Auckland Council Libraries: New Zealand family research sources

New Zealand family research sources

Ngā mātāpuna rangahau whānau nō Aotearoa

As you continue researching your family history, there are a number of other places you can look for more information.


Funeral directors' records

Funeral directors' records will give you similar information to a death certificate, however, it’s best to only contact funeral directors when you have proof of which funeral director was involved (from a death notice) and the date of death.


Auckland funeral directors


C Little and Sons Ltd

  • C Little and Sons Ltd records are now in the Cemetery Records collection in Kura Heritage Collections Online 


Watney Sibun and W H Tongue



Cemetery records

Along with funeral directors' records, cemetery records can provide information about parents, siblings, children and spouses.


New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) cemetery records


Auckland cemetery records



Finding family notices


Historic newspapers

Many birth, death and marriage (BDM) notices and obituaries can be found in historic newspapers online:


Death notice index and obituary notices

  • Research Central has a death notice index, clippings scrapbooks, and obituary scrapbooks that go beyond the dates available in online historic newspapers.


Family notice websites and databases



Census and census substitutes

New Zealand doesn’t keep genealogical information from censuses. There are a number of census substitute sources you can use.


Search the library catalogue for:


  • street directories

  • phone directories

  • local body electoral rolls

  • burgess rolls

  • habitation indexes.

Other sources to try include:


For census information for other countries, visit:


Access to resources


  • Ancestry.com and The Genealogist are available, free of charge, from a library.
  • Full access to Find My Past is only available at a library.
  • 1921 Census of England and Wales is available for access only within a library at this time. Watch out for updates on remote access.

Auckland Council Libraries:New Zealand family research sources Key New Zealand resources to use for researching your family history