Home Hands-on history Links and resources Local history links

Links - local history

On this page:

Northland/Auckland

  • Northland Memorials
  • Auckland Memorials
  • Northland entry from Te Ara - includes historical information about the region and entries on all the main towns. See also Auckland entry.
  • A Brief History of Auckland - Content provided by Graham Bush, author of the acclaimed Decently and in Order; the Government of the City of Auckland 1840-1971 (1971) and its sequel, Advance in Order (1990). This history covers the period 1840-1998 and includes a selected Auckland City chronology, a list of Mayors and statistics for City and Metropolitan population. Part of the Auckland City Council site.
  • Clipper and sailing ships which voyaged to Auckland, New Zealand from the British Isles
    Arrivals list and stories associated with the great sailing ships, which voyaged to Auckland, New Zealand from Great Britain until the early 1900s. Includes ship descriptions, terms and history.
  • Kauri Museum - Focuses on the history the Kauri Gum industry in Northland.
  • Auckland Museum.
  • Te Awamutu Museum.
  • Albert Park air raid shelters
    Provides information about the maze of tunnels built underneath Albert Park, Auckland, in 1941. Includes maps and an account of a journey into the tunnels in 1996. Photographs of the journey and general photographs are available. A brief history of Albert Park is also included.
  • Otuataua Stonefields on Manukau City Council
  • Cultural heritage on ARC Site
  • Volcanoes of Auckland
  • Auckland City Council
    Enter historic in search engine to get articles on heritage
  • Auckland's Queen Street
  • Devonport Heritage
  • Helensville History
  • Art Deco Society of Auckland
  • Auckland City Libraries site - Includes local history resources and brief histories of Auckland, Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere cities and Rodney District. Also a list of archives held by the Auckland City Council.
  • Auckland City Libraries databases - Including: Auckland City Street Names; Auckland Passengers Arrivals 1840-1882; Auckland Police Census 1842-1846; Cemetery records - Hillsborough - Ostend, Waiheke - Otahuhu Public - Waikaraka; C.I.T.Y (search for contact details of clubs and groups in the greater Auckland Area); Heritage Images Online; Iwidex (an index to the sources of information on tribal history, tikanga-a-iwi, and whakapapa held in the Heritage and Research Collections); Local History, Arts and Music Index (a unique index to Auckland area local history, art, theatre, film and music references from 1996 to date); Symonds Street Cemetery Records and the 1897 Address to Queen Victoria which lists the 25,000 children from the Auckland Education District who signed a congratulatory address to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.
  • Auckland City Libraries Special Collections - Auckland map, photograph and ephemera collections.
  • Pearl's pad
    Genealogy. Some transcriptions, especially for the Auckland, Bay of Islands and Coromandel areas.
  • Auckland Harbour Bridge - A history of the building of the Bridge opened in 1959. It includes sound files of interviews with some of the men who worked on it. Created by Louise Anderson for the North Shore Libraries website.
  • Avondale history website
  • Henderson's Mill - Online version of Anthony Flude's Henderson's Mill (1977): a history of Henderson. Now also includes: an outline of the life of the well known South Pacific Trader, George Ellis who ran an island store on both Penrhyn and Manihiki Atolls in the central Pacific 1870-1880, stories on Captain Bully Hayes, trading methods in copra, pearls and beche-de-mer in the South Pacific Islands and the wreck of the AEON, a steamer on route to NZ. See by the same author: The Circular Saw Line - A history of the Henderson & Macfarlane shipping company in Auckland. In a series of illustrated chapters the site provides insights into the early years of Auckland Township and provides a history of the development of this important shipping line.
  • Includes a brief history of Helensville.
  • Manukau's Journey - A chronology of more than 1500 selected and significant events in the history of Manukau City and adjoining areas, in some cases with bibliographic sources, maps, photographs and source documents attached. Part of the Manukau Libraries web-site.
  • Heritage Images Online
    Three significant collections from Auckland City Libraries have been catalogued and scanned for availability through the Heritage Images Online database.
  • Howick Historical Village
    Howick Historical Village is a living museum which recreates the early settlement of Auckland, especially the Fencible settlement of Howick in the 1850s. Information includes for intending visitors and teachers.
  • A history of Onehunga - This site contains information regarding the early settlement of Onehunga, and historical information, including passenger lists. Provided by Russell Carter. See also the Onehunga Business Association website for an abridged version of the Janice Mogford's History of Onehunga and information about local heritage walks.

Waikato / Bay of Plenty

  • Waikato memorials
  • Bay of Plenty memorials
  • Bay of Plenty entry from Te Ara - includes historical information about the region and entries on all the main towns. See also Waikato entry
  • Rotorua Museum.
  • Hamilton Cemetery Database - On the Hamilton City Council website.
  • Bibliography of the Waikato Region
    A bibliography of all publications - books, theses, periodical articles, AJHR reports, special issues of newspapers -- which relate to the Waikato Region, defined as the area bounded by Matamata, Piako, Raglan, Waikato and Waipa Counties. Serials are not included. It is accessed through the Library's online database page.
  • Katikati website - Includes probably the country's first 'e-war memorial'- an excellent local initiative providing the names, military records and biographical details of all the sixty men who enlisted from Katikati. Site run by Kit Wilson and Sue Baker Wilson.
  • Waitomo Caves - A brief history. 
  • Lake Taupo history - On the 'About' section of the www.laketauponz.com site, includes an excellent article about the lake's volcanic past.
  • Waikato district history - view the history of Waikato regions such as Rangariri, Mercer, Taupiri and Meremere on the Waikato Enterprise Agency website.
  • Tauranga Memories - community kete run by Tauranga City Libraries

East Coast / Hawke's Bay

King Country/Taranaki

Wellington/Wairarapa

Nelson/Marlborough

Canterbury

West Coast

Otago

  • Otago entry on Te Ara
  • Otago memorials
  • Otago nominal index to 1876
    An index to names in documents held by the Hocken Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. A joint project between the Hocken Library and the Dunedin Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists.
  • Hocken Library
    The Hocken Library is one of the foremost historical research libraries in New Zealand. It was established in 1910 when Dr Thomas Morland Hocken gave his private collection to the University of Otago, in trust for the people of New Zealand. The Library collects widely in relation to the history and culture of New Zealand, the Pacific and Antarctica, and has a special emphasis on the regions of Otago and Southland. The research collections include: archives, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, newspapers, maps, periodicals, paintings, drawings, photographs, music, and film.The site gives details of the collections, access to its catalogue for unpublished material (and a link to the University of Otago Library's catalogue for published material), lists publications, and has links to related sites.
  • I am Dunedin
    News and information about Dunedin, its history, attractions and events; and information about the Dunedin City Council's activities, services and cultural and recreational facilities. Includes an online business directory, a recreation directory, a link to the online library catalogue, photographs and maps. Council bylaws, rates book, plans and news bulletins are available online.
  • Toitu Otago Settlers Museum
    The Toitu Otago Settlers Museum celebrates all the peoples of Otago including indigenous Maori, the Chinese who came initially to work the goldfields in the 19th century, and successive waves of migrant groups. The museum provides educational programmes and walking tours of Dunedin.
  • Passenger arrivals at Port Chalmers, New Zealand, March 1848 - January 1851 : an expanded and corrected version of Dr Hocken's lists
    John MacGibbon has taken the passenger lists of ships arriving in Port Chalmers (1848-1851), compiled by Dr Hocken, and created a database of names accessible by ship and date. There are links to sites of passenger lists, and other genealogical interests.
  • Passenger ships arriving in Australasian ports : New Zealand shipping
    An index of passenger ships arriving in New Zealand between 1839 and 1905. The lists are derived from Sir Henry Brett's "White Wings" Auckland : Brett Printing Co., 1924-1928.
  • 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.
  • Southern People: a dictionary of Otago Southland biography - Southern People collects together stories of the multitude of interesting people who have lived in Otago and Southland.
  • Historic Oamaru - Contains information about the town's recent Heritage Celebration events, more substantial historical information is planned soon. Provided by the Oamaru Civic Whitestone Trust and affiliates.
  • City of Dunedin - Excellent collection of articles relating to the history of Dunedin and Otago with subjects ranging from gold mining to royal visits. Site provided by the Dunedin City Council.
  • The Caversham project - An intensive study of the Dunedin suburb carried out at Otago University.
  • A brief history of Andersons Bay

Southland and Beyond

How to cite this page

'Local history links', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/handsonhistory/local-history-links, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 24-Nov-2015

RELATED TO LINKS - LOCAL HISTORY

Related content

Articles