Illawarra History - including Mt Kembla Disaster: Illawarra History

Tips and links for finding information about Illawarra history in general:

1. Local history websites, books & journals

2. Other books

3. Recent newspaper articles

4. Older newspaper articles

5. Journal articles

6. Biographical information

Websites

• Historical Profiles of Illawarra Suburbs - Wollongong City Library
• Illawarra Migration Heritage Project
• Illawarra Historical Society & Illawarra Museum
• An Unofficial History of Coal Mining in the Illawarra - Illawarra Coal
• Local history articles by historian Michael Organ
• Looking Back: local history articles - by historian Mick Roberts (also see articles on the Bulli Times)
• Timeless Wollongong: articles - by historian Carol Herben
• Heritage: Tales from the Illawarra - by Illawarra Mercury history columnist Michele Hoctor
• Illawarra Heritage Trail - a knowledge resource which seeks to recognise, honour and make more widely known the rich industrial history of the Illawarra region of New South Wales.
• Illawarra Remembers 1914-1918 - WW1 memories compiled by Wollongong City Library
• History of the Old Courthouse Wollongong - Illawarra Shoalhaven Branch National Trust
• Virtual Museum of Italian Migration in the Illawarra
• Lost Wollongong - community heritage sharing forum

Illawarra entries can also be found in:

• Online Local Heritage Database - Heritage Office of NSW
• Australian Heritage Database - Federal Department of the Environment
• Geographical Names Register - Geographical Names Board of NSW
• Historical Parish and Town Maps - NSW Department of Lands
• Archives Investigator - State Records NSW. But first check their Local History Research guide
• Register of War Memorials in NSW
• Monument Australia - includes details of monuments and memorials

Books

• A History of Wollongong by Jim Hagan and Andrew Wells
• A History of Work and Community in Wollongong edited by Jim Hagan and Henry Lee
• Growing up in the Illawarra: A Social History 1834-1984 by Winifred Mitchell and Geoffrey Sherington
• Faith of Steel by Stuart Piggin
• Tales from our Streets: A Photographic History of Illawarra by Anne Wood
• More Tales from our Streets: Images and Stories of Illawarra History by Anne Wood
• Wollongong: A Pictorial History by Alison Gibbs and Catherine Warne
• Twentieth Century Architecture in Wollongong by Robert Irving
• A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850 by Michael Organ - also available online
• Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1900 by Michael Organ - also available online
• A History of Aboriginal People of the Illawarra - also available online
• The History of Illawarra and its Pioneers by Frank McCaffrey - also available online
• A Thematic History of the City of Wollongong by Terry Kass
• The Illawarra Historical Society has also published a wide range of local history books. Many fulltext IHS titles are available on Research Online

Journals

• Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin - NEW in 2015! fulltext IHS Bulletin feature articles available on Research Online and also via Illawarra Index database
• Illawarra Unity: Journal of the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for Labour History - fulltext Unity articles available on Research Online database

Try Subject Keyword searches in UOW Library's Classic Catalogue such as:

• (wollongong OR illawarra) AND histor*
• (wollongong OR illawarra) AND social

Still can't find much?

• Find books on your broader subject area and look for mention of local places/events/people in the tables of contents and indexes
• Look through books' bibliographies and references for mention of other useful sources
• Try other local libraries' catalogues like Wollongong City Library, Shellharbour Public Library and Kiama Public Library

Try these newspaper databases for recent articles from the Illawarra Mercury and Sydney Morning Herald etc:

Try these databases. Some older newspapers are available online but not all! So if you can't find what you need try our other search tips in the Historical Newspapers guide.

Try these Australian databases first to search for academic articles written about the Illawarra:

Finding historical biographical information about specific people can often be difficult.

Are they prominent individuals in Illawarra's history?

If they are significant or well known (eg. local politicians, prominent land-owners) try:

• Trove
• Biographies guide - lists sources and search tips for Australian biographies

Otherwise:

Local Births, Deaths & Marriages records can be very helpful:

• NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages - how to trace individual records
• State Records NSW - how to trace family histories and also Resources for Historians
• Wollongong City Library - Family History - links and resources
• Illawarra Family History Group - their resource collection is held at Wollongong City Library
• Shoalhaven Family History Society

Other websites with genealogical information relating to the Illawarra:

• Find A Grave - includes entries for some local cemeteries
• Ryerson Index - death notices in newspapers. Especially useful for Sydney Morning Herald entries
• Register of War Memorials in NSW - includes details of local memorials
• Monument Australia - includes details of local monuments and memorials

Contact local libraries history collections to ask what types of hardcopy and unpublished genealogical related records they hold:

• Wollongong City Local Studies Library
• Shellharbour Public Library
• Kiama Public Library/Family History Centre