Hi Ian If you live in Sydney you can see these entries by looking at the Archives Kit films at no cost at several libraries. The reference numbers, eg, 34A, will enable you to find the particular film to check. If you cant access the films because of where you live, then your local public library may be able to get the films on interlibrary loan. Also the purpose of the Archives Kit was to make films available to anyone, and therefore you could find the reels in a library near you. When the Registrar General's staff obtained access to these registers many years ago, they created the number sequence that has resulted in the reference numbers on the online index. The difference is caused by post1856 being administered by the public service and pre1856 by the various churches, ie, they were not organised by district, but, in a way, by church denomination. Not everything can be solved by the internet. cheers Grahame On 23/05/2011, at 9:33 PM, Ian Nicholls wrote: > Hi Grahame and Listers, > Thanks for your reply. I was using the > term pre 1856 index to distinguish entries for birth/death that do not show > a district in the online NSWBirthDeath indexes, whereas the post 1856 > entries do show a district, for birth, deaths and marriages. > I've looked at the State Records site and I must admit I'm none the > wiser, except to say the numbers, e.g., 34A may refer to the books > containing the records. > My basic problem is, I'm looking for a birth pre 1856 and I know the > general area in NSW where it occurred, but I can't use the online NSWBirth > index to eliminate people with the same names but are most probably from the > wrong area. > This is a great pity, because the pre 1856 marriage indexes do show a > church or a district. > Best regards.....Ian. >