FAMILY HISTORY INFORMATION at the LIBRARY
Featured resource!
 | @home with your ancestors.com : how to research family history using the internet, by Diane Marelli. (2007). As the title suggests, the author's aim is to enable you to build up a picture and history of your ancestors without leaving the comfort of your home internet PC. And that is a great starting point for those of us living across the world who can't visit the various archives where records are held in the UK anyway. She also deals with setting up a family history database to record and store your findings. |
Classic Catalogue Help
If you already know the title of the item, simply type into search line and select Title Browse search.
"Guides to" family history are mainly categorised by country. Below are some common ones, otherwise select the Subjects option on the search page, and type in country keywords e.g. Poland Genealogy.
Using computers and software to research genealogy.
General geography or history - social life or customs. Use the Keyword search option, and type in basic search words, to locate the classification and possible items. (For example - type History Oamaru, or Shetland history).
Records/Indexes to Search
N.B. Unless otherwise stated all resources are held on the Second Floor at the Central Library, and are for 'in-library' use only.
NZ Official Record Indexes e.g. Births
Births (1840-1990), Marriages (1840-1990) and Deaths (1848-1990) index entries. Each of these is an index of names divided into years. Please ask at the Second Floor, Central Library enquiries desk.
NZ Cemetery Records
These microfiche are divided into regions, and each region has an index of names with a reference number. This reference number relates to a transcript of the epitaph of each headstone in each cemetery within that region. Wide coverage, but not fully comprehensive. A transcript of the Bolton cemetery is available in print format in the Local History Cabinet; please ask at the desk for the Karori cemetery.
Headstone inscriptions not only give the name of the deceased, but often the name of a spouse, some inscription, and if more than one person is buried in the same plot, they will be listed as well.
NZ Electoral rolls - (From 1866)
Up to 1943 these are on microfiche, so please ask at the enquiries counter. From 1946, they are shelved on the South Side of the Second Floor, Central Library.
NZ historical directories
The Library has several directories e.g. Stone's Wellington, Hawkes Bay, and Taranaki Directory from the late nineteenth century. Please ask staff to retrieve them, as most are not housed in public areas.
Shipping
Apart from published resources, the main index to personal names is Shipping arrivals in Wellington, 1856-1887, which is held in the Local History Cabinet. Please ask Second Floor staff.
Whakapapa and iwi histories
Iwi lists of library holdings, compiled by our Māori Customer Librarian.
Whakapapa : an introduction to Māori family history research, by Brenda Joyce and Bruce Mathers. (2006)
Cyclopedia of new Zealand
This massive work contains 2 whole volumes on the Wellington region and can be located in the New Zealand Reference Collection, Victoria Street side at 919.31 CYC .
Microfiche Indexes
The library has a wide range. Two recent examples are :
Passenger lists, Victoria, Australia outwards to New Zealand, 1852 onwards , compiled by Gaynor Kirby is available from the Central Library Second Floor. Each part includes: Alphabetical list of passengers -- Entry order list of passengers -- Ship information.
A compilation of death notices from New Zealand newspapers 1957-1984 (The Enid Seton-Kellaway collection)is available from the Central Library Second Floor. The main bulk of the divorce information comes from later newspapers. The strength is that newspapers from across the country are indexed.
UK official records
1881 British census and national index England, Scotland, Wales, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and Royal Navy is available on CD ROM on the Second Floor, Central Library. Please ask at the enquiries desk.
The Library does not hold the St Catherine's Index. Please contact the National Library, in Molesworth Street.
Newspapers
The library holds back copies of the The Dominion and Evening Post on reel to reel microfilm.
(Dominion - September 1907- ; Evening Post - February 1865-)
Use these to look up Birth, Marriage and Death notices, but there is no detailed personal name index - so you need to know the date.
Alexander Turnbull Library Indexes
Some of the indexes compiled by the Alexander Turnbull Library to their scrapbook collection are held on the Second Floor, in microfiche format.
General family history aids
Most resources will be at the Central Library, although there will be a small amount of material at branches also.
Books on how to research and write family histories are usually shelved at 929.1 to 929.4.
Gazetteers and atlases are shelved at classification - 910-912.
Magazines
1. FULL TEXT ARTICLES are now available on our mygateway.info mega magazine database.
Log on to Ebsco on Mygateway.info. Enter your library card number.
Now you will be able to access the following article directly (without entering your details again) for the next 30 days. (Just use Ebsco on Mygateway.info once a month to allow this direct access).
The Rise and Rise of Family History, by Jules Hudson, in History Today, April 2007, Vol. 57 Issue 4, p20-21. With the digitisation of official records, and the internet to make them very accessible, it is now relatively easier than ever to locate their family's history - or at least a sketch of their lives.
The Family Tree, Pruned, by Richard Conniff, in Smithsonian, Jul2007, Vol. 38 Issue 4, p90-97. |
2. You can also use the title option in the catalogue to search for these magazines -
Family Tree Magazine (British) - located on the South Side of the First Floor, Central Library.
Scots Link - is an Australian and New Zealand publication - also located on the South Side of the First Floor, Central Library.
New Zealand Family Tree - located on the Second Floor. In-library use only.
New Zealand Genealogist- lending copies are located on the South side of the First Floor, of the Central Library, with another full set on the Second Floor.
Australian Family Tree Connections- lending copies are located on the South side of the First Floor, of the Central Library.
| For further information, please seek out our specialist genealogy web-page, (which includes special pages to begin in Scandinavia and Scotland) or Wellington local history section, at - http://www.wcl.govt.nz/wellington/wellingtonlinks.html. This page contains more information, including links to other helpful resources. |
