Lighthouses and lightships are a popular subject for researchers and family historians. Below are some sources available in the museum library and elsewhere.
Books
General and British
The story of lighthouses and lightships
Olwen Reed. Loughborough, Eng.Wills & Hepworth, 1968.
387.155 REE
The story of our lighthouses and lightships: Descriptive and historical
W.H. Davenport Adams. London. Thomas Nelson, 1891.
627.922 ADA
Lighthouses: their architecture, history and archaeology
Douglas B. Hague et al. Llandysul. Gomer Press, 1975.
387.155 HAG
Lightships and lighthouses
Frederick A. Talbot. London. Heinemann, 1913.
623.8942 TAL
Australian
From dusk till dawn: A history of Australian lighthouses
Gordon Reid. Melbourne. Macmillan; in association with Department of Transport and Communications, 1988.
623.8942 FRO
Australian lighthouses
John Noble. Lane Cove, N.S.W. Nelson Doubleday, 1967.
623.89420994 NOB
Romance of Australian lighthouses
Valmai Phillips. Adelaide. Rigby, 1977.
623.89420994 PHI
Guiding lights: Tasmania's lighthouses and lighthousemen
Kathleen M. Stanley. Hobart. St David's Park Publishing, 1991.
Other items of interest in the library's collection can be found by searching the subject index of the catalogue under the term 'Lighthouses'.
Looking to buy books? Shop online at the museum store.
Guides to Collections of Material Held in Australia
The Australian lighthouse: An introductory guide to resources
Canberra: Department of Transport. Marine Operations Division, 1984.
623.89420994 AUS
Lighthouses in Australia: A guide to records held by the Australian Archives
Canberra: Australian Archives, 1991.
623.8942016 LIG
Provides plans, information on personnel records, lightship and lighthouse tenders and more. Fact sheets giving a guide to the holdings relating to lighthouses in Brisbane and Hobart can be found in the transport section of the National Archives Fact Sheets.
Note: Official records relating to lighthouses and lightships are split between State Archives and the Australian Archives as responsibility for lighthouses rested with the states until 1915 then became a Commonwealth responsibility. The states retained responsibility for harbour and river lights.
Admiralty list of lights and fog signals.
Taunton, Somerset: Hydrographer of the Navy.
Library holds current issue only.
REF 623.8942 ADM
This annual, multi-volume publication is the standard reference on the lighthouses of the world. It gives location and technical data on each and is divided geographically.
Plans and drawings
Designing lights: drawings for colonial lighthouses lX17-lX99 from the heritage collections of the Department of Transport
Ingrid Anderson et al. Sydney. Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter), 1986.
623.89420994 AND
Catalogue of technical drawings from the Department of Transport in Canberra. The collection is now available at the National Archives.
Online sources
The Lighthouses of Australia website is a useful portal that will direct you to more online information.
Read an article (pdf) about Beacons by the Sea touring exhibition from the National Archives and view featured drawings of lighthouses in its collection online.
Archives Organisations with Lighthouse-Related Records
Australian ArchivesState Records of New South Wales
Queensland State Archives
Public Record Office of South Australia
Archives Office of Tasmania LINC Tasmania
Public Record Office of Victoria
State Records Office of Western Australia
Northern Territory Archives Service
The National Library’s Trove is always a good place to locate resources relating to people places and events in Australian history. Here are the results of a Trove search for Australian content relating to Lighthouses.