Tasmania family and local history resources

Explore Tasmania’s resources to discover new stories

Exploring Trove allows you to stumble across some fascinating stories and resources. Below we have highlighted some of these amazing resources from Tasmanian Partners to assist you in your family or local history research.  

Heritage collection from the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre

Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre (BMHC), originally Grubb Shaft Museum, started as the West Tamar Historical Committee in 1972. Its aim was to preserve Beaconsfield and the West Tamar region’s history. By 1984 the Museum had officially opened, operating under the West Tamar Council since 1999.  

The Centre’s collections are comprised of items donated or loaned to them and they have an eclectic mix of items. It all reflects the Centre’s purpose of preserving the area’s history and, where possible, allowing visitors and their community the chance to interact with said history.  

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Invitation, 1941, trove.nla.gov.au/work/239081547

We spoke with Julieanne Richard, Collections Curator at Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre about their collection and how it could help family and local history researchers.  

‘We have archival material, photographs and artefacts as well as a large educational collection, the role of which is to allow people to enjoy hands-on experiences.’ 

They have a range of collection items relating to significant points in history for their local area, a lot also contain information that could benefit research projects beyond the area as well. This includes operation of the Tasmania Gold mine from 1877-1914, modern mining, archaeological material from an excavation conducted in the York Town historic site, social history of the district. Julieanne highlighted their oral history collection.   

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Beaconsfield Mine ruins, 1950, trove.nla.gov.au/work/207753492

‘We also have a collection of oral histories, many recorded in the 1970s-1990s. While they were undertaken by amateurs and the sound quality is often not good, many of the subjects have since passed away so they are a priceless record for local and family historians.’ 

BMHC provides a safe place for a lot of historical material, a lot that could have been lost forever otherwise.  

‘We may not be able to give you the complete story, but perhaps we have a missing piece or two.’ 

Julieanne shares how the Centre could help you enhance your family history so it’s not just a list of names and dates. 

‘Obviously, contemporary photographs are priceless, but other records and objects can help reveal the wider context and add real flesh or at least, flavour, to the story.’ 

She shared a story about helping a community member, who now lives overseas, piece together the story of a business once owned by his family. They were able to assist through their photographic collection and advertisements printed in programs for the local agricultural show.  

BMHC’s collection is vast and fascinating. When asked to share with us some of her favourite collections, Julieanne said:

‘Don’t ask me about favourite items or I will go on endlessly and you will never get away!’  

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Unknown, Honour roll, Beaconsfield State School, 1919, trove.nla.gov.au/work/259307913

An item invaluable to the family and local history researchers is some share registers for the Tasmania Gold Mine company, which recorded information on the shareholders along with a record of their share purchases and sales. You can find the share register for A-G on Trove and you can find a PDF version of the contents if you click through to the BMHC eHive by clicking on the ‘View’ button.  

They continue to grow their collection available online. For example, they are currently cataloguing coloured prints of work, commenced to reopen the Tasmania Mine.  

Julieanne shared with us how they assist with research questions.  

‘If people are visiting to undertake research, it is best to make an appointment so we can ensure it’s possible to access collection items and to give staff time to locate possible items of interest. Most of the requests we receive for research assistance are from people who contact us by email or phone. Sometimes they have already spotted something either on Trove or eHive, but sometimes they are just asking – and we welcome that.’ 

Check out their available collections on Trove

A variety of resources from Libraries Tasmania

One of the largest collections on Trove comes from Libraries Tasmania. This includes public libraries located in Tasmania and the State Library and Archives of Tasmania. Their image, maps and artefacts records available on Trove alone could keep someone busy for months. This kind of collection available on Trove gives researchers of all kinds access to a large part of Australia's history. 

A large orchid of apple trees
C. P. Ray, Photograph - Apple Industry - apple orchard and hay bales - area unidentified - may be Huon or Tinderbox area ? - Mt Wellington in distance, 1910, trove.nla.gov.au/work/256741988

One such resource is their collection of the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women. This collection holds the records of women recognised from 2005 to 2017. The Tasmanian government launched this honour roll in 2005 to recognise outstanding contribution and accomplishments made by Tasmanian women. These publications don’t just give insight into the recognised women but gives context to the social experience at the time of publication. 

Other resources include more typical family and local history resources like the Tasmanian Post Office Directory which gives you the ability to locate an individuals’ business, residence or trade. They also have collections like the convict indents which could include details about individual convicts including their sentence or offence, what ship they were transported on and the date and location of when they were tried and the convict conduct records, which provides insight into convicts behaviour and conduct while serving their sentence along with other fascinating information.

An aged page with cursive handwriting
 Letter (of complaint?) to superintendent, 1853, trove.nla.gov.au/work/252336339

The more you explore Libraries Tasmania’s collections available on Trove, the more you’ll be able to build onto your research. For example, this letter to superintendent included in their Female House of Correction General Records could contain the information you didn’t even know you needed and is freely available to read on the Libraries Tasmania website. The more you search, the more you will find when it comes to Libraries Tasmania’s collections. Start exploring now

More resources

  • Maritime Museum of Tasmania collection
    Includes a large collection of images along with scrapbooks and radio show recordings accessible when visiting. 
  • Wesley Hobart Museum collection
    A faith-based museum established in 1927 with a smaller collection, though containing valuable information and additional context. 
  • Tasmanian Family History Society
    An organisation who consolidates resources and provide support to family history researchers. 
  • The Tasmanian Mail 
    Found through Libraries Tasmania and comprises of digital copies of illustrations and photo-lithographic inserts published in Tasmanian Mail and The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail

Find more guides

We’re creating family and local history resource guides for each State and Territory of Australia. See our guides for: