The Diocesan Archive and Records Management Service (DARMS) is a small team that works with Catholic parishes, agencies and communities  to protect and preserve records and the memory of the Catholic Diocese of Townsville over time.

The DARMS strategic priorities are:

1. To ensure information, records (archival and other) and materials of significance are protected as valued assets and managed according to their lifecycle.
2. To contribute to and support the capability and capacity across the Diocese to manage, use, reuse and share these assets.
3. To allow assets to be accessed, shared, used and reused as appropriate, to achieve good stewardship.

The  DARMS team is based at the Townsville Catholic Archive Centre in Wulguru, Townsville.

Archival Services

The Townsville Catholic Archive Centre holds records regarding the administration of the Diocese since its inception in 1930 and parish records going back to the earlier days when in the Rockhampton Diocese. It holds general material about Parishes and some Diocesan organisations and agencies. Some Baptismal and Confirmation Registers from the 1800s and more recently are held. More recent Baptismal and Confirmation, Marriage and Funeral registers are retained by individual parishes.

A large photographic collection is housed at the Townsville Catholic Archive Centre, as well as a considerable number of artifacts and museum items from the past.

Any enquiries regarding information from the Archives should be submitted in writing and any requests will be considered within legislative/regulatory requirements and time constraints. 

A small fee may be charged to locate and issue copies or records.

Diocesan Archives and Records Management Service

Townsville Archive Centre
276 Stuart Drive
Wulguru, 4811

Ph: 07 4729 1392
DARMS@tsv.catholic.org.au 

The Diocesan Timeline 1770 - 2021

The Diocesan Timeline is an ongoing research project on the history of the Catholic Church in north Queensland and, from 1930, of the Diocese of Townsville.

The research and documentation of this history was carried out by John White, an Archive volunteer since 1985.

Some primary sources have been used in this project but much of the information comes from secondary sources and it is possible that further information is available. If anyone has such information please contact the Diocesan Archive through archives@tsv.catholic.org.au and include your sources such as family documentation, newspapers, etc.

To search the Timeline simply open the time period you wish to search, if no search window appears then press 'Control (Ctrl) F' on your keyboard and a search window will appear in the top right corner of the screen, alternatvely if you are using a MAC then press 'Command F'. Now  type in the word you wish to search for and you will altermatically be taken to the first page it appears on in the Timeline. You can continue to scroll through the pages, all occurrances of your search will be highlighted on the page or click on the arrows that appear to the right of the seach window and these will also take you to all occurances of your search. Keep in mind that you may need to shorten your search eg. 'St Patrick's Church South Townsville' may need to be shortened to 'St Patrick's' because the complete name may not have appeared in the orginal news paper article.

# Timeline documents are best viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. A FREE version is available here.

International Archive Week

8-14 June 2020

As part of International Archive Week 2020, we would like to share some historical documents and memoirs that may never by formally published.

Memories of Fr Thomas O'Dwyer

Where would the Diocese have been without the contribution of the Irish clergy and religious who responded so generously to the Missionary call to a most remote area of a far flung land, Australia?

Fr Tom O’Dwyer’s personal reflections on his call to be a Missionary, his early travel experiences on the way to Australia eighty years ago, together with his lifelong service to almost every parish in the Diocese, will fill most readers with gratitude and joy.

Click here to download the document.