South Australian Births
1836 to 1854
This searchable database of about 24,000 births in South Australia up to 1854 includes those before civil registration (mid 1842), others not registered and all registrations.
Using the birth database
Enter the child's, father's, or mother's surname into its box.
The other surnames, all given names, and birth date are optional. Enter data into the least number of fields to adequately define the birth you seek. If you get too many results, add a little more data to refine your search.
If used, the date must be formatted as yyyy-mm-dd for the exact date (eg 1839-03-27), yyyy-mm for the month, or yyyy for the year only.
Note that the exact and sounds like searches only apply to the child's surname. All other fields are always searched by the contains method.
Click the [ Go ] button to begin searching the birth records.
Birth Notes
With a dial-up internet connection, the index to this, our largest database, takes several minutes to load before the 1st search can commence. Subsequent searches are quite fast. Broadband users will find the whole process to be much quicker.
The place is usually the residence, which may not be the birth place. If the place is not recorded, the registration district is abbreviated within brackets to give an indication of location.
Most of the birth records prior to civil registration are from church baptism registers. If there is no birth date, the baptism date is used and indicated by (bap), but it may be long after the birth. Where there is a baptism date, the place is where baptised or the residence, which may not be the birth place. The mother's maiden name and any former married names are usually added.
If the birth you require is not in this database you may wish to search for other SA birth resources.
Birth Sources
The major sources of these birth records are the (Holy) Trinity Church baptism register and the South Australian Births Registrations 1842 to 1906, SA Genealogy & Heraldry Soc, 1997. Other church records and newspapers of the day are also being consulted.
Acknowledgment
Grateful thanks to the contributor of new and revised birth data from other sources.