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Websites for family history research

See also: guide to researching First World War soldiers.

Recently added searchable pdf version of the 1940 Dictionary of NZ Biography.

On this page:

General

  • Auckland City Libraries Genealogy links - Includes how to start guide to genealogy.
  • Cyclopedia of New Zealand - digitised versions on the NZ E-text Centre website.
    • Volume 1. Wellington Provincial District. Published 1897
    • Volume 2. Auckland Povincial District. Published 1902
    • Volume 3. Canterbury Provincial District. Published 1903
    • Volume 4. Otago and Southland Provincial Districts. Published 1905
    • Volume 5. Nelson, Marlborough and Westland Provincial Districts. Published 1906
    • Volume 6. Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Wellington Provincial Districts. Published 1908
  • Denise and Peters our Stuff - lots of useful primary sources digitised and searchable
  • Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
  • Digitising family history and whakapapa - guide provided by Digital NZ for  those wanting to scan, digitise, or digitally copy old family pictures, records and documents.
  • FamilySearch.org - family history, family tree, and genealogy records and resources from around the world, provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
  • FreePagesPast - free genealogy resources for Australia and New Zealand, including the very useful Return of Freeholders of New Zealand, 1882
  • GENEoNZ - Links to major New Zealand geneaological resources.
  • Genealogical Computing Group (GCG) homepage - This group fosters the use of computers as a tool for genealogical research. Contact details for local groups.
  • Genes Reunited  - combines genealogy with internet social-networking. Members become ‘cyber detectives', building their family tree by posting it on the site and investigating which ancestors they share with other members. One new name is added to the site every single second.
  • Helen's Page of New Zealand history - Contains a wide variety of primary source material relating mainly to mid to lower North Island (including Wellington). Includes electoral rolls and directories, shipping / passenger lists, church records, BDM and cemetery records, school lists, military records and a wide variety of other goodies.
  • British and Irish immigration to New Zealand - statistical analysis of immigration and settler patterns, 1840-1915 - downloadable from this site.
  • New Zealand family history @ Christchurch City Libraries - European New Zealand family history resources held by the libraries or that can be accessed through them. The main focus is Christchurch and Canterbury information from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • New Zealand Defence Force Personnel Records - For ordering military records of those who enlisted in New Zealand forces. These often include useful genealogical information.
  • New Zealand Genealogy Links - Extensive links, focusing on marriage records, birth, shipping lists, and military records. It also has a good section of regional resources.
  • New Zealand Genealogy Online - Links to New Zealand genealogical resources.
  • New Zealand GenWeb - The New ZealandGenWeb Project hosts the New ZealandGenWeb regional projects and is one of the participating sites of the WorldGenWeb Project. The 'Resources' page covers everything from directories and civil registers, to libraries, archives and historical societies.
  • New Zealand Society of Genealogists homepage - Starting point for researching family history. includes key resources such as research guides and information on courses. The 'Resources' section also contains good descriptions of the many different types of resources available to the genealogist.
  • New Zealand Yesteryears - Provides information of interest to genealogists, with an emphasis on Southland. Includes shipping information, images, archives, a timeline of NZ history, recommended NZ links, and a glossary of Maori names.
  • Otago Nominal Index - An index to names in documents held by the Hocken Collections. The index holds nearly 250,000 records from electoral rolls, street directories, and Police gazettes for Otago & Southland.
  • Past Papers - National Library of New Zealand's digitised collection of 19th century newspapers.
  • Pearl's Pad - Includes genealogical and general interest historical records, particularly for the area from Coromandel to the Bay of Islands (including Auckland), but also some New Zealand-wide resources, newspaper and other indexes, shipping lists, school rolls, 19th century native land tenure and NZ Army records and much more.
  • Shadows of Time - Contains a range of useful indexes including lists of mayors, university graduates and early settlers.
  • The 1901 Census for England & Wales - This website contains census images and transcriptions from the 1901 Census of England and Wales. It allows visitors to search the census in a variety of ways, though payment is required to access the full records.
  • Tracing your family tree - a handy guide
  • Wellington City Council Archives - most of the holdings of Wellington City Archives can be browsed on line. Holdings include local authority records for Wellington city dating back to 1842, and the archives of other Wellington organisations ranging from Wellington Harbour Board to Tawa Community Theatre. There is also a module which allows searching of the content of Wellington rate books from 1863-65.

Births, Deaths and Marriages

  • Australasia Births Deaths and Marriages Exchange - A place to share information about details contained on birth, death and marriage registrations registered in Australia and New Zealand.
  • Births, Deaths and Marriages Historical Records - The Births, Deaths and Marriages registry (BDM) registers all births, deaths and marriages which take place in New Zealand. The database provides the records of: Births that occurred at least 100 years ago; Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago; Marriages and eventually Civil Unions that occurred 80 years ago; Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
  • Register of Otago & Southland Marriages 1848-1920 - This database covers almost all of Otago and an ever increasing number of pre-1920 Southland Presbyterian marriages.
  • Marriages database - Undertaken by Otago University. Enables searching of marriage index records for a second spouse by using year and folio number, and from 1840-1862 by name. Māori data spans 1904-1959.
  • Varcoe's New Zealand Marriages Index - Database of New Zealand marriage records, 1840-62. Designed to be used in conjunction with the microfiche Marriages Indexes published by the New Zealand Registrar-General's Office.

Shipping/Passenger Lists

  • Auckland Passenger Lists - 1838-86.
  • Australasian Passenger Lists - Locate passenger lists for migrant ships to New Zealand and Australia.
  • Passenger Listings for Vessels bound for New Zealand - An extensive collection of shipping lists, arranged regionally.

Cemetery Records

  • Interment.net cemetery transcription library - Links to New Zealand cemetery record transcriptions, organised by province.
  • New Zealand Armed Forces Memorial Project - Project to photograph and collect a pictorial record of New Zealand war graves and memorials both overseas and in New Zealand and to record the stories of military personnel, whether they lost their lives or returned home. Site has links to Commonwealth War Graves Commission and numerous military sites.
  • New Zealand Cemeteries - links to Cemetery records from all over New Zealand.

Whakapapa

  • Iwidex - Index to published and unpublished information sources on tribal history, tikanga-a-iwi, and whakapapa held in the Heritage and Research Collections of Auckland City Libraries.
  • Kerēme : rākau teitei e iwa = nine tall trees - Searchable selective index to the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board Claim before the Waitangi Tribunal. Material indexed includes iwi, hapu, marae, individual people, organisations, places and events.
  • Māori Resources - Introduction to tracing whakapapa, significant tribal resources held in Manukau Libraries, a map showing iwi and waka, and links to a selection of sites with Maori content. Available in Māori and English. 
  • Whakapapa - An introductory resource into researching Māori genealogy. Includes location of items in the University of Auckland Library and an iwi map.
  • Whakapapa Club - A site containing useful information and forums relating to Whakapapa.
  • Whakapapa Maori - useful portal site for Maori whakapapa information

Forums and Bulletin Boards

  • CousinConnect.com - Searchable forum relating to genealogy in New Zealand.
  • New Zealand Genealogy Forum - Discussion board for most things relating to genealogy in New Zealand.
  • RootsWeb Genealogy Mailing Lists for New Zealand - Searchable or browsable by year or topic.

Guides

Archive Guides

  • Archives New Zealand - Migration Reference Guide - A Reference Guide to commonly used migration records, regarding shipping, immigration and emigration, held at Archives New Zealand.
  • Archives New Zealand - Personal Identity Reference Guide - A Reference Guide to commonly used records (regarding births, deaths & marriages, Coroner's Inquests, probates etc) held at Archives New Zealand.
  • Citizenship Reference Guide - Archives New Zealand - A Reference Guide to commonly used records regarding citizenship, aliens and naturalisation held at Archives New Zealand.

General Family History

  • Beginning family history research - Links and guides to the resources of the family history resources of the Auckland City Libraries. Links also to other family history research web sites.
  • Birth, Deaths and Marriages - A guide to finding family history records.
  • Family Tree Templates - downloadable charts and more
  • Finding Family History Records - Helpful information provided by Births Deaths and Marriages, Department of Internal Affairs.
  • Maori culture, history, myth and legend encapsulated in whakapapa / genealogy - A guide to research in New Zealand.
  • National Library of New Zealand - Guide to researching family history or Whakapapa.
  • New Zealand Bound - Dedicated to identifying genealogical resources to assist in locating which New Zealand bound ship an immigrant ancestor was aboard. Provides passenger lists and a list of the main ports.
  • Research your family history or whakapapa - List of major reference sources held in the family history collection of the National Library of New Zealand, and a list of links to major overseas genealogy sources.
  • Chip Rowe's Things I Hate and Love About Genealogy discusses the pitfalls and great things about genealogy.

Immigrant Groups

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand includes entries on all the main immigrant groups to New Zealand. See also:

  • Bohemia: The Bohemian Association - A group of whose ancestors settled in Puhoi and Ohaupo.
  • Chinese: Chinese in New Zealand - A site which reflects Steven Young's interest in the Chinese community in New Zealand, and particularly in Wellington. Includes his published articles, also the transcript of a speech by Dr James Ng, 'Chinese Settlement in New Zealand - Past, Present and Future'; and proceedings of 'Chinese in Australasia and the Pacific: Old and New Migrations and Cultural Change', Conference for the Study of Overseas Chinese, University of Otago, 20-21 November 1998. Also provides family histories, and a section on the Government's formal apology on 12 February 2002 to those who were required to pay a poll tax before entering New Zealand, and to their descendents and families.
  • Chinese: History of the poll tax in New Zealand - A history and database of Certificate of Entry (poll tax) books for Chinese arrivals to Wellington from 1888 to 1901. Site provided by the Office of Ethnic Affairs.
  • Irish: New Zealand-Ireland Connection - Established to highlight the historical and contemporary connections between New Zealand and Ireland. In addition to a brief history of Irish emigration, it has a bibliography; details of New Zealand connections in Ireland; past and contemporary Irish connections in New Zealand; a list of Irish migrants; and links to relevant sites.
  • Jewish: Judaism in New Zealand - from Stephen Levine's site advertising his book, A Standard for the People 1843-1993.
  • Jewish: International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Cemetery Project: New Zealand - Site includes brief history of Jews in New Zealand with information on location of cemeteries, links to Jewish cemeteries other countries.
  • Polish: Polish heritage of Otago and Southland - Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Trust site describes the activities of the Polish community in the regions. Includes a brief history of the Trust, a photo gallery, news, letters, articles, an online newsletter and genealogy information. Some content in Polish.
  • Polish: The Invited by Krystyna Skwarko. The story of a Polish woman who was deeply involved with the education of the young Polish refugees when they were first gathered together in Southern Russia and the old Persian capital of Isfahan during the early part of the Second World War. She then accompanied them in 1944 on the long journey to a permanent home in New Zealand where she became a teacher and guide at the Polish Children's Camp in Pahiatua. Site hosted by the Consulate of the Republic of Poland, Auckland.
  • Scots: 'Going Abroad' - Companion web page to John MacGibbon's book which looks at early Scottish settlers in Otago and Southland. Includes, 'Passenger arrivals at Port Chalmers, 1848-1851': A database of all the early passengers, corrected and expanded from lists published in 1898 by Dr Hocken. This contains quite a bit of genealogical information as well as names.

Please email if you notice any of these links not working or if would like to suggest other links that could be added.

How to cite this page: 'Genealogy links', URL: /handsonhistory/genealogy-links, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 5-Mar-2012
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This site is produced by the History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team