New Caledonia Civil Registration

Civil Registration
Research use: Uniquely identifies individuals and connects them to their parents.

Record type: Civil records of birth, marriage, and death.

General: Civil registration begins late in Melanesia as compared to other areas of the world but it is the most complete source for genealogical purposes.

Time period: 1854-present.

Contents: Birth, marriage, and death records have the exact date of the event, including time of day for births; name of principal and parents; occupation and religious preference of parents; name of informant for births and names of witnesses for marriages; place of residence for parents of new born, of the groom and bride for marriages, and of the deceased for deaths; age at death, cause of death, and place of burial in death records.

Location: Local and national civil registry offices.

Population coverage: 90% coverage of the population.

Reliability: High.

Death records
Research use: Identify relationships and provide clues to other record sources.

Record type: Death inventories (notarial record concerning inheritance), declarations of succession, tombstone transcriptions, obituaries, sexton records, burials, and others.

General: Civil records generated in the event of death.

Time period: 1860-present.

Contents: Names, vital statistics; and in some sources names of kin and relationship to the deceased.

Location: Administrative offices at various levels and archives.

Population coverage: 40% of the population.

Reliability: High on death and relationship information but lower on dates and places of birth or marriage.

FamilySearch Library Collection
Resources available On the Internet, go to Familysearch.org. Choose the Library tab and then FamilySearch Catalog. Click on Place. Enter New Caledonia and click on search. Microfilm number 1083646 has civil registration from 1864 to 1880 for several of the islands. It is in the French language.