Rauemi rangahau mō ngā kōrero tuku iho ā-whānau o te ao International family history research resources

Australian Capital Territory
Civil registration commenced 1 January 1930
ACT Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Deaths 1930-1949 [2 AUS BDM ACT]

New South Wales
Civil registration commenced 1 March 1856
NSW Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1788-1918, Deaths 1788-1945, Marriages 1788-1945 [2 AUS BDM NSW]

Northern Territory
Civil registration commenced 24 August 1870
Note: 1856-1863 - New South Wales, 1863-1870 - South Australia
Northern Territory Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1870-1918, Deaths 1870-1913, Marriages 1870-1913 [2 AUS BDM NT]

Queensland
Civil registration commenced 1 March 1856
Queensland Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1856-1919, Deaths 1856-1954, Marriages 1856-1939 [2 AUS BDM QLD]

South Australia
Civil registration commenced 1 June 1842
Government of South Australia 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1842-1928, Deaths 1842-1970, Marriages 1842-1937 [2 AUS BDM SA]

Tasmania
Civil registration commenced 1 December 1838
Registration prior to 31 December 1899: Registrar-Generals Department pre-1900 births, deaths and marriages records
Registration after 31 December 1899: Tasmania Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1803-1905, Deaths 1803-1919, Marriages 1803-1919 [2 AUS BDM TAS]

Victoria
Civil registration commenced 1 July 1853
Victoria Government - search historical indexes (pay by view) 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1837-1913, Deaths 1837-1980, Marriages 1837-1942 [2 AUS BDM VIC]

Western Australia
Civil registration commenced 1 September 1841
Western Australia Government 
Indexes held at Auckland Libraries: Births 1841-1905, Deaths 1841-1980, Marriages 1841-1965 [2 AUS BDM WA]    

English and Welsh family records
Civil registration for England and Wales started 1 July 1837 and compulsory registration began in 1874. These are known as the General Register Indexes (GRO), but were formerly known as the St Catherine’s House Indexes.

Research Central at the Central City Library holds the Civil Registration indexes from July 1837- 2001. Check locations and services to find opening hours and address. 

Quarterly indexes from 1837 – 1983
You will need to check quarterly indexes from 1837-1983, as indexing is based on the date of registration and not on the date of the actual event. For example, someone could be born in December 1890 but not registered until January 1891. Therefore the reference will not occur until the first quarter (January - March) of 1891.

Annual indexes from 1984
The information given on the indexes is very limited: name, registration district, volume, page number.

The volume number is a geographic code.

Age at death is included in the index from 1866, and name of spouse is included in marriage indexes from 1912.

How to request a certificate for England or Wales
It is possible to get a certificate from the General Register Office  or Local Registry Office in England, or from a New Zealand based certificate service.

New Zealand based certificate services

• New Zealand Society of Genealogists  (members only)
• GenBritz down under. Contact: Vivienne Parker, phone
  (09) 578 2525 or email vivparker@xtra.co.nz

It's important to know that requesting copies of documents will incur a fee.

Parish registers               
Prior to civil registration (before July 1837), and even after to some extent, you will need to search parish registers.

• We have some parish registers available in book or microfiche format at 4 ENG BDM (followed by the county abbreviation) or 4 WLS BDM (followed by the county abbreviation).
• Some parish registers are on CD ROM, for example Phillimores Marriage Registers for some counties.
• International Genealogical Index - from about 1500 to the end of the 19th Century.
• Vital Records Index British Isles (CD Rom) contains 5 million births, christenings and marriages taken from a partial collection of records in the British Isles dating from 1538-1888.

Recommended reading

• St Catherine's House by Eve McLauglin
  
• An introduction to British civil registration by Tom Wood 

Irish indexes

• Registration of births, deaths and marriages started in 1 January 1864. The records are at the General Register Office in Dublin
• The indexes have been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah (Mormon Church) 1864-1921 and can be ordered through any LDS Family History Centre. Auckland Libraries is an accredited LDS Family History Centre.
• Summaries of the birth certificates 1864 - 1867 are included in the International Genealogical Index.
• From 1921 the entries for Northern Ireland are at the General Register Office in Belfast
• Search International Genealogical Index for baptism and marriage records.
• Vital Records Index British Isles (CD Rom) contains 5 million births, christenings and marriages taken from a collection of records in the British Isles dating from 1538-1888 - this includes Ireland.

Recommended reading

• Tracing your Irish Ancestors - Chapter 1. Civil Records by John Grenham
• Irish records: sources for family and local history - p 10 by James Ryan

Records may be in the local language or the language of the country that controlled the territory at the time.

Niue records are copies of the original registers. As they are not certified by the registrar-general, they may not be acceptable for legal purposes.

Research Central has a range of resources for many Pacific countries, including:

• missionary/church record
• embassy/consulate records
• adoptions
• civil registration records
• land and probate records
• immigration records
• compiled genealogies.

Pacific records held in Research Central

• Fiji circa 1871 – 1950
• Tahiti circa 1818 – 1950
• Tonga circa 1830 – 1980
• Samoa (American and Western) circa 1852-1993
• Niue 1900 – 1997
  • birth registration records for Niue 1900-1997 (3 NIU BDM)
  • birth indexes (3 NIU BDM)
  • death and stillbirth registration records 1899-1997 (3 NIU BDM)
  • death indexes (3 NIU BDM)
  • marriage registrations (3 NIU BDM)
  • various genealogies (3 NIU FAM)
  • genealogies of Niue women (3 NIU FAM)
  • emigration from Niue (3 NIU IMM)
  • European immigration to Niue (3 NIU IMM)

We have a growing collection of Scottish family history resources.

General Register of Births Deaths and Marriages
This is housed at New Register House, Edinburgh, and dates from 1 January 1855.

Scotland's People
This is the official governmental source of genealogical data for Scotland. It is a "pay as you view" database of indexes from the genealogical records of the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). It includes Statutory Registers of births and marriages 1855-1899 and Statutory Registers of deaths -1855-1924. An additional year of births / deaths / marriage index data is added every year.

The restriction to data over 100 years old is GROS policy, to protect the privacy of living persons.

Old Parochial Registers (1740 - 1855)

Christening and marriage records of some 900 Presbyterian parishes were kept by their ministers, and most date from about 1740.

Research Central has the index to these registers on microfiche at shelf number 4 SCT BDM.

International Genealogical Index

Visit FamilySearch for baptism and marriage records.

Vital Records Index British Isles (1538 – 1888)

Vital Records Index contains 5 million births, christenings and marriages taken from a partial collection of records in the British Isles (includes Scotland).

Recommended reading

• Tracing your Scottish ancestry by Kathleen Cory