Family History Resources

Using resources from the Port Phillip Heritage Centre, learn about the history of family members who lived in South Melbourne, St Kilda, or Port Melbourne.

Search through extensive directories on microform at the Port Phillip Heritage Centre

Family portrait of the Renowden family, 1927 (Port Phillip City Collection PM2632)

The Port Phillip Local History Collection holds a significant range of reference materials useful for researching family history. Some of these are local newspapers, Council rate books and reports, electoral rolls, history books and directories. Using these and other resources, you can research family members who once lived in South Melbourne, St Kilda, and Port Melbourne.

Ancestry Library Edition

Ancestry Library Edition is a major resource for family historians and the library provides free access! The database gives access to billions of genealogy records from the Australia and overseas.

To help you started make an appointment with Port Phillip Heritage Centre staff.

Please note: Users must be on site at one of our library branches in order to access Ancestry via our Wi-Fi or public PCs. 

Browse Ancestry Library Edition

Books about Port Phillip

All titles are available at the Port Phillip Heritage Centre

First People: The Eastern Kulin of Melbourne, Port Phillip & Central Victoria by Gary Presland (2010)

Yalukit Willam: The River People of Port Phillip by Meyer Eidelson (2014)

The History of South Melbourne by Charles Daley (1940) book, ebook

South Melbourne: a History by Susan Priestley (1995)

The History of St Kilda 1840-1930 vol. I and The History of St Kilda 1840-1930 vol .II by John Butler Cooper (1931)

St Kilda: The Show Goes On vol. III by Anne Longmire (1989)

A History of Port Melbourne by Nancy U'Ren and Noel Turnbull (1983)

The Borough and its People: Port Melbourne 1839-1939 by Margaret and Graham Bride (2013)

Mrs Dorothy Dalzell and Family in St. Vincent Gardens, Albert Park, 1928 (Port Phillip City Collection SM2049)