Where to Start?
- Interview older family members (photos may help prompt memory)
- Review documents (eg marriage certificates, katuba, death certificates and birth certificates)
- Find out Hebrew names of ancestors from katuba, bris certificate, headstone
- Review occupations and addresses from electoral rolls, land records
- Look for immigration documents including naturalisation papers
- Find military records
- Consider a DNA test
- Join Jewish genealogy groups in person or online
Potential difficulties
- Name changes – sometimes multiple changes over time of both given names and surnames
- Records lost or destroyed, or otherwise unaccessible (but a considerable volume of records do still exist!)
- Multiple people with the same or similar names
- Handwritten records hard to read
- Language barriers
How the Jewish Historical & Genealogical Society of WA can help
- Use our archives and library to look for information on your family
- Attend our meetings to learn more about the history of the Western Australian Jewish community
- Read Perth Jewish Roots for inspiration and information
- Get assistance with starting your family research
Useful Resources
Australian Jewish Genealogy
Western Australian Jewish Migrant Oral Histories State Library of Western Australia
JHGSWA Seniors Oral History Project State Library of Western Australia
Victorian Association of Jewish Ex & Service Men and Women Australia (VAJEX)
Jewish Genealogy
Israel Genealogy Research Association
Routes to Roots Foundation Miriam Weiner
CRARG (Częstochowa-Radomsko Area Research Group)
Jewish Genealogy 101 Adina Newman (video)
B&F Jewish Genealogy and Compendium
Avotaynu Consolidated Jewish Surname Index
Sherlock Cohn Photo Genealogist
Burial Records
Chippers Funerals Burial Records 1896-1965 (Western Australia) – free registration required
Metropolitan Cemeteries Board (Western Australia)
AJHS Collections: Burials (Australia)
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry
International Jewish Cemetery Project
United Synagogue Find a Grave (England)
Edmonton and Rainham Cemetery Records (England)
Cemetery Scribes (England)
Western Charitable Foundation Cemeteries – Cheshunt, Edmonton, Streatham, Fulham (England)
Shanghai Lost Jewish Graves (China)
Newspapers
Trove (Australia) – includes Australian Jewish press
Historical Jewish Press (International) National Library of Israel
Papers Past (New Zealand)
Jewish Chronicle Archives (England)
EResources National Library of Australia (free library membership required for full access) – includes foreign and Australian newspapers up to present day
Vital Records: Births, Deaths & Marriage
WA Births Deaths and Marriages
AJHS Collections – Marriages (Australia)
NSW Births Deaths and Marriages
VIC Births Deaths and Marriages
Queensland Births Deaths and Marriages
Tasmania Births Deaths and Marriages (note that searching online is not available)
FreeBMD (UK)
GRO – free registration required (UK)
United Synagogue Marriage Authorisations (England)
New York City Historical Vital Records (many digitised and available for free)
Immigration
Western Australian State Records Office (predominantly pre-Federation immigration records) – records must be ordered in advance
National Archives of Australia – records must be ordered in advance (or can be ordered as digital files at a cost)
Poor Jews Temporary Shelter (England)
One Step Webpages Steve Morse (predominantly United States)
Open Archives (Netherlands, Belgium – including travel via Rotterdam)
Holocaust and Persecution
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Holocaust Reunion Project (free dna tests and assistance for survivors and their children)
Victims of Political Terror in the USSR
General Genealogy and Family Trees
Ancestry (paid service)
MyHeritage (paid service)
Familysearch (free with registration)
FindMyPast (UK focussed)
Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family (includes Jewish-specific and non-Jewish records)
DNA
Holocaust Reunion Project (free dna tests and assistance for survivors and their children)
No, You Don’t Really Have 7,900 4th Cousins: Some DNA Basics for Those With Ashkenazi Jewish Heritage Jennifer Mendelsohn
The SMARTTA Method of clustering Ashkenazi Jewish DNA matches Steve Toub
Social Media
Jewish Genealogy Portal Facebook
Tracing the Tribe Facebook
Jewish DNA for Genetic Genealogy and Family Research Facebook
Australian Jewish Genealogical Society – VIC Facebook
J-Roots forum (Russian language – use translation feature in your browser)
National/International Archives
National Archives of Australia
National Archives United Kingdom
Become a member of the Jewish Historical & Genealogical Society of WA
- Use our extensive resources library
- Receive guidance to research your own family history
- Get discounted access to our events
- Support us to preserve the history of Western Australian Jewry
- Meet others interested in Jewish genealogy and history
