Further Research

We welcome your enquiries and are happy to provide extra information if we have it to hand and have permission to share it, but we regret that we are unable to undertake any research beyond this (but see below).

As a guide for further research, we recommend  the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO) ‘Hints and Tips for Family History Research’ as well as its numerous online research guides.  Many colonial newspapers can also be searched via the National Library of Australia's TROVE site.

At the our first general meeting on 5 June 2008 guest speaker Joyce Purtscher gave a fascinating and entertaining presentation, Suffer Little Children, on the life children lived at the Queen's Orphan Schools in the 19th century. You can read her account here.

Joyce's research was originally published in the following publications:

• Applications for Queen's Orphanage Hobart Town 1858 - 1878 (compiled by Joyce Purtscher, New Town: Irene Schaffer, 1993);
• Children in Queen's Orphanage Hobart Town, 1828 - 1863 (compiled by Joyce Purtscher, New Town: Irene Schaffer, 1993),
• Infants at the Queen's Orphanage, Hobart Town, 1851 - 1863 (compiled by Joyce Purtscher Hobart: Van Diemen's Land & Norfolk Island Interest Group, 1993).

Researchers wishing to view all admissions to the Orphan Schools may find it useful to consult these publications, however it should be noted that many of these records have been revised.

We also offer for sale two booklets which provide detailed insights into the conditions under which orphans lived.

Tasmanian Family History Society Inc

The Friends of the Orphan Schools has a close association with the Tasmanian Family History Society Inc, including many common members. Members of the Hobart branch have free access to the Branch Library (located at the Old Post Office building at 19 Cambridge Road, Bellerive) and library assistants to assist with personal research. Non-members may make use of the Library and access the assistants for a small fee per visit. In addition, the Hobart Branch of THFS Inc has a Coordinator of Research and a team of assistants who undertake paid research for family historians and others seeking information about family connections in Tasmania and beyond but are unable to visit the Library.

The basic research fee is $20 per hour and non-members $25 per hour, plus costs related to printing documents and photographs, and postage. Access to this service may be made by contacting the Branch Secretary, PO Box 326, Rosny Park, Tasmania, 7018 or by email.

Read more about the origins of these records.