New South Wales

A black-and-white photograph showing a large wedding party posed on the steps of a wooden house. The group includes men, women, and children dressed in formal Victorian attire. The women are in elaborate dresses, some holding small bouquets. The men wear suits, some with top hats, and a small boy peeks around a door frame to the left.

Album of photographs of Bushy Park, Tasmania, and Dandenong, Victoria, 1875, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139460187

Find out how to access and use BDM records to link generations and branches of your family.

Research guide

Black and white image of factories and other industrial buildings in a valley

William A. Bayley, The industrial valley of Lithgow looking west, Lithgow, New South Wales, 1939, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152895444

Bayley Collection

Books, booklets, pamphlets, leaflets and hundreds of photographs and postcards mainly relating to New South Wales country towns.

Collection guide

Harold Cazneaux's first camera, 1904, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141166704

Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953) was perhaps Australia's best-known photographer of the early twentieth century. He purchased this camera in 1904, shortly after moving from Adelaide to Sydney, and made photographs of Sydney's streets and waterways.

In 1909 he became the first Australian photographer to exhibit his works in a solo show.

Cazneaux was a master of the pictorialist style of photography, using soft focus to capture scenes that were - and remain - familiar to many Australians in a new light. He was able to find a timeless, extraordinary beauty in the everyday.

Cazneaux collection

A large collection of glass negatives, papers and photographs dating mostly from 1904 to 1940 depicting many aspects of Australian life and architecture.

Collection guide

A bold poster with stacked red text in different fonts reads: COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, REFERENDUM, 1916 (MILITARY SERVICE), POLLING: SATURDAY, 28th October, 1916, Commonwealth Electoral Rolls close Monday, 18th Sept., 1916 ARE YOU CORRECTLY ENROLLED for the Electoral Subdivision for which you are entitled to be enrolled? Qualified persons who fail to enrol are liable to a PENALTY OF TWO POUNDS. J. G. McLAREN, Commonwealth Electoral Officer for the State of New South Wales. Sydney, 5th September, 1916.

McLaren, J. G and Commonwealth Electoral Office (Australia) issuing body, Referendum, 1916 (military service) : are you correctly enrolled for the electoral subdivision for which you are entitled to be enrolled? Sydney, 1916, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-348412875

Electoral rolls research guide

Find out how to use electoral rolls to locate your family members or other peoples location or addresses over the years and who was living with them.

Research guide

black and white photo of old buildings with old cars in the street out the front

Fairfax Corporation, New South Wales State Parliament House with automobiles parked outside, Sydney, ca. 1930, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-162790401

Other states and territories legislation

The printed collections at the National Library contain substantial collections of older legislation in print, though these may not be complete sets.

Research guide

Wilson Collection

Drawings, sketches, plans and photographs of Australian colonial architecture, ancient buildings from China and Greece, furnature designs and sketches for a proposed "ideal city" of Kurrajong.

Collection guide

Rummery Collection

40 recordings of folk music, folklore and reminiscences from people in rural New South Wales recorded 1983-1988.

Collection guide

Scott Collection

Recordings of folk music, dance music, folklore and oral history from New South Wales and Queensland recorded during the period 1955-1990.

Collection guide

Plane Table Surveys Collection

182 original field sheets, representing 32 map sheets, dating from 1915 to 1936 including surveys carried out in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

Collection guide

Gilfillan Collection

Official records, reports, minutes and correspondence from the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority, Cooma Municipal Council and the Monaro County Council and around 750 Australian town and district maps.

Collection guide

McDonald Collection

Folklore performances and oral history interviews recorded between 1981 and 1989, containing music, recitations and recollections of performances and local history.

Collection guide

Parkhill Collection

Recordings of the music of various language, nationality or region-based communities in Melbourne, 1975-1983, plus oral history interviews with people who lived in the Illawarra region from the 1920s to 1990s, people involved with the 1989 Newcastle earthquake.

Collection guide

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