New Zealand Civil Registration
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Online Records
- Online Index to New Zealand Birth Records (1848 to 100 years ago)
- Online Index to New Zealand Death Records (1848 to 50 years ago), also available if the deceased person was born more than 80 years ago.
- Online Index to New Zealand Marriage Records (1848 to 80 years ago)
Background
In 1848, when the European population of New Zealand was becoming substantial, civil registration was began. As a British colony, the format and system was broadly similar to the system of civil registration that had been established in England in 1837. At first it was voluntary and no marriages were recorded. In 1854 marriages were included and it became compulsory for Europeans in 1856. Changes in 1875 and 1880 increased the detail recorded in the registers, making them very rich sources for genealogists. Specific Maori registration was introduced in 1911 for marriages and 1913 for births and deaths, but suffered from non-universal coverage.
New Zealand, like Britain has a system where Indexes were created each quarter or year listing names only. These are easily accessible for free, but the original certificates must be ordered for a fee.
See the FamilySearch tutorial "New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online"'
For birth, marriage and death records prior to 1848, see New Zealand Church Records.
General Historical Background
- Some district registrars occasionally held off sending in registration of an event for a brief time, and you may find the year of the registration later than the actual year of the event.
Information Recorded in Civil Registers.
Births. Birth records generally give:
- Child’s name
- Child’s sex
- Date and place of birth
- Names of the parents-including the maiden surname of the mother. From 1875 their ages, birthplaces and marriage date were also included.
- Father’s occupation
- Parent’s signature
- If a child’s name was changed after the registration of birth, then the altered name may be given.
Some points to keep in mind include the following:
- Births were generally registered within a few days of the child’s birth by the father, a close relative, or a neighbor.
- For Stillborns, see under "Deaths" in this section.
- Late registrations of births were kept by the Registrar General for registrations occuring at least two years after the birth. The name appears in the index for the year the birth was registered.
- In 1894, an act of Parliament allowed for the re-registration of the birth of any child born out of wedlock in cases when the parents married after the child’s birth.
- In September 1986, it became law, that if you were adopted, you could send for your original birth certificate. Please see the link further down the page, to order your original Birth Certificate.
Marriages. Marriage registers give:
- Date and place of the marriage
- Names of the bride and groom
- Ages of the bride and groom. From 1880 their birthplace was also recorded.
- Marital condition (whether single, widowed or divorced)
- Occupations
- From 1880 onwards, residences of the bride and groom.
- From 1880 onwards, the names of both parents of the bride and groom, including maiden names and the father's occupation.
- Signatures of the bride and groom (helpful in cases of a common surname)
- Names of witnesses
They often include other information about the bride and groom such as their residences, and the name of the person giving consent. In cases of second and later marriages, they may include the names of previous spouse and the death date.
If you believe a marriage took place but cannot find a record of the marriage, search Records of Intent to Marry notices from 1856 to 1920. These are indexed from early to 1880. These notices provide a bit more information than that which is found in the certificates of marriage--including the name of the consenting adult for the minor and the length of residence. To find these in the FamilySearch Catalog, look in the Place Search under:
NEW ZEALAND - CIVIL REGISTRATION
The following records document the legal completion of a marriage.
- Certified Copy (Certificate). This is a legal document, issued by the Registrar General, which normally does not provide all information given in the original registers of marriages.
- Photocopies. A photocopy of the original entry from the marriage register gives all of the information that was provided when the marriage was registered and is the most desirable documentation for genealogy and family history.
- Marriage registers. Church ministers recorded in register books, the marriages they performed. Marriages often occurred where the bride resided.
Deaths civil registrations of deaths generally give:
- Name of the deceased
- Date and place of death
- Place of residence
- Cause of death
- Sex of the deceased
- Age of the deceased
- Rank or occupation of the deceased
- Name, description and residence of the informant (especially helpful in cases of young children who died under the age of 18 as the informant is usually a parent)
From 1876 the following additional information was recorded:
- Birthplace of the deceased
- When and where buried
- Full names of parents--including the mother’s maiden surname
- Father’s rank or occupation
- To whom, where and at what age married
- Age of surviving spouse
- Sometimes religious denomination
- Ages and gender of living children
- Length of residence in New Zealand
Civil registrations of death often exist for individuals for whom there are no birth or marriage records. Deaths were usually registered within a few days of death and they were recorded at the office of the district registrar in the district where the death occurred.
In 1913, stillbirth registration began. The laws of New Zealand provided that when a child died within a few days of birth, it was recorded as a stillbirth. If the still birth was unregistered as a birth, it was to be registered as a death. Always be sure to search for it in the registrations of death.
Divorce Records. Civil officials began keeping divorce records in 1867. The Family History Library does not have New Zealand divorce records in their collection. You can obtain information from divorce records by contacting the Registrar General Office. The address is given later in this section. Archives New Zealand also holds divorce records. See New Zealand Archives and Libraries.
Accessing New Zealand Civil Registration
See the FamilySearch tutorial "New Zealand Births, Deaths, and Marriages Online"'
To access an original New Zealand civil registration record is a two step process:
- Find the record in the index
- Order the original certificate.
Indexes
The official indexes can be found on BMD Historical Records, run by the Department of Internal Affairs.
They are also available on Ancestry ($) in the following collections:
New Zealand, Birth Index, 1840-1950
New Zealand, Marriage Index, 1840-1937
New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966
Indexes until 1896 can also be found on FamilySearch at the collection New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Civil Record Indexes
Births Deaths & Marriages
PO Box 10-526
Wellington
Level 3, Boulcott House
47 Boulcott Street
Wellington
Email: bdm.nz@dia.govt.nz
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Fax: (+64 4) 382-3515 (for certificate and printout orders)
Fax: (+64 4) 382-3613 (for general enquiries)
Auckland
Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
PO Box 6147
Level 6, AA Building
99 Albert Street
Auckland
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Fax: (+64 9) 362 7908
Christchurch
Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
Private Bag 25-211
NZI House
Level 6
96 Hereford Street
Christchurch
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Fax: (+64 3) 366-9141
Manukau
Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
PO Box 76-222
Level 1
Corner Amersham Way and Osterley Way
Manukau City
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Fax: (+64 9) 262-2404
Wellington
Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
PO Box 10-526
Level 3, Boulcott House
47 Boulcott Street
Wellington
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Fax: (+64 4) 474-8147
Contact Centre
Freephone: 0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
Telephone: (+64 4) 474-8150
Email: bdm.nz@dia.govt.nz
Births, marriages and deaths were registered in the registration district where they occurred. The name of the registration district may be different than the name of the place where the actual event occurred. In the large cities, there may be several civil registration districts. When searching in the indexes, you can determine the registration district by its corresponding code number. A helpful guide for determining a registration district via code numbers is:
Neill, Mary et. al. District Keys to the New Zealand Registration Indexes (Family History Library book 993.1 V2n Index v. 1-3.)
Indexes to Civil Registration Records
Births, marriages, and deaths were registered as they occurred and thus are arranged chronologically. Indexes can help you find your ancestor more easily. The Civil Registration records are indexed from 1848 to the present. In addition, there are indexes to marriages for 1840-1847, which were compiled from entries in church registers. Content of the indexes include the given name, surname, and a reference number. They are indexed annually (except the first three years after civil registration commenced). The Family History Library has copies of the indexes to 1920 on microfiche. Look in the FamilySearch Catalog, Place Search, under: New Zealand, Civil Registration Indexes. CD 3282 Marriages from 1836-1956 is available at the Family History Library Salt Lake City, and perhaps many Family History Centres, or Libraries may have this CD.
New Zealand Civil Registration Indexes
Online indexes to Civil Registration are available at Births, Deaths and Marriages Online
Certificates can be purchased online at this website.
The indexes are arranged by year and cover the entire country. To use the indexes, you must know the name, the approximate year when an event took place and at least generally, the place of the event. To protect the rights of privacy of living persons, most modern records have restrictions on their use and access.
Be sure to contact the Registrar General’s Office for current fees for obtaining civil registration records. Some of the certificates and services you can obtain through the office are:
- A photocopy of a birth, marriage or death entry
- A certified copy of birth, marriage or death
- Personal inspection of an entry
- A search of the index for one name for a specified year
- Continuation of a search per each year
When writing to obtain a certificate be sure to send the following:
- Check or money order (in $N.Z. if writing from outside of country).
- International Reply Coupons, available from large post offices (or extra for postage)
- Full name and the sex of the person sought.
- Names of the parents, if known.
- Approximate date and place of the event.
- Your relationship to the person.
- Reason for the request (family history, family, etc.).
- Request for a photocopy of the complete original record.
If your request is unsuccessful, search for duplicate records that may have been filed in the district registration, or in the church registers (if you know the church in which the event took place).
A useful online index matching brides and grooms, to be used in conjunction with the Registrar General's Marriage Index, is Varcoe's New Zealand Marriages Index
Records at the Family History Library
The Family History Library has only the indexes to the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in New Zealand. The indexes are on microfiche. The years covered are 1840 to 1920 for births and marriages, and 1848 to 1920 for deaths. Some Family History Centers in New Zealand as well as public libraries have the indexes on fiche up to 1990.
At theFamily History Library there is a New Zealand Marriage CD number 3282, available on the British Floor B2. Marriages from 1836-1956 have been entered, and you can match the spouse straight away, and also the Folio Number, should you require a Certificate.
To find the microfiche call numbers for the indexes, look in the FamilySearch Catalog, Place Search under :
NEW ZEALAND - CIVIL REGISTRATION - INDEXES
District Keys to New Zealand Registration Indexes 993 V22n
These indexes cannot be circulated to the Family History Centers. Perhaps listing a query on a Genealogy site, folk would be willing to find the Registration District for you. One would have to quote the year, Birth or Death - the name of the person, and the number beside the name, if you are unable to get to Salt Lake City.
For other civil records, look in the FamilySearch Catalog, Place Search under:
NEW ZEALAND - CIVIL REGISTRATION
NEW ZEALAND - VITAL RECORDS - INDEXES
NEW ZEALAND - VITAL RECORDS
External Links
- http://genealogy.about.com/cs/vitalrecords/
- http://www.bdm.govt.nz/
- http://geneasearch.com/intl/aunz.htm
- http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/toausp01.shtml
- http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/heritage/