Where can I find the family history collections?
The family history collections are located in the Auckland Research Centre, on the second floor of the Central City Library.
Family history in the Digital library
Auckland City Libraries has access to a large number of online resources in our
Digital Library's family history section.
What can I find in the family history collections?
Following is a list of the family history resources you can find at the Central City Library.
New Zealand
- Indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1848-1997
- New Zealand and Auckland directories from 1850s onwards
- New Zealand Electoral Rolls from 1853
- Immigration indexes – Auckland Arrivals 1838-1899 and 1909-1921 (names extracted from newspapers); some indexes for Taranaki, Wellington & Lyttelton
- Cemetery records and monumental inscriptions for New Zealand, produced by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists
- Cemetery records – Symonds Street, St Stephens, Hillsborough, Waikaraka, Otahuhu Public, Onetangi, and Waiheke. We also have Waikumete burial records to 1982.
- Military records – muster rolls and pay lists for the sixty-fith Regiment & fifty-eighth regiment; Boer War, WW1 and WW2 NZ Expeditionary Force Nominal Rolls
- Newspapers – (on microfilm) New Zealand Herald from 1863, The New Zealander, Daily Southern Cross, Auckland Star and many other titles
- Specialist indexes – Auckland Provincial History Index, New Zealand Card Index, Auckland Death Notice Index (1886-1946), Bush’s Index (Auckland City Council), [Alexander Hill's Index], [C. Little & Sons (indexed records 1901-1937)]
- Magazines – general and genealogical
- Auckland Police Census 1842-46 plus lots more!
Australia
- Indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1788 – 1985, where they’ve been released
- Australian Police & Government Gazettes, where they’ve been released
- NSW to 1856 and Tasmanian (1803/38-1899) registers of births deaths & marriages (the same information as would appear on certificates)
- Probate indexes for NSW (1800-1982), New Territories (c1885-c1991), Queensland (c1859-c1900), & Victoria (1841-1992)
- Passenger lists and immigration records
- Convict records
- Magazines – Australian Family tree Connections, Descent, Ancestor
- “How To” Guides
- Inquests Index for Victoria 1841-1985
- Specialist indexes, mainly on microfiche and CD-ROM
- Cemetery records
- The Sydney Morning Herald, 1831-1844/45
- NSW Genealogical Research Kit – microfilms from the NSW Archives covering Convict arrivals, assisted and unassisted passenger arrivals, and naturalisation records.
- NSW Colonial Secretary’s papers
- Queensland Genealogical Research Kit
- Directories
- Electoral rolls, including the full 1999 Australian Electoral Roll
England and Wales
- Military records (limited) England & Wales
- General Register Office indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1837-2000
- Census - indexes mainly for 1851 and 1881, but we have some for other years; census transcriptions and digitised images 1841-1901 (Ancestry.com available to library members only).
- Probate indexes 1858-1943 and some pre 1858 for various courts
- The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and microfiche
- Trade Directories (some)
- “How To” Gazetteers
- 19th century Ordnance Survey maps
- The Times (London) newspaper 1785-1985 (database) and microfilms (1785-1997)
- Index to the Times (1790-2003)
- Magazines – genealogical
- Directories and poll books (some)
- School and University records - Eton, Oxford, Cambridge etc
- National Burial Index
- Military records - including rolls of honours for WW1 and WW2, Army, Navy and Air force lists
- Crockford’s Clerical Directory (some)
- Trinity House petitions 1787-1854
Scotland
- Indexes to births 1907-1955, marriages 1932-1956 and deaths 1855-1875 (some counties)
- Old parochial registers (OPRs) to 1854 (incl)
- The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and microfiche
- Monumental inscriptions (some)
- Census - indexes mainly 1851& 1891 but we have some for other years. A full transcription and index for 1881; indexed transcriptions 1841-1901 (Ancestry.com); 1901 on microfilm (some counties)
- Probate indexes for “Scottish and Irish wills” are an annual addendum to the English and Welsh probate indexes
- Trade Directories
- “How To” Guides
- Gazetteers
- 19th century Ordnance Survey Maps
- Soldiers who died in the Great War
- Land records (Sasines) some abridgements
- Clan histories
- Dictionaries of Scottish names
- Some university alumni rolls
- Retours 1544-1699 & Service of Heirs 1700-1859
- Vital Records Index of British Isles 1538-1888 (includes Scotland)
Ireland
Most Irish records continue to be accessible only in Ireland. Good guides to the resources are J G Ryan, sources for Family & Local History; John Grenham, Tracing your Irish Ancestry; and Ian Maxwell, Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland.
- The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and on microfiche
- Indexes to births, deaths and marriages 1864-1921
- Monumental inscriptions (some)
- Directories
- “How To” Guides
- Gazetteers
- 19th century Ordnance Survey Maps
- Probate indexes for “Scottish and Irish wills” are an annual addendum to the English and Welsh probate indexes
- Wills indexes (some)
- Census records – surviving details from the 1841 and 1851 censuses; 1901 (Fermanagh, Tyrone, Longford)
- Griffiths Valuation
- Tithe applotment books
- Irish Constabulary records 1816-1922
- Magazines – genealogical
- Soldiers who died in the Great War
How do you organise your family history information?
The classification system used for the family history collection has been specially designed by the staff to simplify access and allow greater self-help.
The family history classification system consists of up to four parts:
Level 1 - Geographical Area, represented by a number:
- International
- Australasia (New Zealand and Australia)
- Pacific Islands
- British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland)
- Europe
- The Americas
- Africa
- Asia
Level 2 - Country, represented by a three-letter code, based on the Chapman and other codes used in publications such as the Family history research directory. e.g. NZL for New Zealand ENG for England, ANZ for Australia and New Zealand (content about both countries).
Level 3 - Subject, represented by a three letter code, based on codes used by the Genealogical Society of Utah. e.g. CEN for Census IMM for Immigration, including passenger lists.
Level 4 - Geographical subdivision (where required), represented by a three letter code, based on the Chapman and other codes used in publications such as the Family history research directory. e.g. NSW for New South Wales, COR for Cornwall, AKD for Auckland.
Family history resources elsewhere in the libraries
Other collections in the Central City Library complement the family history collection. Special Collections, also on the Heritage Floor, holds manuscripts, archives, photographs, maps, ephemera and rare books. The collections on the other floors and in the basement include national, local, school and other histories, directories, biographical dictionaries, maps and gazetteers.