South African family history guides
Free, plain-language guides to the records South African families are found in – where they are kept, what is online, and how to read them.
- South African death notices and estate filesHow to find a South African death notice or estate file – the record that often names every child, including daughters' married names.Read the guide →
- Searching the South African National Archives (NAAIRS)How the National Archives catalogue (NAAIRS) works, what is happening to it, and how to get to records when the search is down.Read the guide →
- South African church registers (NG, NH and others)Finding baptisms, marriages and memberships in Dutch Reformed (NG), Hervormde (NH) and other South African church registers.Read the guide →
- South African birth, marriage and death recordsWhere to find South African civil birth, marriage and death records: FamilySearch collections, the archives and Home Affairs.Read the guide →
- Anglo-Boer War records: concentration camps and prisoners of warTracing family through the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902): the concentration camp database, prisoner-of-war lists and camp death records.Read the guide →
- Tracing 1820 Settler ancestorsHow to trace an 1820 Settler ancestor: settler parties and ships, volunteer databases, the Cory Library and the 1920 centenary records.Read the guide →
- South African gravestones and burials (eGGSA)Finding South African gravestones and burial records: eGGSA's free photographs, burial transcriptions and the GSSA gravestone index.Read the guide →
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