Vital Records: Tracing Births, Deaths and Marriages in NSW

Join us for a full-day seminar on the vital records that are key to all forms of historical research – births, deaths and marriages. The seminar will feature talks by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages and by well-known experts Heather Garnsey OAM, Angela Phippen, and Laura Daaboul from Museums of History NSW. 

The talks will present information and case studies on how to trace births, deaths and marriages in NSW. 

There will also be an opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Western Sydney Records Centre.

Program

9am–9.15am 
Registration

9.15am–9.30am
Welcome

9.30am–10.30am
Talk: Making it official – the history of registration of births, deaths and marriages
Speaker: Louise Briffa, Director, Operations and Service Delivery, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

10.30am–11am
Morning tea (refreshments provided)

11am–12pm
Talk: Baptisms, marriages and burials – using church records to solve problems and add more detail
Speaker: Heather Garnsey OAM

12pm–12.45pm
Lunch (BYO)

12.45pm–1.45pm
Talk: Parting of the ways – divorce records in NSW
Speaker: Angela Phippen

1.45pm–2pm
Stretch break

2pm–3pm 
Talk: Dead and buried – sources for tracing deaths in NSW
Speaker: Laura Daaboul, Archivist, Museums of History NSW

3pm–4.30pm
Optional behind-the-scenes tour of the Western Sydney Records Centre

Talk: Making it official – the history of registration of births, deaths and marriages

Louise Briffa will discuss the history of birth, death and marriage registration in NSW, how it has changed over time and how those changes impact your research.

About Louise Briffa
Louise Briffa is the Director of Operations and Service Delivery at the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. Louise has worked in the NSW Government for 30 years and joined the Registry in May 2024. Louise has also been researching her own family tree for 18 years. This combination of professional and personal experience has given Louise a distinctive appreciation of the Registry’s records, and underpins her strong focus on accessible and customer-centred service delivery, and the enduring importance of family history records to individuals and the community. 

Talk: Baptisms, marriages and burials – using church records to solve problems and add more detail

The introduction of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in NSW in 1856 didn’t mean that church authorities stopped recording the baptisms, marriages and burials they conducted. Sometimes the church record of an event can fill gaps in the civil records or add useful information they don’t record. How can church records help your research, and where and how do you locate them? 

About Heather Garnsey
Heather Garnsey OAM is best known for her association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, where she worked for 35 years and is an Honorary Member and Fellow. A regular presenter throughout Australia, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2024 for her service to family history. After retiring in 2020 she is enjoying finally having more time for her own family history projects.

Talk: Parting of the ways – divorce records in NSW

Angela Phippen will discuss the records of divorce in NSW from 1873 onwards and how they can answer many questions in your research. 

About Angela Phippen
Angela Phippen is a retired librarian with over 40 years’ experience in local and family history. She was librarian at the Society of Australian Genealogists for 17 years and Local Studies Librarian with City of Ryde Libraries for 21 years. Her research interests are broad, including war memorials, Chinese market gardens and divorce records in NSW. In 2025 she was a Visiting Fellow at the State Library of New South Wales.

Talk: Dead and buried – sources for tracing deaths in NSW

Establishing details of deaths can be one of the most challenging areas of historical research. People often just seem to ‘disappear’. This session will uncover the extraordinary range of records in the State Archives Collection that can help you to establish death details.

About Laura Daaboul
Laura Daaboul is an Archivist at Museums of History NSW with a background spanning a range of archival roles, as well as recently working as a local history librarian and museum curator. Passionate about family history, she is particularly interested in how archival records reveal personal narratives, strengthen community connections and enrich our understanding of the past.