Family history resources

The Auckland Research Centre has an extensive collection of resources for family history research. Use the menu links below to see a brief list of what we have:

• New Zealand
• Australia
• England and Wales
• Scotland
• Ireland

Family history resources elsewhere

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.

You can help too!

If you know of good sources not held in the Family History collection, we welcome recommendations for items which might be acquired. Leave details for the Family History Librarian at the Auckland research centre desk.

New Zealand

• Indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1848-1997
• New Zealand and Auckland directories from the 1850s onwards
• New Zealand Electoral Rolls from 1853 onwards
• Immigration indexes - Auckland Arrivals 1838-1899 (names extracted from newspapers); limited indexes for Taranaki, Wellington & Lyttelton
• Monumental inscriptions - NZ-wide, produced by the NZ Society of Genealogists
• Burial records for most Auckland cemeteries
• Military records - Muster Rolls and Pay Lists for the 65th Regiment and those who enlisted for World War 1
• Specialist indexes - e.g.Auckland Provincial History Index and the New Zealand Card Index. The former is on microfilm. 
• Sources for Whakapapa are described in the Te Pataka Korero Maori section of the website.
• Full runs of the main Auckland newspapers are held, mainly on microfilm in the Auckland Research Centre. Many newspapers from other New Zealand towns may also be available viainterloan. 

Australia

• Indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1788 - 1985, where they've been released (Ancestor vol 25 no 4, December 2000 gives a full list of what's available)
• Tasmanian registers of births deaths & marriages 1803/38-1899 (the same information as would appear on certificates)
• NSW registers of births, deaths and marriages to 1856 (the same information as would appear on certificates)
• Probate indexes for Victoria & NSW
• 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 for 1831-1844/45
• The NSW Genealogical Research Kit - microfilms from the NSW Archives covering Convict arrivals, assisted and unassisted passenger arrivals, naturalisation records &c
• The Queensland Genealogical Research Kit
• Directories
• Electoral rolls, including the full 1999 Australian Electoral Roll
• Military records (limited)

England and Wales

• General Register Office ("St Catherine's House") indexes of births, deaths & marriages 1837-2001
• Census indexes - mainly for 1851, but we have some for 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1891. The 1881 census on computer and on microfiche
• The 1851 census for Norfolk, Warwickshire and Devon on CD-ROM
• Probate indexes 1858-1943 (microfiche)
• Early (pre-1858) wills for various regions
• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and on microfiche
• Trade Directories
• "How To" Guides for military, naval, criminal and railway ancestors amongst others
• Gazetteers
• 19^th century Ordnance Survey maps
• Soldiers died in the Great War
• WW2 Army Roll of Honour
• The Times (London) newspaper 1785-1997
• Palmers Index to the Times
• Magazines - Practical Family History, Family Tree Magazine, The Genealogists Magazine
• Telephone directories for some regions

Scotland

• old parish registers (to 1855)
• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and on microfiche
• Monumental inscriptions
• Census indexes - mainly for 1851, but we have some for 1841, 1861, and 1871 The full 1891 census is available on microfiche, and the 1881 census for Scotland is accessible on computer.
• Probate indexes for "Scottish and Irish wills" are an annual addendum to the English and Welsh probate indexes
• Trade Directories
• "How To" Guides
• Gazetteers
• 19^th century Ordnance Survey Maps
• Soldiers died in the Great War
• Land records
• Clan histories
• Dictionaries of Scottish names
• Glasgow University Graduates 1727-1897

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; Ian Maxwell, Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland.

We have:

• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) on computer and on microfiche
• Monumental inscriptions
• Directories
• "How To" Guides
• Gazetteers
• Ordnance Survey Maps
• Probate indexes for "Scottish and Irish wills" are an annual addendum to the English and Welsh probate indexes
• Wills indexes
• Census records - surviving details from the 1841 and 1851 censuses
• Griffiths Valuation, on CD-ROM and microfiche
• Irish Tithe Applotment books on microfilm
• Magazines - Irish Roots, Septs, Irish Family History