Papua New Guinea Colonial Records

Papua New Guinea Wiki Topics

Papua New Guinea Beginning Research

Getting Started Online Learning Record Finder Research Strategies Finding Town of Origin

Record Types

Business & Occupations Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Compiled Genealogies Emigration & Immigration Land & Property Online Genealogy Records Religious Records Vital Records Voting Records

Papua New Guinea Background

For Further Reading Gazetteers History Languages Maps Naming Customs Periodicals Social Life & Customs

Local Research Resources

Archives & Libraries Societies Local FamilySearch Center

In other languages: Tok Pisin | English

Papua New Guinea

Colonial Records

• Colonial period administrations of Papua New Guinea

British Colonization (1884-1906)

In 1883, the Colony of Queensland tried to annex the southern half of eastern New Guinea, but the British government did not approve. However, when Germany began settlements in the north a British protectorate was proclaimed in 1884 over the southern coast of New Guinea and its adjacent islands. Following the passage of the Papua Act in 1905, British New Guinea became the Territory of Papua, and formal Australian administration began in 1906

Record collection	Years covered	Record type	Language	Who is in the records

German Colonization (1884-1914)

In 1884, the German Empire formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and put its administration in the hands of a chartered trading company formed for the purpose. In the charter granted to this company by the German Imperial Government in May 1885, it was given the power to exercise sovereign rights over the territory and other "unoccupied" lands in the name of the government. In 1914 when the First World War broke out Australia seized the German colony. The Commonwealth of Australia assumed a mandate from the League of Nations for governing the former German territory of New Guinea in 1920.

Record collection	Years covered	Record type	Language	Who is in the records

Australian Territory (1906-1975)

British New Guinea became the Territory of Papua, and formal Australian administration began in 1906. Papua remained under their control as a British possession until the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975

Record collection	Years covered	Record type	Language	Who is in the records