New Zealand

Find your New Zealand ancestors, local history and details of their lives with these links to online family history and genealogy resources.

Archives

  • Archives New Zealand
    Find out what you can find in New Zealand Archives and how to access their records. There’s also a ton of advice and resources to help your research along.

Births, Marriages and Deaths

  • Births, Deaths & Marriages Online NZ
    Births, Deaths & Marriages Online New Zealand allows you to search:
    Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
    Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
    Marriages that occurred at least 80 years ago
    Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased’s date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
    Searching is free of charge but if you’d like a printout or certificate, payment is required.
  • New Zealand Death Index
    Deaths included in this index are those that occurred at least 50 years ago or where the deceased’s date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
  • New Zealand Presbyterian Records
    New Zealand Presbyterian Records has free access to baptism (1848-1920) and marriage (1848-1930) records plus much more of interest for family historians.

Burials & Cemeteries

  • Christchurch Cemeteries Database
    The Christchurch Cemeteries Database includes interments from the following cemeteries: Addington Cemetery, Avonhead Park Cemetery, Barbadoes Street, Belfast Cemetery, Bromley Cemetery, Linwood Cemetery, Memorial Park Cemetery, Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Sydenham Cemetery, Waimairi Cemetery, Woolston Cemetery, Yaldhurst Cemetery.
  • Dunedin Cemeteries Database
    The Dunedin Cemeteries Database is for those who want to find information on anyone buried at any Dunedin City cemetery between 1850-present.
  • Nelson Cemeteries Database
    Search and view burial records for the following cemeteries in Nelson, New Zealand.
    – Fairfield
    – Hallowell
    – Hira
    – Marsden Valley
    – Seaview Road
    – St. Mary’s Orphanage
    – Wakapuaka
  • South Taranaki Deaths & Burials
    Search and view death & burial records for the South Taranaki district of New Zealand.

Census Records

  • New Zealand Electoral Rolls
    Search for your ancestor, their occupation and their residence on the New Zealand Electoral Rolls. An invaluable census substitute, these records may help you chart your ancestor’s location, work and property.

Immigration

  • New Zealand Passenger Lists 1839-1973
    Images and index of the ship passenger lists from Archives New Zealand. There are various types of lists including both outbound and inbound passengers at the various port of New Zealand. The earliest outbound lists are from minor ports (ports other than Auckland or Wellington) and begin in 1886.
  • New Zealand Bound
    New Zealand Bound is dedicated to identifying genealogical resources to assist in locating which ship an immigrant ancestor was aboard when travelling to NZ.
  • New Zealand Yesteryears
    New Zealand Yesteryears has the details of 942 Ships, 250 ship photographs, 2434 Passenger Lists, 34 Shipboard diaries from the years 1800 – 1900 and much more.
  • Passenger Lists for Arrivals into Nelson
    See the passengers using the name of the ship and the date it arrived.

Military Records

  • Auckland Cenotaph Database
    Search for biographical and service details for over 115,000 New Zealand service men and women from the 19th century till today and especially from World War One and World War Two.
  • New Zealand Military Pensions
    New Zealand Military Pensions for the years 1900 and 1902 sorted alphabetically by surname. Extracted from the Statutes of New Zealand.
  • New Zealand WWI Personnel Files
    A database of all known New Zealanders that served in World War One. Over 140,000 individual records have been digitised comprising around 4 million individual images.
  • New Zealand WW1 Soldiers
    These are the four volumes of the embarkation rolls of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 produced by the Government Printer, Wellington. They cover both male and female service personnel.

Newspaper Archives

  • Papers Past
    Papers Past is a digital archive of historic New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The archive covers the years 1839 to 1945 and includes 70 publications from all regions of New Zealand.

School Records

Societies and Groups

  • New Zealand Society of Genealogists
    To provide educational opportunities and research resources for the development of knowledge, skills and practice in family history, genealogy and whakapapa for members and the wider community.

Wills and Probate

  • New Zealand Probate Records 1843-1998
    Images and index for probate records from Archives New Zealand. The records were created by various courts throughout New Zealand. Although the index will contain entries up through 1998 when all images have been captured, the images for probates issued during the past 50 years are unavailable for viewing. The original records are located in the Archives New Zealand offices situated in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.