• The information that you may find on a certificate varies greatly from the time the event occurred as well as from state to state in the amount and quality of information recorded.

• Information is only as reliable as the source. The informant on a death certificate may for example have hardly known the deceased so little information could be recorded about them.

• Be mindful of spelling variations as people often recorded information as it sounded and in earlier times not many people could read and write. 

• Variations in spelling may also occur due to difficulties in deciphering the original handwriting in registers.

• It is advisable to cross-check information on certificates with other records such as monumental inscriptions, a family bible or newspaper notices.

• A marriage certificate may give details of the parents of each spouse, and is the most reliable certificate for information as both parties were present at the event and could give the information. 

• Birth, death and marriage certificates will sometimes include statements as to Aboriginality, especially in earlier records, but there are no guarantees as contrary to a common belief a person’s Aboriginality is not always recorded in documentary form.

• Births, deaths and marriages of Aboriginal people were often not registered. This was due, in part, to legal restrictions such as the Queensland Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of Sale of Opium Acts 1901, which prohibited the marriage of Aboriginal women to non-Aboriginal men without the express permission of the government. 

• Births of Indigenous children were not often registered in order to protect them from removal policies. Large number of Indigenous people worked on pastoral stations where events were recorded in station papers, diaries and resources rather than in the standard birth death and marriage registrations. 

• The notations ‘born in the colony’ or ‘native’ on a birth, death or marriage certificate are also not indicative of Indigenous heritage.

On a Birth Certificate   

On a Marriage Certificate          

On a Death Certificate

Surname

Names of the Bride and Groom

Name of deceased

Given name of the child

Bride’s maiden name

Sex

Date of birth

Their occupations

Date of death

Place of birth

Usual place of residence

Cause of death

Sex

Where they were born

Place of death

Father’s name

Any previous marriages

Age

Occupation

Names of their parents

Occupation

Mother’s name

Registration number

Residence

Mother’s maiden name

Place of birth

Ages

Place of marriage

Other children of the union

Name of spouse

Place of residence

Children of the union

Registration number

Where buried

Who the informant was

Registration number