This month we look at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the District Pioneer Registers.  If you have pioneer ancestors in this area would you know where to look?  Not all genealogy information is on the large membership sites like Ancestry.com, FindMyPast and familysearch.org.    Regardless of whether you are in Australia, New Zealand or worldwide, information is also held in State Libraries, Family History Societies and Local Historical Societies to name a few.

The ACT Heritage Library hold sets of District Pioneers Registers which include the following titles:-

• Queanbeyan pioneers: first study: pocket biographies of 112 pioneers
• Biographical Register of the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1921
• Historical Indexes of the Canberra/Queanbeyan district
• Pre 1860 pioneer register of Goulburn and district
• Early Days in the Braidwood District 1822-51
• Biographical register of Canberra and Queabeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930
• Monaro Pioneers Index

The Monaro Pioneers Index is also available online, you may need to register for an account to view the information.  The index is listed in alphabetical order, some have a summary of information, some list descendants and some have photo’s.

If you live in the area you can pop in to view the various registers and indexes at the ACT Heritage Library.  If you don’t live in the area and require assistance you can call on a professional genealogist or record agent.  AAGRA have members in most states, you can check our directory here.