The following are the main public cemeteries in Auckland and Waitakere cities.
Symonds Street 1841 – 1886
St Stephens 1844 to 1982
Symonds Street Cemetery was the main Auckland cemetery until it closed in 1886. Burials for the St Stephens Cemetery in Parnell date from 1844 to 1982.
Symonds St and St Stephens database - search cemetery records in this combined database. Please also view the maps in our
Symonds street cemetery virtual exhibition.
Visiting the cemetery in person?
Download the tour (wma file, 4,799kb) created for the Auckland Heritage festival by David Verran and import it to your mp3 player to listen on the go.
Auckland City cemetery information – from the Auckland City Council website.
Waikaraka Cemetery 1890 -
Otahuhu Public Cemetery 1894 – 1984
Hillsborough Cemetery 1916 - 1974
Waiheke Cemetery 1943 - 1992
Cemetery Records database – search this database for records of burials in these cemeteries up to the present day.
Auckland City cemetery information – from the Auckland City Council website.
Waikaraka Cemetery Record Book – search the plot book from 1890 to 1906 on this Auckland City Council Archives database.
Waikumete Cemetery 1886-
Waikumete Cemetery and Crematorium covers an area of 108 hectares and since 1908 has served as the main cemetery for the Auckland region. It is the largest cemetery in New Zealand and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Waikumete Cemetery information – from the Waitakere City Council.
Books covering
Waikumete Cemetery - available at Auckland City Libraries.
Purewa Cemetery 1889-
In 1889, the Anglican Church established Purewa Cemetery through a gift of land. The cemetery still remains one of the Anglican Church's most important assets. The cemetery is administered by the Purewa Cemetery Trust Board.
Purewa Cemetery information – from the Purewa Cemetery website.
North Shore cemeteries
Burial records can be found through the
Cemetery Search on the North Shore City Council website.
Information is available on the following cemeteries:
Albany Village Cemetery
Birkenhead-Glenfield Cemetery
Mt Victoria Cemetery, Devonport
North Shore Memorial Park, Albany
O'Neill's Point Cemetery, Bayswater
Pompallier Cemetery, Birkenhead
St Mary's Pioneer Cemetery, Torbay
West Auckland cemeteries
Rodney District Council administers ten cemeteries in the Rodney District, primarily in the western and northern regions.
Burial records can be found through the
Cemetery Search on the Rodney District Council website.
Information is available on the
council website for the following cemeteries:
Helensville Cemetery
Hoteo North Cemetery
Kaipara Flats Cemetery
Kaukapakapa Cemetery
Kumeu Cemetery
Tapora Cemetery
Te Kapa Cemetery
Wainui Cemetery
Warkworth Cemetery
Wellsford Cemetery
South Auckland cemeteries
Mangere Lawn Cemetery and Crematorium 1894 –
This cemetery at 85 McKenzie Road, Mangere is managed by the Mangere Lawn Cemetery Trust Board.
Manukau Memorial Gardens
This cemetery in Papatoetoe is managed by Manukau City Council Burial records can be found through the
Genealogy Search.
Other information sources
Death registrations
See information on our webpages about obtaining death registrations and alternatives to an official certificate.
Newspaper death notices
A number of newspapers are available in the Auckland Research Centre.
Place of residence
People may be buried in the same locality they lived in. Where are other family buried? Families are often buried in the same cemeteries.
Funeral directors' records
Match the date of death with the date of when the cemetery opened. More information in our births, deaths, and marriages webpages.
Records to look for
Burial and cremations registers have been compiled by churches and other cemetery administrators, and some are held in the libraries’ family history collection, see pp.15-20 and pp.24-26 of
Researching family history in the collections of Auckland City Libraries.
Monumental inscriptions
The details written on headstones have been transcribed and published by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. They are available on microfiche in
New Zealand cemetery records (1985-)
