What is in the Archives

The ANU Archives Program preserves the university's own archives and collects archives of business, trade unions, professional associations and industry bodies, to support research by the University community and the general public.

You can get an idea if the Archives hold records relevant to your research by searching our database.

Photographs

You can see a small proportion of our photographs on the ANU Open Research website but we hold many more in our collections that have not been digitised.

Maps

The Archives holds a large collection of maps including mines and pastoral stations which are listed in a map catalogue held by the Archives.

Hotels

We hold an extensive collection of Tooth and Company records which provide information on most hotels in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Most of this information is from the 1920s to the 1970s with some from the late nineteenth century. You can search our interactive map for hotels about which we hold records.

Waterside workers/wharfies

We hold Waterside Workers Federation membership records for many people who worked on ports around Australia. To find an individual waterside worker's membership record send an email containing his full name, date of birth and which port he worked at to archives@anu.edu.au.

Seamen

We hold Seamen's Union membership records for many people who worked on ships based in Australian ports. To find an individual membership record we need to know the full name, date of birth and the port closest to where the person lived and the years they were active.

If you're looking for someone who was a seaman after 1922 you should consult the General Register of Seamen at the National Archives of Australia. This contains registration cards for each person serving in ships registered in Australia between 1922 and1963 (MP978/1-3).

Registration cards vary from the earlier years, but all will give a seamen's name and most include place and year of birth. Some cards include an address, certificate number, place and date of engagement including details of the ship and the capacity in which engaged, and the place and date of discharge. The information was compiled from the articles of agreement which were contracts of employment between masters and seamen.

Contact the National Archives of Australia at ref@naa.gov.au.

Pastoral stations

While we don't hold records of all pastoral stations we do have records of some from some. Pastoral station records can include managers' reports, correspondence, maps, financial records, wage records and ration books. Many stations for which we hold records are named in our list of holdings. Other stations may be mentioned in our card index which we can search for you. Please send the names of stations and the dates for which you are looking for information to archives@anu.edu.au and we will tell you if we hold any relevant records.

Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) in Fiji

If your ancestor was an Australian employed in Fiji by CSR we may have wage records. We would need you to tell us the person's name, where in Fiji they worked and the dates they were there in order to find them.  

Indentured labourers were recruited  from India under contract to the Government of Fiji: for lists of immigrants see General Register of Indian Immigration 1879-1919 and other similar series (Department of Immigration, Fiji , records held by the Western Pacific High Commission, microform copies held by the National Library of Australia).