Victorian Genealogy
Finding People and Places in Victoria, Australia.
Historic aerial photography allows researchers to view a landscape, town or even a building from the air, as it was at a particular point in time.
Local councils also hold aerial photographs. See Local Government.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Public Record Office Victoria has numerous collections of aerial photographs. They may be searched through the catalogue.
STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
The State Library of Victoria has digitized aerial photographs. The first series of photographs are part of the State Aerial Survey that was produced by the Department of Crown Lands and Survey between 1945 and 1965. They cover mostly regional Victoria from Albury to Willaura. The second series were published by the Department of Crown Lands and Survey and other government agencies from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s. They cover most of metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. The following blog describes how to access the digitized aerial photographs.
https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/news/550-aerial-photographs-go-online/
LANDATA - HISTORIC AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 1930S TO 1990s
To assist with mapping Victoria, aerial photography was undertaken about once a decade in many areas from the 1930s to 1992. These images provide a online resource of representative coverage for use in assessing occupation, land use, environmental assessment and the pleasure of seeing your property back in the twentieth century. Historic aerial photographs may be viewed and purchased online. They may be found under Central Plan Office.
https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/
VICTORIAN STATE GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE ACTION - HISTORICAL PHOTO-MAPS
These aerial photographs provide a snapshot of what Victoria was like in the late 1940s to late 1950s.
https://mapshare.vic.gov.au/webmap/historical-photomaps/
MELBOURNE 1945 AND RECENT TIMES
Compare Melbourne in 1945 to modern Melbourne with this simple interface.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
The major aerial photographic collections held by the National Archives of Australia are listed in Fact Sheet 191 below. Additional photographs may be identified by conducting a phrase search in RecordSearch using the term aerial photo*.
https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-191-aerial-photographs.pdf
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
The National Library of Australia holds a national series of imagery of Australia, collected between 1928 and 1988. All Australian states and major regions are represented in the collection, although the degree of representation is variable.
https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/aerial-photographs
GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Geoscience Australia (GA) has developed the Historical Aerial Photography (HAP) collection in an online data delivery system. This application can be used to search and download the Commonwealth HAP collection for free. While the whole collection is not scanned, periodically GA will be adding new photography.
https://aerialphotography-geoscience-au.hub.arcgis.com/
UNITED PHOTO AND GRAPHICS
United Photo and Graphics are the sole service provider to the Australian Federal Government for aerial photography and film archival services on behalf of Geoscience Australia. As a licensed reseller, United Photo & Graphics distributes Australian Government Aerial Photography images and does scanning of historical aerial photography by order. United Photo has access to Australian Government and private historical photography and imagery. It holds aerial photography dating from 1930.
https://www.unitedphoto.com.au/
GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA - DIGITAL EARTH AUSTRALIA
Satellite imaging to inform Australia.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT - THE COPERNICUS AUSTRALASIA REGIONAL DATA HUB
The Copernicus Australasia Regional Data Hub, in support of the Eurpean Copernicus Programme, provides free, open, trusted and reliable access to Sentinel satellite data for Australasia, South-East Asia, the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Australian Antarctic Territory.https://www.copernicus.gov.au/
GOOGLE EARTH
This is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles.
Individual properties can be seen by putting property addresses into the search engine Google and clicking on the map. Clicking on the satellite image on the resultant map will bring up an image of the property.
If you have questions or problems with this site, email the Web Administrator.