Australian Capital Territory, Australia Genealogy

Australia 

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The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was envisioned by s 125 of the Australian Constitution as the seat of government for the Commonwealth of Australia. It contains only one city, Canberra, the national capital. The site of the territory was chosen by parliamentary commissioners and control of the land formally passed from New South Wales to the Commonwealth in 1911. The traditional custodians of the land are the Ngunnawal people,

Early History of the Australian Capital Territory
Canberra, the capital city of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Australia, is Ngunnawal country. The Ngunnawal are the indigenous people of this region and its first inhabitants. The neighbouring people are the Gundungurra to the north, the Ngarigo to the south, the Yuin on the coast, and the Wiradjuri inland. It is a harsh climate and difficult country for hunter-gatherer people. To live here required great knowledge of the environment, skilful custodianship of it and close cooperation.

First European Settlement
The first European settlement of the area, later known as the Limestone Plains (or ‘Manarro’, as it was called by local Aboriginal people), occurred when Joshua John Moore established a station at what is now Acton (site of the National Museum of Australia) in 1823. When he sought to purchase the land in December 1826, he referred to the location as ‘Canbery’, a name later used with various spellings for all the surrounding areas.

The local Aboriginal people were referred to by early white writers as the ‘Kamberra’, ‘Kghambury’, ‘Nganbra’ and ‘Gnabra’, all of which share some resemblance to ‘Canberra’ - the name of the capital announced at the Foundation Stone Ceremony by Lady Denman on 12 March 1913. There is little doubt that ‘Canberra’ is an anglicised version of the Aboriginal words, which is said to mean ‘meeting place’.

Siting and Naming of Canberra
In the first day of January 1901, the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania joined together in a new Commonwealth of Australia. Both before and after Federation, there was much public bickering about what and where a federal territory and Seat of Government should be. The Constitution said that the Parliament must choose a site at least one hundred miles (160km) from Sydney and that the Parliament would sit in Melbourne until a new parliament house was built in the new capital. More details about the history and development of Canberra and the ACT are found at the National Capital website.

Jurisdictions
The land currently forming the Australian Capital Territory was originally part of the State of New South Wales. On 1 January 1911, the Federal Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales to the Commonwealth of Australia and in 1938 this was renamed the Australian Capital Territory. In 1915, further territory was surrendered by New South Wales on the coast at Jervis Bay which became the Jervis Bay Territory of the Commonwealth as a port for the Australian Capital Territory and it was administered from Canberra as part of the Federal Capital Territory. The Australian Capital Territory was granted a form of self-government on 6 December 1988.

The New South Wales town of Queanbeyan lies close to the Australian Capital Territory and a significant number of people who work or study in the ACT live there. If you are unable to find a record of a person with a known connection to Canberra, you may find them in New South Wales records with a Quenbeyan address.

Getting started with Australian Capital Territory research
Numerous articles are available on FamilySearch Wiki to help you get started in family history. This portal will provide links to articles about general research topics.

Principles of Family History Research


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Resources and Websites

 * Looking 4 Kin Genealogy &amp; Family History Network - Australia Capital Territory

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