New Zealand Genealogy

Pacific Island Guide to Family History Research New Zealand Guide to New Zealand ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information
New Zealand is an island country in the Pacific Ocean. Its closest neighbours are Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. It is part of the British Commonwealth. The official languages are English and Māori.

New Zealand Clickable Map
Genealogy records are kept on the state level in the New Zealand. Click on a state below to go to the state Wiki article listing more information.

Regions
Genealogy records are kept on the regional level in the New Zealand. Click on a region below to go to the Wiki article listing more information.

More New Zealand Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for the New Zealand.
 * Using New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online - Online tutorial
 * New Zealand Maori Research
 * RootsChat New Zealand Resources and help pages - Free

More New Zealand Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in the New Zealand.
 * Cemetery Locations Murray Lynn's New Zealand Cemetery Database
 * Birth Marriages and Deaths online records
 * New Zealand GenWeb part of The WorldGenWeb Project
 * Births, Marriages and Deaths for Whānautanga, matenga, mārenatanga
 * Archives New Zealand
 * Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
 * New Zealand Early Settlers Locator
 * New Zealand History Online
 * New Zealand Bound Dedicated to identifying genealogical resources to assist in locating which New Zealand bound ship an immigrant ancestor was aboard.
 * New Zealand's Family History Fair An annual genealogy event which celebrates family, social &amp; local history. Held every August, during Family History Month at Claudelands Events Centre, Hamilton.
 * Images of New Zealand and the Pacific from the National Library of New Zealand
 * Canterbury Transcriptions

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map

Research Tools
Libraries, Books and Newspapers


 * National Library of New Zealand
 * Auckland Libraries eResources and databases for researching family history and genealogy available in the Digital Library
 * Christchurch Library Find out what European New Zealand family history resources we hold or can access, what information you are going to find in those resources, and when you need to look elsewhere. Our main focus is Christchurch and Canterbury information from the 19th and early 20th century.
 * Hocken Collection, University of Otago
 * New Zealand ElectronicText Centre Search and browse an open digital library of New Zealand and Pacific Island documentary heritage material as well as new born-digital work and research from Victoria University.
 * Early New Zealand Books Keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the nineteenth century.
 * Early NZ newspapers from the National Library of New Zealand
 * Early NZ newspapers in Te Reo Maori



The sovereignty of New Zealand was proclaimed and its courts established by Ordinance in 1841. Court records that may be useful for genealogical research are those of the Supreme Court 1841-1980 (renamed the High Court in 1980), Police Magistrates Courts 1846-1893, Resident Magistrates’ Courts 1893-1980, District Courts 1980-present, and Wardens’ Courts 1858-present. Read more...


 * Did your Ancestors live in Otago/Southland? The Otago Nominal Rolls Index (ONI) up to 1876 is available on line, showing electoral rolls and street directories.
 * New Zealand was a British colony where British soldiers served and sometimes remained following their military service. New Zealand-born soldiers also served in British regiments stationed in New Zealand. The military records contain information on all soldiers who served in the British military.
 * There are School Admission, Progress and Withdrawals up to 1920, available at many New Zealand Libraries, or contact the nearest NZ Society of Genealogy Branch, and they will be able to tell you where they are located.