Who’s your mob? Getting started with First Nations family history
By Fiona Dixon, Librarian, Information and Client Services | 23 February 2026
Aboriginal children at Myora Mission Station, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, 1896; 30713 C. J. Pound Lantern Slides, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image number: 30713-0001-0003
If you’re keen to get started on exploring your First Nations family history, State Library of Queensland is a great place to begin.
Our online Who’s Your Mob? resources include videos and information guides that provide easy and engaging access to information on:
- Getting started
- Births, deaths and marriages
- Station, mission, police and church records
- Newspapers
- Photographs
- The Tindale Collection
- The Margaret Lawrie Collection
- Military records
- Extending your research
Page 24 of The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 27 October 1917, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image number: 702692-19171027-s0024
Who’s Your Mob? resources focus on collections held here at State Library, but we can also help connect you to collections of other organisations in Queensland and across Australia.
The Tindale and Margaret Lawrie Collections
State Library’s 2 main collections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family history are the Tindale Collection and the Margaret Lawrie Collection.
The Tindale Collection includes family trees recorded by anthropologist Norman Tindale when he visited Australian Aboriginal communities in 1938. State Library holds copies of these genealogies, as well as many photos, for the Queensland communities that Tindale visited. These communities are Bentinck Island, Cherbourg, Doomadgee, Mona Mona, Mornington Island, Palm Island, Woorabinda and Yarrabah. We also hold records for the northern New South Wales communities of Boggabilla and Woodenbong. Our Tindale Collection webpage introduces you to the collection and shows you how to search for names and request material.
Family at Barambah Aboriginal Settlement, 1911, Cherbourg, Queensland, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative number: 130674
The Margaret Lawrie Collection was donated to State Library in 1996 and is a valuable resource for people doing Torres Strait Islander family history research. Margaret Lawrie spent time in the Torres Strait between 1964 and 1973, recording family trees and collecting songs, drawings and artwork. Our Margaret Lawrie Collection webpage introduces this collection and shows you how to search for names and request material.
Watercolour ‘Dugong hunter’, artist Kala Waia, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image number: TR1791-342v000r001
The Who’s Your Mob? videos and guides acknowledge challenges that you may encounter when doing First Nations family history research, including some records that were not created or have been lost, different names and incorrect spelling, and material or language that can be distressing.
Our online guides will help you get started on your family history journey and open up other avenues to explore.
For any assistance with discovering your family history, you are welcome to visit us here at State Library or contact us through our Ask a Librarian service.
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