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Genealogy
Genealogy is the art of tracing your family's bloodline. It is one of the few times you actually start at the end of something and work your way back in time. |
[Page last updated 1 April 2008]
FEATURE!
 | Family history in the genes : trace your DNA and grow your family tree, by Chris Pomery. (2007) This concise and up-to-the-minute guide shows what genetics can do for anyone in search of their ancestors, including linking people with the same surname, unraveling clan relationships and exploring the genetic profile of individuals, locations and regions. It offers practical advice on the DNA tests available including the y-chromosome, mitochondrial and ancestry tests, helping you to choose the right test and use the results effectively. From the latest discoveries in the big surname studies to advice on starting your own DNA project, this is a fascinating introduction that will dominate future family history research. (drawn from Global Books in Print) |
 | @home with your ancestors.com : how to research family history using the internet, by Diane Marelli. (2006) 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. |
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Getting StartedThe first thing to do is start talking. Talk to your parents, your grandparents, aunts and uncles, anyone who has a link to your family, no matter how remote. The tiniest piece of information could be your biggest lead in finding a long lost relative. Once you've started down this track, you will need some tools to help you piece it all together. This is where the library comes in. What follows will help you piece together the branches of your family tree.
Books
Books in a library? What were you thinking! A good book for those just starting is Tracing family history in New Zealand by Anne Bromell. Originally published in 1988, it has been revised and updated every few years. Have a look on the shelves at 929.3 BRO or follow the catalogue link to reserve it. Another local guide helpful when preparing to go into print is Writing your family history : a New Zealand guide by Joan Rosier-Jones. Have a look on the shelves at 929.1 ROS or follow the catalogue link to reserve it. Two places to start for whakapapa research are
General how-to books
MagazinesWellington City Libraries holds a number of genealogy magazines. They can all be found in the Arts, Music and Literature section of the library on the First floor of the Central Library.
Family Tree Magazine is a British publication that comes out on a monthly basis. Containing interesting and informative articles ; News of what's happening in the world of British genealogy ; Views from other readers, a useful name listing, book reviews and a computer section.
Australian family tree connections is an Australian publication (with New Zealand content) that comes out on a monthly basis.
OFFICIAL RECORDS INDEXESThese are held on the second floor of Central Library and are for "in-library" use only. Each of the microfiche held is an index of names divided into years. Alongside each name you will find a number, this number relates to the registery record held at Levin House in Lower Hutt. Having this number (usually referred to as a folio number) makes things easier when applying for a copy of a certificate.
Births(1840-1990)Up until 1956 just the name of the child is given in the indexes. Between 1956 and 1960, the place of birth is listed. From 1960 the name of the mother and the place of birth is listed.
Marriages(1840-1990)Until 1957 each year had a list of grooms in alphabetical order and a list of brides in alphabetical order. From 1957, cross-referencing occurs. Looking up a groom will also give you the bride's name, and vice versa.
Deaths(1848-1990)Until 1957, just the name is given in the index. Between 1957 and 1960, the place of death is listed. In 1960 the age of the deceased was added. 1961 saw the addition of the quarter in which the person died. In 1984 the age (at death) is replaced with the date of the person's birth. |
 | HOT TIP When requesting a certificate, ask for a photocopy of the registry record. Although they are same fee, you might get extra information that has been added or might not be needed on the full certificate. |
We also hold copies of the New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages microfiche from 1866-1890.
Cemetery Records
A very morbid, but useful way of finding long lost relatives.
These microfiche are divided into regions. 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.
Why is this useful?
Headstone inscriptions not only give the name of the deceased, but will quite often give the name of a spouse, how many children were had, and if more than one person is buried in the same plot, they will be listed as well. Online records are very incomplete, relying on volunteer support, but try the Cemetery Transcription Library brought to you from www.interment.net.
Wellington cemeteries
Whenua tapu cemetery includes plot maps.
Karori, Makara and Bolton St Cemeteries.
New Zealand electoral rolls
- 1866-1943
You've discovered a name, on the Marriage or Death microfiche, but aren't quite sure if the person is who you're looking for. The electoral rolls can give you those few extra clues needed.
Electoral rolls will give you the town/city the person was residing in, their occupation, and because they are in alphabetical order, a quick scan can give you the name/s of anyone at the same address. Very useful if you also have a spouse or child's name.
The library also holds electoral rolls from 1946-the current in paper form.
Newspapers
The library holds the Dominion and Evening Post on reel to reel microfilm.
Dominion - September 1907-2002, and Dominion Post 2002-
Evening Post - February 1865-2002
Use these to look up Birth, Marriage and Death notices.
Why?
As with cemetery records, newspaper notices will, more often than not, include the names of spouses, children and grandchildren. If a complete list of names is not given, a number will usually be mentioned.
eg. Joe Bloggs - died 18 Sept 1925. Beloved husband of Jane Bloggs, father of 10 children and Grandfather of 23.
This will give you some idea of how many people you are looking for.
The Wellington New Zealand Genealogy Index is an excellent local newspaper index. Essentially this is a BMD index of the Wellington newspaper notices for births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries, and in memoriam published daily since 1999, for the purposes of genealogy and family research. So this dovetails very nicely with end of published official indexes.
| HOT TIP You will find, once you've started down the genealogy path, names will be flying at you from all directions. A good thing to do is buy yourself a nice hardback journal and carry it with you where ever you go. Use it to jot down names, dates or places you hear, or read, about in your searching. Very useful if you come across a name you're not sure about, having a record of it means you can always come back to it later. A lot easier than trying to find the name again. |
New Zealand Post Office Directories
Commonly known as Wise's. These were published between 1872 and 1961 and contain an alphabetical list of persons and business firms by name. Think of them as a combined Yellowpages and Electorial Roll. They can be used to trace the movement and occupation of a person over an extended period of time.
Although an entire nuclear family may not be listed, you may find a sibling or other relative living in the same area.
Local Histories
Published to commerate the founding of a town or district, they can feature families of prominence in the area. Either the families played a role in the early settlement of the area ; a member of the family held a position of power at some stage, eg. Mayor, Councillor, or Doctor ; or the family ran a business of some importance in the area.
Local histories are usually written with the help of books, diaries, manuscripts, personal papers and letters, recollections of the locals and material found in archival repositories. Use the information found in the bibliographies, found at the end of any local history, as a springboard for further information.
Photographs
Photographs Start going through those old photos at home, find out who's who in those family get togethers such as 21st and weddings. After you have exhausted the photos at home, start sourcing them from elsewhere. Some public libraries have photographic collections. If your luck holds out, they may have had them card indexed. Wellington City Libraries has a large collection of historical photographs. At the moment they aren't indexed, but flipping through these photos is an enjoyable way of filling in a wet afternoon in town. Alexander Turnbull Library also holds a large collection of images from New Zealand's history.
"TAPUHI provides access to descriptions of the unpublished Manuscripts and Pictures Collections of New Zealand and Pacific material in the Alexander Turnbull Library. To use the original material you need to visit the National Library in Wellington, New Zealand."(description taken from the National Library website. Timeframes, also from National Library, allows you to search through and see some of the images listed in TAPUHI.
Do not overlook your local Historical Society as a source of information in your hunt for long lost family members. Repositories of a wealth of information (pictorial, written and oral), they can be found in most areas. You may be lucky enough to have a district wide society as well as a town society.
Contact information for Historical Socities can usually be found at the local library. You may be lucky enough to find the historical society even has a website. One such society is Horowhenua Historical Society in Levin. The site allows you to search an ever expanding collection of scanned images.
School and church history booklets
Use these in a similar way to Local Histories. They are usually published to commemorate a school reunion or jubilee. Full of information about the school, its teachers, principals, students of prominence. You may be lucky enough to find one that has included a complete list of all students who ever attended the school over the years. Below is an example taken from the Horowhena College 50th Jubilee book:
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It might also be possible to work out birth dates, which is a link back to the registry birth index. |
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Biographical dictionaries and BiographiesCurrently in five volumes and covering the years 1769-1960, The dictionary of New Zealand biography is just as it sounds. Personal details of people, who have achieved some level of importance, arranged in alphabetical order. Found at all of Wellington City's libraries at (REF) Bc DIC. Its also available online here . Who's who in New Zealand lists those who have achieved some level of importance. Each entry will have dates, honours and awards received. When a person dies, their entry is removed when the next edition is published. Published between 1897 and 1908, Cyclopedia of New Zealand was produced in six volumes. Each volume covered a specific provincial district. Members of the public could have their biography included in the appropiate volume for a fee. The information in these bibographies has not necessarily been verified. Biographies contain information about a person, their life, family and friends. Consulting the index may reveal the name of a forebear. Finding these references within the book may reward you with further information about your family. Another web-site of interest giving 'people' information is NZ 1840s-1980s Funeral notices . This site is added to continually to increase coverage of Funeral Notices, Memorium, News Items, Obituaries, Shipping, Te Maori, the Smith Surname, Recent Deaths, and Missing People.
Along with biographies are individual family histories. Books published by people just like you. They have traced their families history and thought it was interesting enough that others might like to read about them. A large collection of such books are available in the New Zealand room at the central library. All can be found at 929.2 (first three letters of the family name). Also use the catalogue and do a subject search on the family name your interested in. If there is an entry it will appear in the format "Fowler family.", also try a subject search on the country of interest followed by genealogy, eg New Zealand Genealogy.. You've gradually started gathering names, using a family group sheet will help you organise them into managable groups. Feel free to print out a copy of this Microsoft Word document and photocopy as many as you may need. |
Shipping
Denise and Peter's Shipping Lists
New Zealand Bound (Passenger lists and many other helpful links).
Sea voyages and Shipwrecks
| MYGATEWAY.INFO ELECTRONIC SOURCES Remember you will need your library card number to access. |
| 1. OXFORD REFERENCE ONLINE Contains full contents of over 100 reference books from the Oxford Publishing House suite. Of particular interest to genealogists is The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History but it also has a particular strength in general history (for living conditions of past-times). Search either across individual titles or the whole database centre.
2. TIMES Digital Archive 1785 - 1985. |
New Zealand general genealogy links
New Zealand Society of Genealogists
The main organisation to support family researchers, whether researching in NZ or overseas from within NZ.
Archives New Zealand
Keeps government records, so a mine of information for the genealogist. Note the guide for family history research , and ARCHWAY database which are good places to start.
National Library of New Zealand
The National Library of New Zealand has both a specialist genealogy reference centre, as well as houses the Alexander Turnbull Library which focuses on NZ research. They also house the Timeframes photographs database.
Wellington GenWeb
The main purpose of this Wellington site is to bring together the genealogical sources of the Wellington area to help with your family research. Also contains links to key other sites.
Helen's page of New Zealand history
Focusing mainly on Wellington and the lower North Island, this growing site contains early Wellington directories, passenger lists and a mine of other local history information.
New Zealand History resource network
Essays, indexes, biographies, and links, all with a site search. Find out contextual information about how your ancestors lived and what they experienced.
Wellington City Archives
Information about the activities and functions of Wellington City Council since its establishment(and therefore the development of Wellington City). So, in the context of genealogy, this may extend to property records, for example.
Links
International Genealogical Index
Cyndi's List, Online genealogical directory.
Wellington Library, Archive and Genealogy Links
NZ Society of Genealogists
Now that I've given you a few pointers on getting started, start digging. If, on your journey through genealogy, you come across a book or website you found useful or interesting, please don't hesitate to email me, Leonard Clough, and I can add it to this site, or pass the suggestion on to the appropriate member of our collection selection team.
