Court Records

Melbourne New Law Courts
[Illustrated London News,
September 1 1877, p.204]

Main types of records:

• Wills and probate
• Divorces
• Criminal courts
• Civil courts
• Family courts
• Land records
• Coroner's court (inquest records)
• Adoptions and wardships
  
  Items available in State Library of WA collections:

  Divorce index Victoria 1861-1900 [microform] / Wendy Baker & Sue McBeth.
  Probate index Victoria 1841-1992 [microform].
  Inquest index Victoria 1840-1985 [electronic resource] / Marjory Knight.
  Victorian criminal sessions [microform] : VPRS 502 / indexed and supplied by Marion Button.
  Supreme Court, criminal sessions index, November 1850 - December 1865 [microform] / indexed and supplied by Marion Button.
  Registers of certificates of naturalization [microform] : volumes of enrolled certificates with index 1852 (Apr. 5)-1880 (Feb. 2) / Colony of Victoria, Supreme Court of the Colony of Victoria.
  Register of patents and (from 19 Feb. 1851) register of certificates of naturalization [microform] : volume of enrolled certificates with index, 1847 (Oct. 5)-1852 (Mar. 8) / Colony of New South Wales to 1851 then Colony of Victoria, Supreme Court of New South Wales, District of Port Phillip to 1852, then Surpeme Court of Colony of Victoria.
  Lands guide : a guide to finding records of crown land at Public Record Office Victoria [book]/ Phillippa Nelson and Lesley Alves ; with an introduction by Charles Fahey ; [edited by Sebastian Gurciullo & Kasia Zygmuntowicz].   

  Supreme Court Principal Registry  

  Responsible for the custody and safekeeping of court records. 

  Supreme Court of Victoria - Registry
  Level 2, 436 Lonsdale Street
  Melbourne VIC 3000
  Tel: 03 9603 9300
  Fax: 03 9603 9400

  Records no longer in use are transferred to the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV). 

  Although PROV may have custody of historical court records permission may have to be obtained from the Supreme Court to access certain records.

  Public Records Office of Victoria

  The Public Records Office of Victoria has responsibility for the custody and safekeeping of Court records that have been transferred to their care.  They are also responsible for making records available to clients subject to the restrictions put in place by the courts.

  Online Catalogue.  PROV's Digitised Records and Online Indexes

  Research Guides