Catalogued Collection
The BRAC collection consists of original public records that form part of the broader Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) collection. It includes records from government agencies such as courts, hospitals, schools and councils. ​​​​
BRAC has put together a number of Guides to help you navigate this huge collection depending on your area of interest - property research, family research, Bendigo Health records, Court records, and more. If you're not sure where to start, try these Guides first:​
ORIGINAL PUBLIC RECORDS
The BRAC collection consists of original public records that form part of the broader Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) collection. It includes records from government agencies such as courts, hospitals, schools and councils.
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Most of the collection is available in physical form - hard copies of the records are available to view at the Reading Room upstairs in the Bendigo Library. These records can be searched and ordered through the PROV website HERE.
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PROV also has a FULL GUIDE to their online resources and indexes that may be relevant to researchers including inquests, wills, probate applications, children's ward registers, criminal files, divorces, teacher records, immigration data and more.
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You can find on the PROV site a listing of all the holdings at Bendigo HERE or use the Bendigo Reading Room-specific search function HERE.
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To make the collection more useful to researchers, some series have corresponding indexes available. These are noted below: * indicates a full online index, # for a partial online index, £ for an offline index. Details about and links to indexes can be found on this page.
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DIGITAL ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS
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Many of the collections at BRAC, or that are relevant to our North-West Victoria catchment area, have been digitised and are available to view online or on site.
ONLINE DIGITISED RECORDS AT PROV
BENDIGO HEALTH COLLECTION​
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Bendigo Receiving Ward Register of Patients 1874-1908 (VPRS 7493)*
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MUNICIPAL RATE & VALUATIONS BOOKS
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City of Greater Bendigo Area
City of Sandhurst-Bendigo Rate Books 1856-1930 (VPRS 16267) #
Borough of Eaglehawk Rate Books 1864-1930 (VPRS 16263) £
Shire of Marong Rate Books 1864-1929 (VPRS 16266)
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Gannawarra Shire Council Area
Shire of Cohuna Rate Books 1922-1932 (VPRS 7181)
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Loddon Shire Council Area
Municipal District of Inglewood Rate Books 1864 (VPRS 12571)
Shire of Gordon Rate Books 1926-1960 (VPRS 10541)
East Loddon Shire Rate Books 1865-1985 (VPRS 16552-3)
Korong Shire Rate Books 1867-1938 (VPRS 16554)
Campaspe Shire Council Area
Waranga Shire Rate Books 1870-1964 (VPRS 3988)​​​​
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OTHER MUNICIPAL RECORDS
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Municipal District of Inglewood Outward Letter Books 1861-1868 (VPRS 12572)​
East Loddon Shire Minute Books 1870-1995 (VPRS 16928)
Korong Shire Minute Books (VPRS 10168)​​​​​​​​​​​​
ONLINE INDEXES
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BENDIGO HEALTH COLLECTION​​​​​​​
Bendigo Receiving Ward Petty Sessions Registers 1942-1950 Index (VPRS 18842)​
Bendigo Receiving Ward Patient Records 1908-1941 Index (VPRS 18845)​
Bendigo Receiving Ward Register of Patients 1874-1908 Index (VPRS 7493)
Bendigo Benevolent Asylum Register of Inmates Index 1870-1941 (VPRS 18849)
Bendigo Benevolent Asylum Industrial School Index 1868-1885 (VPRS 18840)
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OTHER LOCAL INDEXES
Index to Inquest Deposition Witnesses (Gannawarra Shire) 1859-1937 (VPRS 24)
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MUNICIPAL RATE & VALUATIONS BOOKS​​​​
City of Sandhurst-Bendigo Rate Books 1856-1899 (VPRS 16267)
City of Bendigo 1915 Rate Book Index (VPRS 16267)
City of Bendigo 1925 Rate Book Index (VPRS 16267)
City of Bendigo 1935 Rate Book Index (VPRS 16267)
City of Bendigo 1945 Rate Book Index (VPRS 16267)
City of Bendigo 1955 Rate Book Index (VPRS 16267)
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OTHER MUNICIPAL RECORDS​​​
City of Bendigo Building Registers 1926-1969 Simple Index
City of Bendigo Permit Applications Index 1926-1969​​​
City of Sandhurst Inward Correspondence1855-1899 Index (VPRS 16936)
City of Sandhurst Petition Signatories Index (VPRS 16936)
For the time being, petitions can only be viewed in hard copy and at the Reading Room. Note the date of the petition in the signatories index above and order the City of Correspondence packet covering that date from the PROV Catalogue.​​
OTHER ONLINE DIGITISED RECORDS​
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Court of Petty Sessions Registers
Registers for the Courts listed below are available on Find My Past which can be accessed for free on Goldfields Library computers or when connected to library Wi-Fi, or from home with a Find My Past paid subscription.
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Bendigo (1858-1965), Eaglehawk (1858-1972), Castlemaine (1862-1958), Chewton (1858-1915), Heathcote (1888-1941), Huntly (1879-1915), Inglewood (1863-1888), Maldon (1862-1890), Newstead (1863-1890), Pyramid Hill (1885-1963), Raywood (1865-1938), Swan Hill (1862-1969), Tarnagulla (1860-1888) & Wedderburn (1859-1889).
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OFFLINE INDEXES​
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Bendigo Hospital & Asylum Records
This index is available through the Bendigo Family History Group by request or on site upstairs at the Bendigo Library on Wednesday and Saturday - visit HERE for more details.
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Borough of Eaglehawk Rate Books 1864-1899
This index is in the Library DataBase Search program on the Bendigo Library Family History Computer 1 (Upstairs).
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