These files often contain copies of wills, asset inventories, including household furniture and artworks, property valuations, statements, certificates and other documents - a priceless record of your ancestor at the end of his life.

An inventory of all assets of the deceased was compiled by the Stamp Duties Office for the purposes of calculating the death duty payable on the estate.

The file can contain wills; inventories of property, farm equipment or business, household furniture, and clothing; property valuations; statements from relatives, valuers and agents; birth, death and marriage certificates; and other documents - depending on the circumstances of the deceased.

I will search the indexes at State Records NSW, retrieve the file and make copies of all documents found.

Price is reduced if SRNSW reference supplied.

Copies up to 20 pages are included. If there are more pages than this extra will be charged before copies are posted.

I will search in the electoral rolls over a 10-year range for the name and place you nominate. Electoral rolls were not published every year so the closest alternative will be supplied if necessary.

Please state the name of the person, the area you expect the person to be living in, and the 10-year period you would like searched.

Price is reduced if a specific electoral division is supplied.
Electoral rolls began in NSW in 1843 with a considerable property entitlement, which was reduced in 1851 and again in 1856. A residential entitlement was introduced in 1858. In 1893 these entitlements were abolished, which meant that practically all men could vote.

Women were granted voting rights in 1902, the year in which Commonwealth voting was introduced following Federation. Non-British subjects were not allowed to vote until the 1940s and aborigines until 1949.

Electoral rolls and slowly being digitised by third-party suppliers. A digital image of the page in the electoral roll book will be supplied if it is available, or a photocopy if it is not.

Find out what land your ancestor owned, how much it cost, and when it was bought, sold and mortgaged.

If your ancestors owned property in New South Wales in the 1800s you can get a more detailed picture of their geographic movements and financial position over time.

The ownership of land has long been an indicator of wealth and status, and even of eligibility to vote until the mid-1800s. Land records show where the land was, what it was used for, who owned it before and who it passed to.

Records of land in NSW are held in the NSW Department of Lands in Sydney (previously the NSW Land Titles Office), although some have been moved to State Records NSW. Land research at the NSW Lands Department and State Records NSW is complex and time-consuming but well worth the effort.

If farming land was bought through Conditional Purchase the records will be at State Records NSW. Research into the associated correspondence can reveal the original application form, signed by your ancestor, and show the improvements he made to meet the conditions of the purchase.

The minimum research period is three (3) hours. Initial research will include a search of all relevant indexes at the Lands Department and a report of what was found with recommendations for further research.

You probably already have a copy of your ancestor/'s death certificate, which tells you where and how your ancestor died and who was left behind. Probate and Deceased Estate files can give you much more - what property did he/she have, who was to get what, and who was involved in the distribution process.

Probate is the process of deciding who is authorised to administer a will on behalf of the deceased. In the absence of a will letters of administration are issued for the same purpose.

A probate packet is all of the documents submitted to the Supreme Court to enable this decision to be made, and can include the original last will and testament and any codicils; asset inventories; affidavits of death, witnesses, and the executor, and sometimes the death certificate and death notices in the local newspaper.

Death duties were payable from 1880 to 1874. An inventory of all assets of the deceased was compiled for the purposes of calculating the death duty payable on the estate.

The file can contain wills; inventories of property, farm equipment or business, household furniture, and clothing; property valuations; statements from relatives, valuers and agents; birth, death and marriage certificates; and other documents - depending on the circumstances of the deceased.

The Western Sydney Records Centre at Kingswood has all existing probate packets up to about 1960; all existing deceased estate files to 1858; and all existing inquest files to 1963. Please note that not all files have survived, and file dates may be later, sometimes much later, than the date of death.

Price includes a search for Probate and Deceased Estate (also known as death duties) in NSW and copies of all files found will be supplied up to 40 pages. Additional costs will be charged if there are more pages.

Who did your ancestor mention in his will? What did he own and who did he leave it to? Who was involved in the probate process? The probate packet for your ancestor may contain the will, death certificate, asset inventory, affidavits from relatives and others, and other documents.

Probate is the process of deciding who is authorised to administer a will on behalf of the deceased. In the absence of a will letters of administration are issued for the same purpose.

A probate packet is all of the documents submitted to the Supreme Court to enable this decision to be made, and can include the original last will and testament and any codicils; asset inventories; affidavits of death, witnesses, and the executor, and sometimes the death certificate and death notices from the local newspaper. Not everyone who died has a probate file, but they are worth searching out as the file can be an unparalleled source of information about the financial affairs of the deceased.

I will search the probate indexes at State Records NSW, retrieve the probate packet and get copies made.

Price is reduced if you can supply the SRNSW series and reference number.

Copies will be supplied up to 20 pages; if the packet has more pages you will be notified of the extra charge before the copies are posted.

If there no probate file for your ancestor then a partial refund will be given.

For the person who has everything but knowledge about where he/she came from! Give the gift of personal family history research!

A voucher for a number of hours of professional research can make an unusual and much-appreciated gift. Whether a complete novice or an experienced researcher there is always more to learn about your family history.

The simple facts of birth, marriage and death can be complemented with the "meat" of family history - how our ancestors arrived, worked, lived, and died; what they owned, who their neighbours were, what they read in the local paper, and all the other details that turn names on a chart into real people.

You will receive a gift voucher that the recipient can redeem for the number of research hours selected. Research that leads to records outside of NSW will be negotiated before commencement.

If the recipient has already done some research then that must be examined first to avoid redoing it. Examination of previous research materials will be deducted from the total hours. Let a professional have a go at it!

Minimum 3 hours research, including analysis of previous materials. Postage and photocopies are extra and can't be determined until research is completed but may be deducted from the total if requested.

As a guide to what may be accomplished within a specific number of hours:

3 hours is usually enough to fully analyse a large amount of research and suggest next steps, or can start a new family tree with a couple of generations in a few branches within NSW (certificates may need to be purchased).

5 hours may allow analysis of previous research and some preliminary research, or start a new tree with a couple more generations in a few branches within NSW (certificates may need to be purchased).

10 hours can make a substantial start on a new family tree (certificates will almost certainly need to be purchased).

20 hours can build a small family tree, and perhaps create a CD or website containing the results. Certificates will almost certainly need to be purchased.

30 hours can build a small family tree and put some detail other than basic birth, death and marriage dates on some of the ancestors involved.

For the person who wants to research her family more thoroughly and can’t get to Western Sydney to find the records she needs. Records available include probate, deceased estate (or death duties), intestate estates, inquests, immigration, convicts, divorces, bankruptcies and insolvencies, Colonial Secretary's correspondence, land records related to primary applications and conditional purchases, and many others.

Two hours research including a maximum of 40 pages of photocopies from State Records NSW at Kingswood. If you can supply the references of the records you need I can spend more of the available time researching them.