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.



Getting Started with New Zealand Research
New Zealand lies in the S.W. Pacific Ocean, 2000km east of Australia. New Zealand consists of 2 major Islands - North and South Island, with Stewart Island below the South Island, and the Chatham Islands 500 miles east of Christchurch. New Zealand was first discovered in 1642 by Abel Tasman of Holland, who gave it its name. Captain James Cook claimed New Zealand as a British Colony in 1769. But this was not ratified until 1841 following the Treaty of Waitangi process of 1840. The Polynesian (Maoris) arrived around 1000A.D. The Chatham Islands were originally settled by Moriori people. Mount Cook (Mount Aoraki) is the highest mountain at 12,316ft. (3754metres) high. A wide range of temperatures, from tropical in the north, to dry cold in the south.

When the British colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 its territorial limits were declared to include "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean" and running westward to the 135th meridian east. This included the islands of New Zealand. Some early records relating to New Zealand are to be found in the records of New South Wales, Australia. Before the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901 it was commonplace to talk of the seven British colonies as "Australasia". New Zealand has an "Australasian past—whaling, sealing, missionaries, goldmining, pastoralism" making strong early bonds. It is not uncommon for the threads of family history to criss-cross the Tasman Sea.

See the FamilySearch tutorial '"New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online"' '''

Research Tools

 * Listing of all records collections for New Zealand available on FamilySearch.org

''See the FamilySearch tutorial '"New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online"'


 * Archives New Zealand
 * Births, Marriages and Deaths for Whānautanga, matenga, mārenatanga
 * Birth Marriages and Deaths for online access to Historical Vital Records
 * Cemetery Locations Murray Lynn's New Zealand Cemetery Database
 * New Zealand Society of Genealogists Society members meet regularly in the many NZSG branches throughout New Zealand.
 * New Zealand Maori Interest Group Special Interest Group No.76 of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. An active group throughout New Zealand researching their Māori ancestry or whakapapa.
 * New Zealand Maori Wiki genealogical cultural background page with a link to research suggestions page.
 * New Zealand GenWeb part of The WorldGenWeb Project
 * New Zealand Resources and help pages on RootsChat New Zealand Resources and help pages. (Free).

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * New Zealand, Immigration Passenger Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * New Zealand Probate Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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



Historical and Regional Resources

 * 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


 * (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers)
 * (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.)

Featured Content

 * Browse: Pages for New Zealand

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...

See the FamilySearch tutorial '"New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online"' '''

Did you know?

 * 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.