Research your local history

Our libraries hold many resources to help you find out more about our city. We have three major local and family history collections at Camberwell, Hawthorn, and Kew libraries.

• Camberwell Library holds historic records for Camberwell, Ashburton, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Canterbury, Deepdene and parts of Glen Iris, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert. The Boroondara collection, collected since the formation of the City of Boroondara in 1994, is held at Camberwell Library.
• Hawthorn Library holds historic records for Hawthorn and Hawthorn East.
• Kew Library holds historic records for Kew and Kew East and has a large collection of published family histories.

If you need help with your research, our librarians at each of our libraries are happy to assist you, or you can use our online Ask a librarian form.

Key histories of the area

Our libraries hold many histories of the area. In addition to the key resources listed below, there are many more books on genealogy and family history in the collection, search for items on the shelf around the numbers 929.1 to 929.3.

• A sketch of Boroondara by James Bonwick
• City of Boroondara Thematic Environmental History
• History of Camberwell: 1841-1950 by J. A. Allen
• A history of Camberwell by Geoffrey Blainey
• Balwyn 1841-1941 by Donald Maclean
• A Balwyn Survey by Gwen McWilliam
• A history of Hawthorn by Victoria Peel
• Hawthorn Peppercorns by Gwen McWilliam
• Hawthorn streets index: a brief history of the streets of Hawthorn by Gwen McWilliam
• The jubilee history of Kew, Victoria: its origin & progress by F. G. A. Barnard
• Kew's Civic Century by W. D. Vaughan
• Vaughan's Kew: index to W. D. Vaughan's Kew's civic century
• A history of Kew by Dorothy Rogers

Heritage studies

Heritage studies are very useful for researching local, family, and house history. They contain information about the development of an area, a survey of streets and descriptions of estates and significant buildings.

Broad heritage studies completed for the former cities of Camberwell, Hawthorn, and Kew in the late 1980s and early 1990s include:

• Camberwell conservation study 1991 by Graeme Butler and Chris McConville
• Hawthorn heritage study 1993 and Appendices Part 1 and Appendices Part 2 by Meredith Gould
• Hawthorn Heritage study: volume 2. Place identification forms by Meredith Gould
• Kew urban conservation study by Pru Sanderson

Full text versions and other, more recent heritage studies are available on our Completed heritage studies page.

Online resources

Alongside the online resources available on our Local history and demographics page, the following online resources can be very useful when researching your local, family, and house history.

Public Record Office Victoria (PROV)

Holds many records including Council rate books, field books used by Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) staff, land records and wills and probate records for occupants of your house. Visit the Public Record Office Victoria website.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Has information about land titles, property data, valuations, land surveying and naming places in Victoria. Visit the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning website.

State Library of Victoria (SLV)

Holds many useful records such as parish maps, architectural plans, auction plans and notices, early newspapers and magazines, and a picture catalogue of photographs, prints, drawings and digital images. Visit the State Library of Victoria website.

Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Promotes and preserves the history of Victoria. Visit the Royal Historical Society of Victoria website.

Trove

The discovery platform of the National Library of Australia holds many useful images of Australia, including the local area - past and present. Also, it provides access to digitised newspapers, journals, books, maps, diaries, letters and archives. Visit the Trove website.