The Mornington Peninsula extends southeast from Melbourne between the shores of Port Philip and Western Port Bays. Towns include:

Arthurs Seat, Balnarring, Balnarring Beach, Baxter, Bittern, Blairgowrie, Boneo, Cape Schanck, Crib Point, Dromana, Fingal, Flinders, Hastings, HMAS Cerberus, McCrae, Main Ridge, Merricks, Merricks Beach, Merricks North, Moorooduc, Mornington, Mount Eliza, Mount Martha, Point Nepean, Point Leo, Portsea, Red Hill, Red Hill South, Rosebud, Rosebud West, Rye, Safety Beach, Shoreham, Somers, Somerville, Sorrento, St Andrews Beach, Tootgarook, Tuerong, Tyabb.

As well as these areas, our focus of history not only includes a special interest in Frankston, but also extends a little north to include towns such as Cheltenham, Langwarrin, Skye and easterly across to Cranbourne, not forgetting French Island, Phillip Island and towns and villages around Western Port Bay. 

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society Inc. was established in 1979 with the aim of helping people to research their family history without having to travel into Melbourne too often for research. We have built up a comprehensive library filled with resources for tracing families both here in Australia and also overseas. As a service for people out of the area, we offer basic historical research on local families for an initial $20 Aust. (1-2 hours research), thereafter cost negotiable.

In the years since, the group has grown and now has over 280 members. We meet bi-monthly to listen to a wide range of interesting experts talk on various subjects akin to family research, and to offer help and encouragement both to newcomers to research and to those who have come up against the proverbial brick wall when, for example, great great grandfather seems to have left no clues at all of his life and times - and worse still - appears to have arrived in Australia from an unknown country on a flying carpet!

If you are new to family history, we run free "How to get started" classes several times a year when sufficient numbers are interested. We ask new members to leave their contact details at our library reception desk if they would like this help.