Find your ancestors in Society of Australian Genealogists

Society of Australian Genealogists

The Society of Australian Genealogists was formed in 1932 and has been helping people trace their family histories for over 75 years. It has one of the largest private genealogical and historical reference collections in the world, with records covering all of Australia and overseas, especially the UK and Ireland.

Website

The best way to learn about our resources, activities and services is to visit www.sag.org.au

Collections

The society's main research library is at 2/379 Kent Street Sydney and is open four days per week. All our most utilized book, pamphlet, periodical, fiche and film collections are held in this building together with all of our electronic resources. Within the library we provide members with access to the websites of many of the major online data providers. Our library catalogue will be found at on our website.

Our Manuscript & Image Collection (Primary Records) is located at Richmond Villa, 120 Kent Street Sydney and is available for viewing by prior arrangement two days per week. This is a wonderful resource of unpublished material, much of it being the results of personal research undertaken by members on their own family histories. It includes more than 40,000 files of manuscripts, photographs, maps and plans, diaries, scrapbooks, family trees and letters.

Activities

We run lectures, seminars and workshops on Australian and overseas topics. These include beginners' courses, English, Irish and South Asian research groups, as well as regular sessions on genealogy software and the internet. The education program is available through the events calendar on our website and is mailed to members quarterly. Non-members can attend most activities for an additional fee.

Publications

Our quarterly journal, Descent, is issued to all members. In addition, our monthly electronic newsletter SAG-e is available to both members and non-members and is a great way to keep in touch with what is happening both within the society and in the wider genealogical world. You can subscribe to the latter through the website.

Membership

Joining the society gives personal access to our specialist collections as well as our quarterly journal. Members also receive discounts on education activities and some SAG merchandise, as well as enjoying reciprocal visiting rights with some other genealogical societies in both Australia and New Zealand. A free research service is available to financial members who live outside of the greater Sydney region.

Shop and online store

Our bookshop is at 2/379 Kent Street and is open during library hours. It stocks a wide range of genealogical books and charts, computer software and CDROMs. An online shop is available through our website and payment can be made via secure server.