New Zealand Societies

New Zealand has many societies and organizations that may have information of value to your genealogical research. There are also some societies in the country of origin of your ancestor. You may find it helpful to join one of these societies to gain information and knowledge about the area your ancestor came from, as well as access to their publications.

Genealogical Societies
There are a few genealogical societies which emphasize New Zealand research. Most societies publish helpful periodicals, transcripts, compiled genealogies, special indexes, collections and projects. They also publish inquiries/queries about New Zealand ancestors or maintain a list of members' research interests.

The following societies may be of interest:

New Zealand Society of Genealogists PO Box 14-036 Panmure Auckland 1741 New Zealand Internet: http://www.genealogy.org.nz/

The New Zealand Family History Society The Secretary, NZFHS PO Box 13-301 Christchurch New Zealand

Historical Societies
Historical societies can be valuable sources of information about New Zealand. Similar societies exist in countries from which New Zealanders emigrated and they often collect information about New Zealand immigrants. Some may have information about specific New Zealand individuals. Many societies have special collections of books and manuscript materials for New Zealand that may be difficult to find in libraries and archives. For more information see the "Archives and Libraries" section of this outline. Additional information on the services, activities and collections of societies is listed in Anne. Tracing family history in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Godwit Publishing Ltd., 1996. Pp. 134-137.

Locating Records at the Family History Library
Society records are usually described in the Author/Title section of the Family History Library Catalog on microfiche under the name of the society. They are also listed in the Place Search of the catalog under one of the following:

NEW ZEALAND - SOCIETIES

NEW ZEALAND - GENEALOGY - SOCIETIES

Some records gathered, compiled and published by societies are also listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the type of record. For example, cemetery transcripts gathered by a local genealogical society are listed in the catalog under:

NEW ZEALAND - CEMETERIES