New Zealand Archives and Libraries

Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm. This section describes the major repositories of genealogical and historical records and sources for New Zealand.

If you plan to visit one of these repositories, contact the organization and ask for information about their collections, hours, services, and fees.

Although the records you need may be in an archive or library in New Zealand, the Family History Library may have copies of them in microform. The library has copies of records from several New Zealand archives, libraries, and other record repositories.

In New Zealand there are several major types of repositories for genealogical records: Many of these repositories have web sites on the Internet. Some web sites and e-mail addresses are given below along with postal addresses. In addition, some other New Zealand sites of interest can be accessed through the web site for Archives New Zealand. The web site address is given below.
 * National and department archives
 * National library
 * City Council archives
 * Public, museum, and university libraries
 * Church archives
 * Genealogical and Historical Societies

Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga (formerly National Archives)
Archives New Zealand collects government records relating to New Zealand history, culture, and people. Records of genealogical value include:


 * Some civil registration records
 * Court records
 * Education records
 * Emigration and immigration records
 * Government employee records
 * Land records
 * Maori genealogies
 * Military records
 * Mining records
 * Naturalization records
 * Old age pension records
 * Passenger lists
 * Probate records
 * Reference materials

Archives New Zealand is open to the public. You can search the online catalog at: http://archway.archives.govt.nz/

Archives New Zealand (Head Office) 

On the home page click on links for other helpful sites.

Regional Offices of Archives New Zealand
There are also regional offices of Archives New Zealand which collect records within the areas they serve. Contact details for regional offices are:

Archives New Zealand Auckland Regional Office 525 Mt Wellington Highway Otahuhu Auckland New Zealand Telephone: (64-9) 270-1100 Fax: (64-9) 276 4472 Email: [mailto:auckland@archives.govt.nz auckland@archives.govt.nz] Internet: http://www.archives.govt.nz/about/ourstructure/regionals/auckland.php

Mailing address: PO Box 91-220 Auckland New Zealand

Archives New Zealand Christchurch Regional Office 90 Peterborough Street Christchurch New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 642 Christchurch New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 377 0760 Fax: (64-3) 365 2662 Email: [mailto:christchurch@archives.govt.nz christchurch@archives.govt.nz] Archives New Zealand Dunedin Regional Office 556 George Street Dunedin New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 6183 Dunedin North Dunedin New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 477 0404 Fax: (64-3) 477 0422 Email: [mailto:dunedin@archives.govt.nz dunedin@archives.govt.nz]

Helpful guides to the National Archives collection are: Family History at National Archives. Wellington: Allen &amp; Unwin/National Archives, 1990, (FHL book 993.1 D27f).

Beyond the Book. Wellington: National Archives, 1994, (FHL book 993.1 D27f Supp. 1994).

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Department Archives
In addition to Archives New Zealand and its regional offices, some government departments retain custody of the records they generate. Civil registration records are held by the Department of Internal Affairs in the Central Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Wills and probate records from 1990 to the present are held either at the High Courts of the Justice Department or by the Public Trust Office. Land records are held by Land Information New Zealand. The records of the various departments are open to the public. You can read more about these departments and their records under the appropriate record headings on this site.

National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
The National Library of New Zealand has the largest collection of reference and research materials in the country. It has a rich collection of family history resources. The Alexander Turnbull Library, which is New Zealand 's main research Library, is a division of the National Library. Besides published items, the Turnbull Library holds New Zealand 's largest collection of private manuscripts and archives.

For advice on researching your family history or whakapapa, go to http://www.natlib.govt.nz/services/get-advice/family-history

Alexander Turnbull Library Cnr Molesworth and Aitken Streets Wellington New Zealand Telephone: (64-4) 474-3120 Fax: (64-4) 474-3063 Email: [mailto:atl@natlib.govt.nz atl@natlib.govt.nz]  Internet: http://www.natlib.govt.nz/atl ''

Mailing address: Alexander Turnbull Library PO Box 12349 Wellington 6144 New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand Cnr Molesworth and Aitken Streets Thorndon Wellington New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 1467 Wellington 6140 New Zealand Telephone: (64-4)474-3000 Fax: 64-4-474-3035 Email: [mailto:information@natlib.govt.nz information@natlib.govt.nz]  Internet: http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/areas-of-focus/family-history

The catalog of published items for both the National Library and the Alexander Turnbull Library (the latter from 1984) is found at: http://www.natlib.govt.nz/catalogues/library-catalogue

The Alexander Turnbull Library has published its pre-1984 catalog on microfiche. It is available at many academic and public libraries. The Family History Library holds this catalog (FHL fiche 6343237; 793 parts) but it does not circulate to Family History Centers.

The Alexander Turnbull Library's catalog of unpublished items is found at: http://tapuhi.natlib.govt.nz/

An online database of heritage items from the Alexander Turnbull Library, called Timeframes, is also available on the Internet. It contains over 42,000 heritage images, mostly dated pre-1947, and is growing every day. The address is: [http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/ http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/ ]

Other National Library online databases are included under the appropriate records on this site.

City Council Archives
City councils created records in the course of their activities and contain considerable resources for family history.

Contact details for the city council archives of the five largest cities in New Zealand are as follows:

Auckland City Archives Auckland Public Library Lorne Street Auckland New Zealand

Mailing address: Private Bag 92516 Wellesley Street Auckland New Zealand Telephone: (64-9) 307-7792 E-mail: [mailto:archives@aucklandcity.govt.nz archives@aucklandcity.govt.nz] Internet: http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/auckland/introduction/archives/using.asp

Hamilton City Archives Hamilton City Libraries 9 Garden Place Hamilton New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 933 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand Telephone: (64-7) 838-6826 Fax: (64-7) 838-6858 Internet: http://www.hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/page/pageid/2145833031

Wellington City Council Archives 28 Barker Street (off Cambridge Terrace) PO Box 2199 Wellington New Zealand Telephone: (64-4) 801-2096 Fax: (64-4) 801-2097 Email: [mailto:archives@wcc.govt.nz archives@wcc.govt.nz] Internet: http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/archives/history/history.html

Christchurch City Council Archives 90 Peterborough Street Christchurch New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 237 Christchurch New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 377-0760 Internet: http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Handbook/archives.asp

Dunedin City Council Archives Civic Centre 50 The Octagon Dunedin New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 5045 Dunedin New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 474-3553 Fax: (64-3_ 474-3594 Email: archives@dcc.govt.nz Internet: http://www.cityofdunedin.com/city/?page=archives_about

Public, Museum, and University Libraries
Some sources helpful to family history research are available in major libraries in New Zealand, and smaller public libraries may also have family history collections. Most libraries’ collections are open to the public. The National Library of New Zealand has already been mentioned. Listed below are some major libraries in New Zealand with collections of records valuable to family history research. Contact these libraries and ask about their collections, hours, services, and fees.

Auckland City Libraries Lorne Street Auckland New Zealand Telephone: (64-9) 307-7795 Email: [mailto:Library_Family_History@aucklandcity.govt.nz Library_Family_History@aucklandcity.govt.nz] Internet: http://www.aucklandlibrary.co.nz/

Mailing address: PO Box 4138 Auckland New Zealand

It has a large collection of records for New Zealand, as well as for other areas of the world. A published guide to their collection is available: Researching Family History in the Collections of Auckland City Libraries. (Auckland: Auckland City Library, 1997.)

Christchurch City Libraries Cnr Gloucester Street and Oxford Tce Christchurch New Zealand

'Mailing address: 'PO Box 1466 Christchurch Mail Centre New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 941-7923 Fax: (64-3) 941-7848 Email: library@ccc.govt.nz Internet: http://library.christchurch.org.nz/

Auckland Institute and Museum Library Domain Drive Auckland New Zealand

Mailing address: Private Bag 92-018 Auckland New Zealand Telephone: (64-9) 309-0443 Fax: (64-9) 379-9956 Email: info@aucklandmuseum.com Internet: http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/?t=200

Hocken Library University of Otago Cnr Anzac Ave and Parry Street Dunedin New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 479-8868 Fax: (63-3) 479-5078 Email hocken@library.otago.ac.nz Internet: http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/index.html

Mailing address: Hocken Library PO Box 56 Dunedin New Zealand

The Hocken Library has a large collection of archival material pertaining to the Otago and Southland areas of the South Island.

The online catalog for published materials is at: http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/cata.html#published

For manuscripts and archives go to: http://hakena.otago.ac.nz/nreq/Welcome.html

Macmillan Brown Library University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 New Zealand Telephone: (64-3) 364-2753 Email: [mailto:macbrown@libr.canterbury.ac.nz macbrown@libr.canterbury.ac.nz] Internet: http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/mb/

University of Waikato Library Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand Telephone: (64-7) 838-4466 Fax: (64-7) 838-4899 Email: [mailto:library@waikato.ac.nz library@waikato.ac.nz] Internet: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/resources/nzc/

This library has an extensive collection of new Zealand biographies. Internet: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/resources/nzc/biography.shtml

University of Auckland Library Private Bag 92-019 Auckland Mail Centre 1142 New Zealand Telephone: (64-9) 373-7599 Internet: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/

It has a large microfilmed collection of Maori Land Court minute books and other material pertaining to Maori studies.

Church and Religious Archives
Many church records of New Zealand are in the custody of the minister or priest of the parish or congregation which created the records. Some early records are in church or religious archives. The Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian faiths, as well as the Salvation Army, all have archives, and some have more than one. The Anglican church, for instance, has six diocesan archives. Listed below is one main archive for each of the major religious organizations. The staff at these archives will be able to direct you to the specific archive that holds records for your congregation of interest. It is possible to write to these archives and request brief searches of their records. Keep written requests simple and include a self-addressed envelope and a small contribution for expenses and postage.

Anglican

Provincial Archives-St John’s Theological College 202 St John’s Road Auckland 5 New Zealand Internet: http://www.anglican.org.nz/Resources/Archives1.htm

Catholic

Archdiocese of Wellington Archives 22-30 Hill Street Wellington New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 198 Wellington New Zealand Telephone: (64-4) 496-1777 Internet: http://www.catholic.org.nz/

Methodist

Methodist Church of New Zealand Archives Morley House Latimer Square Christchurch New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 931 Christchurch 8015 New Zealand

Telephone: (64-3) 366-6049 Fax: (64-3) 364-9439 Email: archives@methodist.org.nz Internet: http://www.methodist.org.nz/index.cfm/home

Baptist

New Zealand Baptist Historical Society Carey Baptist College 473 Great South Road Penrose Auckland New Zealand

Mailing address: PO Box 12-149 Penrose Auckland New Zealand

Telephone: (64-9)525-4017 Fax: (64-9) 525-4096 Email: enquiries@carey.ac.nz Internet: http://www.carey.ac.nz/The_College/Pages/Contact_Us/

Presbyterian

Knox College Library Arden Street Opoho Dunedin 9001 New Zealand

Telephone: (64-3) 473-0107 Fax: (64-3) 473-8466 Email: pcanzarchives@knoxcollege.ac.nz Internet: http://www.archives.presbyterian.org.nz/

Salvation Army Archives

Salvation Army PO Box 6015 Wellington New Zealand

Telephone: (64-4) 382-0732 Fax: (64-4) 802-6259 Email: archives@nzf.salvationarmy.org Internet: http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/SITE_Default/SITE_special_services/archives.asp

For a complete list of all church and religious archives in New Zealand with their addresses, see:

Bromell, Anne. Tracing Family History in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Godwit Publishing Ltd., 1996. (FHL book 993.1 D27ba 1996.)

Historical and Genealogical Societies
In New Zealand, there are several organized historical and genealogical societies. Many societies maintain libraries and/or archives that collect valuable records. For more information, including addresses of the societies, see the “Societies” section of this outline.

National Register of Archives and Manuscripts (NRAM)
NRAM is a register for manuscripts and archives held in many New Zealand repositories. Manuscripts in the custody of some smaller libraries are not included. First completed in 1979, the register is updated periodically and is indexed. It is available at several of the large repositories in New Zealand as well as the Family History Library (FHL book 993.1 A3nr 1979 ed.; 2 vols. in 6 parts).

NRAM is searchable online at: http://www.nram.org.nz/about.php