New Zealand research info.
As with all research, work the generations back from yourself, linking each person through documentation where possible.
Start with family papers and family stories. Write, and if you can, record older family members. Oral tradition is a valuable source of information but while family stories and traditions can be a useful source of information, you should try and confirm the veracity of the stories through reference to official records or other independent sources. Family papers and photographs are the foundation on which to build your research.
Having gathered information from family sources, the next step is to locate public documents. These may include birth, marriage or death certificates and other related information.
Wills, newspaper obituaries, local histories, pension and military records are all potential sources of information that can help provide information. This information is also of value in itself of course, insofar as it can give background and colour to your ancestor.
If your ancestor was in any way famous or in public life, checking out the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography might turn up a nugget. Likewise the New Zealand Memories magazine genealogy list search (you'll still have to buy the magazine, around $NZ15).
National Archives Directory of Archives in New Zealand (a PDF file) provides extensive listings of the types of holdings at repositories throughout New Zealand.
Search Archives New Zealand for your ancestor's name. This will show immigration, wills/probates, divorces, military, business/company and other listings.
NOTE: New Zealand does not have any census archives but this is going to change. You may have noticed that the 2006 census contained a check-box asking if people were happy to have their data available for historians of the future.
Library holdings
By exploring the New Zealand and local history sections of your local library you will find much useful reference material. A library or museum may hold surname indexes to some of their collections and references may be found under Biographies, Early settlers, Passenger shipping arrivals, or Obituaries.
Geography books, maps and history books give a good insight into the locality and happenings of the time you are interested in. School, church and district histories (particularly jubilee books) give detailed histories and usually contain many names of the people in the area.
Hutt City Libraries local and family history collections "...are a truly unique resource. Our local and family history collections are available to all residents and local visitors to browse. They are often used extensively by school and tertiary students as well as historical and genealogical researchers. Containing over 15,000 items they provide a record of all aspects of life and society and the natural and human environments of the area now known as Hutt City.
Historical newspaper collections, photographs, historical maps, plans and charts
Community newsletters, local history and Hutt publications
Local directories, telephone books and electoral rolls
Local government reports and plans
Local school magazines
Genealogical resources..."
Photographs are a great way of increasing your knowledge of an ancestor. Libraries and museums may hold collections of photographs; these can include people, schools, churches, localities, shops and businesses etc.
The National Library’s Timeframes site has some wonderful photos.
Arriving in New Zealand
Since the late 1830s there has been a steady flow of immigrants to our country. Ask your family members if anyone knows the name of the ship/s your ancestors came on to New Zealand. A family diary of the journey may reveal the date of arrival and the port they sailed to. Sometimes a child born on the voyage was given the name of the ship as a first or middle name and this can be a clue to help your research.
Denise & Peter’s Our Stuff searchable website holds transcripts of many shipping passenger lists into New Zealand, along with a lot of other information.
Corey Woodward’s New Zealand Yesteryears site holds transcripts of several shipboard diaries.
Assisted immigrants had part or all of their fare paid for by provincial or national government. The passenger lists for ships carrying assisted immigrants who arrived before 1886 are held at Archives New Zealand in Wellington and have been indexed. Newspapers may give names and sometimes ages of passengers that paid their own passage. An inquiry at a local museum or library near the port of arrival may reveal a passenger list. The New Zealand Company recorded immigrants arriving under government assistance from 1839 to 1850. Provincial governments provided assisted passage throughout the period 1853 to 1870. Government assistance under the Vogel Scheme covered the period 1870 to 1888. From 1883 to 1973 the Department of Customs, Department of Labour or Department of Immigration have kept lists of all passengers arriving and departing. These records are held at Archives New Zealand offices.
NOTE: There is no national index of passengers for New Zealand.
The Petone Settlers’ Museum has a searchable database of early immigrants. If the immigrants came out under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, the site gives the allocated company number.
If an ancestor was not born or naturalised in a British Commonwealth country before immigrating to New Zealand, Archives New Zealand may have records containing said ancestor’s place of birth and date of arrival. These records generally comprise those covering naturalisation procedures 1847 to 1948 and the ‘control of aliens’ 1866 to 1970.
Directories & electoral rolls
Many libraries hold collections in the manner of books and microfiche of Wise’s New Zealand Post Office directories that provide alphabetical lists of householders, their occupations and addresses, including a trades section. Other publications include Cleave’s Auckland directories and Stone’s Wellington, Canterbury and Otago directories.
Electoral rolls are used to confirm names, addresses and occupations of people. Electoral boundaries change, so refer to Alan McRobie’s New Zealand Electoral Atlas to identify the electorate.
The New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) produces a CD of the combined electoral rolls for 1881, 1893 and 1896 and 1911 New Zealand electoral rolls. These are also available on the commercial Ancestry site for New Zealand and Australia and go up to 1981.
Civil Registration
The registration of ‘European’ births and deaths began in 1848 and marriages in 1856. The registration of separate Māori births, deaths and marriages commenced in 1911.
Births, deaths and civil marriages are registered at a district registry office and a copy of each entry sent to the Registrar-General’s Office (RGO). Marriages performed by a civil celebrant are registered at the district registry office where the marriage licence application was made, whilst marriages performed by a minister of religion are entered in the church marriage register. A copy of each marriage register entry, whether civil or religious, is forwarded to the Registrar-General’s Office. Birth and death entries from 1876 and marriage entries from 1880 contain more information than entries recorded before these dates.
The Māori and ‘European’ marriage registration systems were combined in 1952 and the birth and death systems in 1961.
Certificates
Information from NZBDM
The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 1995 allows the Register-General to make historical information available. Historical records are defined as:
Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
Marriages that occurred at least 80 years ago
Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
The records available are added to daily.
There will always be more information on a printout than can be included on a certificate. Unless you need a certificate for legal purposes, you will have more information to assist you with further research if you order a printout. The information collected prior to 1875 is very scant.
Parental information for brides and grooms was only collected after 1882, or in some instances late 1881, so a marriage certificate before this will not show parents of the couple.
Certificates can be sent by either email or post. Regardless of which, it will take up to eight working days for your order to be issued.
You’ll likely have your own birth certificate and maybe certificates of other family members but it is important to remember that a certified copy of an entry (certificate) does not contain all the information recorded in the register.
You can apply for an electronic printout from the Registrar-General by post. If you really want to obtain a certified copy of an entry, to gain the most information you must ask for a full certificate so that you do not receive the shortened version (usually used when you are required to verify your date of birth).
Electronic printouts are available for births 1848 to 1997, marriages 1854 to 1997 and deaths 1848 to 1997 and can give more information than a certified copy of a certificate. Send your request to:
Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages
PO Box 10526
Wellington 6015
Use the website to download an application form and check current prices.
NOTE: Be aware of the possibility that not all information recorded will be accurate as the informant may have given the wrong information or the recorder may have incorrectly written down names or details.
Copies of the Registrar-General’s indexes to birth, death and marriage registers are available in the larger public libraries and family history centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The later indexes may be accessed on a computer database. When you apply to the registrar, it is a requirement that you supply sufficient information to identify your request. You need to supply the full name of either the bride or groom if a marriage, the year, and reference number from the indexes.
Indexes to the birth and death registers contain a surname, forename/s and folio number. From 1956 a district of registration is included and from 1960 the death indexes contain the age of the deceased. The location of the district office where a birth or death was registered can be determined from the folio number. See District Keys to the NZ Registration Indexes, 1848-1920 by Mary Neill, Meryl Lowrie & Aileen Wood (NZSG Auckland, 1990), and District Keys to the NZ Registration Indexes, 1921-1955 (NZSG Auckland, 1997).
For access to records not indexed on microfiche and entries in the Māori registers, you need to supply the following information:
Births: Full name, date and place of birth, parents’ full names.
Marriages: Full names of the bride and groom, date and place of the event.
Deaths: Full name, date and place of death, parents’ names if known.
The birth, death & marriage (BDM) indexes can be searched on-line.
‘Intention to Marry’ Notices
When a couple intended to marry, one partner was required to complete an ‘Intention to Marry’ Notice for the district registrar. At the end of each quarter of the year a return of these notices was sent to the Registrar-General. The reason these returns are useful is because they contain information not recorded in the marriage entry such as the length of residence for both bride and groom. This refers to residence in the district but it may also be a guide to length of time in the country. The name of the parent or guardian who gave consent is also included where the bride or groom are under twenty-one years of age and this can be of value especially for pre-1880 marriages where certificates hold less information. Archives New Zealand holds these returns from 1856 to 1956. Although the major collection is held at Archives New Zealand in Wellington, the returns for Gisborne are held at the Auckland office of Archives New Zealand. The Christchurch office holds some records for Cust, Rangiora, Timaru and Waimangora but that these are not indexed. The ‘Intention to Marry’ Notices held at Archives New Zealand in Wellington have been card-indexed under both the groom’s name and bride’s maiden name. From 1880 to 1920, the ‘Intention to Marry’ Notices can be accessed providing the date of marriage is known.
Intention to Marry notices can be ordered on-line via Archives New Zealand for around $7 (as at 2011).
The New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) has produced a CD of all marriages 1856 to 1956 with the spouses’ names matched; this is a great help in finding that elusive maiden name.
For a list of what the NZSG offers, see their website.
Divorce Records
Archives New Zealand holds records of divorces that have been transferred from a high court. Access is at the discretion of the Crown Court Office and the relevant high court for the national register and case files respectively, however the registers from individual courts are not restricted.
School Records
School admission registers are a valuable source of information as they can list the age or date of birth, full name, parent/guardian’s name and address, previous school attended, child’s class at the time of enrolment and expected destination of a child leaving the school. Inspectors’ reports, class lists and education board records hold less detailed information but may be the only surviving record. Many have been deposited at Archives New Zealand offices in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch or the Hocken Library in Dunedin. The Auckland office of Archives New Zealand has a collection of material from native (Māori) schools. School magazines and jubilee booklets may contain useful information about pupils, teachers, the school and its locality; these should be available in libraries and museums.
Newspapers
By consulting the Union List of Newspapers Preserved in Libraries, Newspaper Offices, Local Authority Offices and Museums in New Zealand by D R Harvey, you will discover the newspapers that cover the time period you are interested in and their present location.
Larger public libraries have copies or microfilms of newspapers dating back to the early days of settlement. Birth, death and marriage notices, obituaries and wedding reports are always well worth consulting. They may contain family information you do not know.
Many of these early newspapers are freely available to search or browse on the National Library’s PapersPast website.
Church records
Before civil registration, information may be obtained from baptismal, marriage and burial registers compiled by officers of the church. Addresses, fathers’ occupations and actual dates of birth are often recorded on baptismal entries. Many parish registers have been transcribed. Consult the catalogue at your local library to see if a transcription is held there.
Older registers may have been transferred to Diocesan archives. A letter to the church office of the parish may reveal where the registers are located for the particular time period sought.
Church histories or jubilee booklets may have been written about the church and these can prove very useful in learning about the church and its congregation.
The Presbyterian Church has archive transcriptions on-line.
Occupations
The occupation/s of an ancestor can be found in the many records available. Early licences were recorded in provincial gazettes and Archives New Zealand holds records for licensed trades such as publicans’ licences and mining licence applications. The archives from the Companies Office and the Official Assignees Office may be useful in tracing the business affairs of family members. Public servants are well recorded in Archives New Zealand and invariably will also be found in the New Zealand Gazette and the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives (AJHR), the latter of which can be searched on-line.
Military Records
Records of the militia, Royal New Zealand Fencibles, British regiments stationed in New Zealand in the 1800s, volunteer corps, and the armed constabulary are held at Archives New Zealand and are a useful source of information.
Embarkation rolls for the South African (Boer) War, and first and second world wars contain the name, marital status, address and occupation of each person enlisting. The rolls also contain the name, address and relationship of a person’s next-of-kin.
These rolls have been re-published on microfiche. The New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) has published two sets of these records.
Extensive records are held in the New Zealand Defence Force library and the Defence Force personnel archives. Access to personnel records may be gained on application and on payment of a fee. The National Army Museum at Waiouru has been compiling a computer index of servicemen who died in the two world wars. Many of these records have now been moved to National Archives in Wellington.
Commercial site Ancestry ($) holds military archives.
The ‘WW1 New Zealand Service Personnel and Reserves Index’ is a fully searchable CD that has many records of servicemen not listed elsewhere. CDs can be bought from the NZSG website ($).
Coroners’ Inquests
If the information on a death certificate is given by a coroner or ‘by verdict of jury’ that is an indication a coroner’s inquest was held to determine the cause of death. There are no known surviving records before 1844 and if the inquest took place within the last fifty years permission must be gained from:
The Coroner’s Clerk
Department of Justice
Private Bag
Wellington
Deceased Estates (Wills)
Before 16 June 1842, wills of deceased New Zealanders were lodged with the high court in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - For access refer to the Supreme Court of NSW Probate Index which is available in some New Zealand libraries.
A will often contains information on the deceased, such as occupation and place of residence, as well as the names of the beneficiaries and details of bequests. After a person’s death the will is taken to the Justice Department High Court where the Act of Probate is passed on it. Many probate registers and files have been transferred to Archives New Zealand and its regional offices.
Where a person died without making a will there may be a file of ‘Letters of Administration’ containing the legal documentation required for giving permission for someone to administer the deceased person’s estate.
Wills are usually probated at the high court nearest to where the person had lived, however if the person owned land in several areas the will may be probated more than once.
Before the 1950s, wills lodged with Public Trust were all probated through Wellington High Court regardless of the place of death; these will be found in the probate files at Archives New Zealand in Wellington. After 1950 Public Trust wills were proved at individual high courts and so from this time they can be found at each office of Archives New Zealand.
NOTE: The New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) has been compiling a national index of the names of persons whose wills have been probated or for whom ‘Letters of Administration’ have been granted. The Index for 1842 to 1900 has been put on microfiche and can be read in public libraries or purchased from the NZSG.
The offices of Archives New Zealand hold indexes to the probates.
Finding a Probate record number -
Go to Archives New Zealand's 'Archway' search page. Type in your relative's name, e.g. joe smith and press the Search button (or enter).
If it shows results for (number) times in the titles of individual records (Items), click the Go button.
Scroll down till you see (place) Probate files. Click ORDER DETAILS >
The next page will give you the record information enabling you to order the document ($).
FamilySearch (LDS) has some will/probate document images freely available. They are non-searchable but can be browsed. If you have the probate number (see above), it's easier to browse:
NOTE: FamilySearch images do not appear to stay on-line indefinitely so I suggest you download the images.
Testamentary Registers of the Inland Revenue Department are also known as Death Duty Registers. Such information as the tax payable on a deceased person’s estate, date of death, value of the estate and usually the legatee’s and executors’ names can be found.
Cemetery Records
These can be a good source of interesting information, though be aware they’re not always accurate. Burial records may reveal the person that bought the plot, birthplace of the deceased and even the cause of death. The monumental inscription can be very simple or very detailed.
NOTE: For many years members of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) has been transcribing headstones in cemeteries all around the country. These transcriptions have been put on microfiche as ‘New Zealand Cemetery Records 1985’ and are available at public libraries, museums and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) family history centres. The NZSG ‘Burial Locator’ CD indexes all the cemeteries transcribed by the society as well as many new records. Check out their sales page.
There are a number of councils with their cemeteries on-line.
The KiwiCelts website has a database of New Zealand cemeteries. You type in the place name and a listing will come up of cemeteries in that area with a map showing where they are.
Land Records
It is important for researchers to identify the actual location of land owned or leased by ancestors as it puts a person in a certain place at a certain time. A description of the owners of land, the location and value as at October 1882 is given in the ‘Return of the Freeholders 1882’ compiled by the New Zealand Property Tax Department; this is on microfiche at public libraries and at the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG). Old land claims reveal the name of the claimant, the seller and previous owners.
New Zealand Company land transactions and claims from the company’s settlement of Wellington, New Plymouth, Wanganui and Nelson are documented. Some records from the Department of Lands and Survey and Landcorp have been transferred to the offices of Archives New Zealand and are open for research. The records are held by district and cover a variety of time periods. For further details refer to National Archives research guides Family History at National Archives and Beyond the Book.
The Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) website allows on-line access (for a fee) to leases, land development, settlement, marginal lands, deferred payment, licence, run, crown land, discharged soldiers’ settlements and farm land titles.
Māori Genealogy – Whakapapa
Whakapapa is more than just genealogy or family history as understood by non-Māori and ideally should be learned in the tribal setting. A researcher should contact kaumatua (elders) at the marae.
The Māori civil registers of births and deaths from 1913 to 1961 and marriages from 1911 to 1952 may yield information as there is provision for tribal affiliation to be recorded on birth and death entries.
Other sources for research are parish registers, school admission registers and class lists, and cemetery records.
Māori Land Court minute books are an important resource because the courts dealt with Māori landowners who were required to prove their right to the land by proving their relationship within the tribe. Archives New Zealand holds microfilm copies of the minute books for the period 1865-1975.
The Department of Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) holds records of leases and surveys of land.
The minute books may also be available in university and public libraries and at family history centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
New Zealand Research from FamilySearch