Research Your Family History
Would you like to find out about your ancestry? To assist with Family History research, our experienced volunteers are available in our Gordon Research Centre to help you in person, and we have an extensive range of local and international resources to assist you.
We recognise that not everyone can readily visit us, so if you are unable to attend our rooms in person, our experienced volunteers can undertake research on your behalf – our fees are listed below.

Why not join our Family History Group mailing list – we’ll send out information on useful things that might help with your family history, and you can also email the group. You might want to ask a question, ask for help, tell people about a great discovery, or tell them about something interesting that’s going on!

We can assist you in your search for answers!
- Do you know where your ancestors came from?
- Do you know who they were?
- Where they were born?
- Where they died, or where they are interred?
- Perhaps you have convict ancestors?
- Were any ancestors born interstate or overseas?
- Did any of your ancestors serve in the armed forces?
All you need to do is visit our Research Centre in Gordon and an experienced volunteer will help you out. Our resources include:
- Birth, Death & Marriage indexes for all Australian states
- Pioneer registers
- Cemetery transcripts
- Various databases
- Complimentary access to the Family Search ‘Affiliate Library’
- Complimentary access to the Ancestry.com ‘Library Edition’
- We also hold a large collection of materials specifically related to Ku-ring-gai’s early families – a valuable resource for those researching their ancestral connections with the area.
To start your research journey, we have collected some useful online resources that you can access from home here.
If your research concerns the history of Ku-ring-gai and its families, our annual research journal, The Historian, is also a fantastic resource and The Historian index is searchable – so why not make it the first destination on your journey!
Plus, we are always looking for opportunities to expand our research resources, so if you have any information on Ku-ring-gai’s early families you would like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you!

The time taken to complete the research will depend on the nature of the request; the availability of an appropriately experienced volunteer; and on how many requests are ahead of you – we will endeavour to keep you informed if extended delays are expected.
The research carried out with regard to Ku-ring-gai’s early families remains the property of the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society and is made available for personal use only. Copies will be added to our files for future reference. If you wish to publish any research we do for you, we usually require only an acknowledgement of our work – but a licence fee will normally be required for commercial publication.
Our fee for a standard Family History research enquiry is $60. Complex enquiries may incur a higher fee, which we would discuss with you first. Once we receive payment, your request will be forwarded for action, subject to volunteer availability.
After submitting the form, to complete your request, please arrange an EFT payment to:
- BSB: 032083
- Account No: 248971
- Please add your SURNAME and the letters FHR to your bank’s reference field
Alternatively please post a cheque payable to ‘Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Inc’ to:
The Treasurer,
Ku-ring-gai Historical Society,
PO Box 109
GORDON NSW 2072
Once you submit the form, you should receive an automatic confirmation email – if you don’t, please check your spam folder.
Disclaimer: Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Inc. is not responsible for, and makes no representation or warranty in respect of any information, documents and materials it prepares, including the accuracy, adequacy, suitability or completeness of such information, documents and materials.