fencibles Historical Society
- Heath & Associates Ltd Library
- National Archives of New Zealand
- National Library of New Zealand: Alexander Turnbull Library
- Nelson Provincial Museum
- New Zealand Society of Genealogists
- University of Auckland Library
- University of Canterbury Library
- University of Otago: Hocken Library
- University of Waikato Library
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
- University of Papua New Guinea Library
FIJI
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- University of Buffalo Library
- University of Chicago Library
- University of Hawaii Library
- University of Houston Library
- University of Ohio: Center for Research Libraries
- Genealogical Society of Utah
CANADA
- National Archives of Canada
SOUTH AFRICA
- University of South Africa Library