new zealand bdm family history research

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Welcome to Births, Deaths and Marriages Online.

This site is for people who have a verified RealMe account or for approved organisations to order certificates and printouts. Please go to the RealMe website for more information about RealMe and verified accounts. Non-historical records that can be ordered through this website are:

• Name change certificates processed after 25 January 2009 for overseas born people

This site allows you to search and order historical records without a verified RealMe account. Historical data available for you to search is limited and includes:

• Non Historical Records
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Online access to historical NZ birth, death and marriage records

• Richard Worth

A website which provides online access to New Zealand’s historical birth, death and marriage records was today launched by the Minister of Internal Affairs Richard Worth.

The website, developed by the Department of Internal Affairs, will be useful to genealogists and people who would like historical birth, death and marriage information about their relatives, said Dr Worth.

“I’m pleased to launch the site as part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to making more public information available online, whilst balancing the protection of people’s privacy and reducing opportunities for fraud,” he said.

The Births Death and Marriage Historical Records website, at   www.bdmhistoricalrecords.identityservices.govt.nz/ , provides access to information about:

• Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
• Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
• Marriages and eventually Civil Unions that occurred 80 years ago
• Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.

The new website can also be accessed from the Department of Internal Affairs website at www.dia.govt.nz

To use the site, people enter a family name and a ‘search from date’ or a registration number into the search box. They can then order a certificate or a print out from a list of search results and pay by credit card.

The historic data available is limited so that information relating to people who might still be alive can be protected. 

Since 25 January this year, people wanting access to more recent birth, death, marriage, civil union or name change records need to show evidence of their identity and apply by post, fax or in person at BDM offices in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Manukau.

When applying for a certificate or related products for more recent records, people need to sign a written statement saying the information they are providing is true and correct. The statement must also be signed by a person of standing in the community.

This new requirement maintains public access to registers while also providing better safeguards for people’s personal information.

Get help to find birth, death and marriage records

If you do not know the year of a record you're looking for, you can ask Births, Deaths and Marriages to search for it.

How it works

You need to tell Births, Deaths and Marriages:

• the full name of the person whose record you want (or the full names of both people, if it’s a marriage or civil union)
• the type of record (birth, death, marriage, civil union or name change)
• the date, year, or range of years to search
• the place where the event happened, and
• any other information that could help them find the record (for example, parents’ names).

If you’re searching for a name change, you need to give the person’s date and place of birth.

What it costs

• $25 to search a 3-year period, and
• $1 for each extra year.

Search costs are on top of the cost of getting a certificate or printout.

You have to pay for the search even if the record is not found.

Contact Births, Deaths and Marriages

Who to contact for more help

If you need more help or have questions about the information or services on this page, contact the following agency.

Births, Deaths and Marriages

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Last updated 30 September 2020

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Date printed 10 August 2024

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Births, Deaths & Marriages Index - Tips & Tricks

Records of Births, Deaths and Marriages can be a valuable resource when researching your family history.  

There are two main sources to use:  

Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records - BDM Online

These historical records are provided by the Department of Internal Affairs. The database is searchable for births that occurred at least 100 years ago; stillbirths at least 50 years ago; marriages at least 80 years ago; and deaths at least 50 years ago or the person was over the age of 80 when they died. 

The Birth Indexes include parents names so are a useful way to find all the children born to a particular set of parents. These are indexes only so you will not be able to obtain the certificate but you can order one directly from the site.

These can be found on Level 3 of Central Library.  There are separate sequences for births, deaths and marriages.  Each sequence is arranged by year then alphabetically by surname.  

For Marriages there are 2 sequences within each year – a brides section and a grooms section.  

Each entry will list the surname, first name and a number. This is referred to as the folio number. For Births and Deaths after 1957 entries will include more information such as the place the event is registered.  For Birth and Death records before 1957 you can check the folio number against the district key to identify the place and the quarter that the birth or death was registered in. The District Keys are kept near the indexes for easy reference.

Example of a District Key

The District Keys will list the registration district and the first folio number registered in that district in that quarter, so look for the number closest to the one you are searching for.  For example: the birth of Amy Peterson in 1886 has the folio number 3599.  The district keys for 1886 show 3597 was the first birth registered in Hamilton in the October to December quarter with the next registration district listed as 3605.  This tells us that Amy’s birth was registered in Hamilton between October and December 1886. There are no district keys past 1957 as more information was generally included on the fiche.  Marriage records were centrally registered so there is no district key for marriages.

Keep in mind that the date on the index is when the event was registered and does not indicate the actual event date. A child born in December may not have been registered until the following year.  Sometimes parents neglected to register their children’s births and their births are registered years later even as adults.

Further information valuable to your family history research such as parents names, place of birth, how long they've been in New Zealand and number of children might be found on the original record. These can be ordered from BDMOnline .  

Maaori Records

There were separate registration systems for Maaori from 1911-1960.  These indexes are located at the end of each Microfiche sequence.  Some Maaori may have been registered in the general sequence so it can pay to check both.

Further Resources

A useful guide to the information you can expect to find on a birth, death or marriage certificate can be found in A Beginner’s Guide to Family History Research in New Zealand and  New Zealand Beginner’s Guide to Family History Research , both by Anne Bromell.

Other Sources  

Cemetery records can be a useful way to locate death records, m any cemeteries now have indexes online.  Cemetery transcriptions compiled by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists can be found on Ancestry.com. Ancestry Library Edition is available at all Hamilton City Libraries branches.  

Newspapers often published birth, death and marriage notices. Historical newspapers for New Zealand can be found on Paperspast .  

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Research your genealogy and family history

Rangahaua tō whakapapa me ngā kōrero tuku iho ā-whānau.

Interested in tracing your family tree? Follow our family history research guide to get started.

How to start

Start with yourself and everything you already know - collate names of family members, dates of birth, marriage and death.

Talking to family can be helpful. They can often provide:

photographs

interesting stories

certificates that you can transcribe or copy.

Treat anecdotal information as clues, rather than facts!

Record your research

Start filling out a family tree. Use a notebook to keep your rangahau  together.

Download a generation chart to start recording your family tree.

 Generation chart

Text version of Generation chart

Keep note of references and sources and include dates. That way you can always go back and make further enquiries.

Record women by their maiden names (the name they were born with).

Be sure to write surnames (family names) in upper case, as some surnames can also be first names.

Write dates in full, e.g. 11 June 1876, as date formats differ from country to country.

When writing place names, follow the format 'suburb, city, country.' For example, 'Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand'.

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Links - genealogy

Page 1 – introduction, websites for family history research.

See also: guide to researching First World War soldiers .

Recently added searchable pdf version of the 1940 Dictionary of NZ Biography .

On this page:

Births, deaths and marriages.

• Shipping Lists

Cemetery Records

Immigrant groups.

• Auckland City Libraries Genealogy links - Includes how to start guide to genealogy.
• Volume 1. Wellington Provincial District . Published 1897
• Volume 2. Auckland Povincial District . Published 1902
• Volume 3. Canterbury Provincial District . Published 1903
• Volume 4. Otago and Southland Provincial Districts . Published 1905
• Volume 5. Nelson, Marlborough and Westland Provincial Districts . Published 1906
• Volume 6. Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Wellington Provincial Districts . Published 1908
• Denise and Peters our Stuff - lots of useful primary sources digitised and searchable
• Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
• Digitising family history and whakapapa - guide provided by Digital NZ for  those wanting to scan, digitise, or digitally copy old family pictures, records and documents.
• Dunedin Genealogy - website of the Dunedin Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists
• FamilySearch.org - family history, family tree, and genealogy records and resources from around the world, provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
• Genealogical Computing Group (GCG) homepage - This group fosters the use of computers as a tool for genealogical research. Contact details for local groups.
• Genes Reunited   - combines genealogy with internet social-networking. Members become ‘cyber detectives', building their family tree by posting it on the site and investigating which ancestors they share with other members. One new name is added to the site every single second.
• Goldrush Online - search the names of 50000 goldminers from the goldrushes of New Zealand Spanning the years 1861 - 1872
• Helen's Page of New Zealand history - Contains a wide variety of primary source material relating mainly to mid to lower North Island (including Wellington). Includes electoral rolls and directories, shipping / passenger lists, church records, BDM and cemetery records, school lists, military records and a wide variety of other goodies.
• British and Irish immigration to New Zealand - statistical analysis of immigration and settler patterns, 1840-1915 - downloadable from this site.
• New Zealand family history @ Christchurch City Libraries - European New Zealand family history resources held by the libraries or that can be accessed through them. The main focus is Christchurch and Canterbury information from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• New Zealand Defence Force Personnel Records - For ordering military records of those who enlisted in New Zealand forces. These often include useful genealogical information.
• New Zealand Genealogy Links - Extensive links, focusing on marriage records, birth, shipping lists, and military records. It also has a good section of regional resources.
• New Zealand Genealogy Online - Links to New Zealand genealogical resources.
• New Zealand Genealogy Records from Ancestry.com - a collection of digitised sources for genealogists, including some that can be accessed for free
• New Zealand GenWeb - The New ZealandGenWeb Project hosts the New ZealandGenWeb regional projects and is one of the participating sites of the WorldGenWeb Project. The 'Resources' page covers everything from directories and civil registers, to libraries, archives and historical societies.
• New Zealand Society of Genealogists homepage - Starting point for researching family history. includes key resources such as research guides and information on courses. The 'Resources' section also contains good descriptions of the many different types of resources available to the genealogist.
• New Zealand Yesteryears - Provides information of interest to genealogists, with an emphasis on Southland. Includes shipping information, images, archives, a timeline of NZ history, recommended NZ links, and a glossary of Maori names.
• Otago Nominal Index - An index to names in documents held by the Hocken Collections. The index holds nearly 250,000 records from electoral rolls, street directories, and Police gazettes for Otago & Southland.
• Papers Past  - National Library of New Zealand's digitised collection of  newspapers.
• Pearl's Pad - Includes genealogical and general interest historical records, particularly for the area from Coromandel to the Bay of Islands (including Auckland), but also some New Zealand-wide resources, newspaper and other indexes, shipping lists, school rolls, 19th century native land tenure and NZ Army records and much more.
• Shadows of Time - Contains a range of useful indexes including lists of mayors, university graduates and early settlers.
• The 1901 Census for England & Wales - This website contains census images and transcriptions from the 1901 Census of England and Wales. It allows visitors to search the census in a variety of ways, though payment is required to access the full records.
• Tracing your family tree - a handy guide
• Wellington City Council Archives - most of the holdings of Wellington City Archives can be browsed on line. Holdings include local authority records for Wellington city dating back to 1842, and the archives of other Wellington organisations ranging from Wellington Harbour Board to Tawa Community Theatre. There is also a module which allows searching of the content of Wellington rate books from 1863-65.
• Australasia Births Deaths and Marriages Exchange - A place to share information about details contained on birth, death and marriage registrations registered in Australia and New Zealand.
• Births, Deaths and Marriages Historical Records - The Births, Deaths and Marriages registry (BDM) registers all births, deaths and marriages which take place in New Zealand. The database provides the records of: Births that occurred at least 100 years ago; Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago; Marriages and eventually Civil Unions that occurred 80 years ago; Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
• Register of Otago & Southland Marriages 1848-1920 - This database covers almost all of Otago and an ever increasing number of pre-1920 Southland Presbyterian marriages.
• Marriage records - UK based site for people researching historical marriages
• Varcoe's New Zealand Marriages Index - Database of New Zealand marriage records, 1840-62. Enables searching of marriage index records for a second spouse by using year and folio number, and from 1840-1862 by name. Māori data spans 1904-1959. Designed to be used in conjunction with the microfiche Marriages Indexes published by the New Zealand Registrar-General's Office.

Shipping/Passenger Lists

• Auckland Passenger Lists - 1838-86.
• Passenger Listings for Vessels bound for New Zealand - An extensive collection of shipping lists, arranged regionally.
• Interment.net cemetery transcription library - Links to New Zealand cemetery record transcriptions, organised by province.
• New Zealand Cemeteries - links to Cemetery records from all over New Zealand.
• Iwidex - Index to published and unpublished information sources on tribal history, tikanga-a-iwi, and whakapapa held in the Heritage and Research Collections of Auckland City Libraries.
• Kerēme : rākau teitei e iwa = nine tall trees - Searchable selective index to the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board Claim before the Waitangi Tribunal. Material indexed includes iwi, hapu, marae, individual people, organisations, places and events.
• Māori Resources - Introduction to tracing whakapapa, significant tribal resources held in Auckland Libraries, a map showing iwi and waka, and links to a selection of sites with Maori content.
• Whakapapa - An introductory resource into researching Māori genealogy. Includes location of items in the University of Auckland Library and an iwi map.
• Whakapapa Club - Facebook page containing useful information and forums relating to Whakapapa.
• Whakapapa Maori - useful portal site for Maori whakapapa information

Forums and Bulletin Boards

• New Zealand Genealogy Forum - Discussion board for most things relating to genealogy in New Zealand.
• RootsWeb Genealogy Mailing Lists for New Zealand - Searchable or browsable by year or topic.

Archive Guides

• Archives New Zealand - Migration Reference Guide - A Reference Guide to commonly used migration records, regarding shipping, immigration and emigration, held at Archives New Zealand.
• Archives New Zealand - Personal Identity Reference Guide - A Reference Guide to commonly used records (regarding births, deaths & marriages, Coroner's Inquests, probates etc) held at Archives New Zealand.
• Citizenship Reference Guide - Archives New Zealand - A Reference Guide to commonly used records regarding citizenship, aliens and naturalisation held at Archives New Zealand.

General Family History

• Beginning family history research - Links and guides to the resources of the family history resources of the Auckland City Libraries. Links also to other family history research web sites.
• Birth, Deaths and Marriages - A guide to finding family history records.
• Family Tree Templates - downloadable charts and more
• Finding Family History Records - Helpful information provided by Births Deaths and Marriages, Department of Internal Affairs.
• Maori culture, history, myth and legend encapsulated in whakapapa / genealogy - A guide to research in New Zealand.
• National Library of New Zealand - Guide to researching family history or Whakapapa.
• New Zealand Bound - Dedicated to identifying genealogical resources to assist in locating which New Zealand bound ship an immigrant ancestor was aboard. Provides passenger lists and a list of the main ports.

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand includes entries on all the main immigrant groups to New Zealand. See also:

• Ancestry.com - major international genealogy database
• Chinese: History of the poll tax in New Zealand - A history and database of Certificate of Entry (poll tax) books for Chinese arrivals to Wellington from 1888 to 1901. Site provided by the Office of Ethnic Affairs.
• Irish: New Zealand-Ireland Connection - Established to highlight the historical and contemporary connections between New Zealand and Ireland. In addition to a brief history of Irish emigration, it has a bibliography; details of New Zealand connections in Ireland; past and contemporary Irish connections in New Zealand; a list of Irish migrants; and links to relevant sites.
• Polish: The Invited by Krystyna Skwarko . The story of a Polish woman who was deeply involved with the education of the young Polish refugees when they were first gathered together in Southern Russia and the old Persian capital of Isfahan during the early part of the Second World War. She then accompanied them in 1944 on the long journey to a permanent home in New Zealand where she became a teacher and guide at the Polish Children's Camp in Pahiatua. Site hosted by the Consulate of the Republic of Poland, Auckland .

Please email [email protected] if you notice any of these links not working or if would like to suggest other links that could be added.

How to cite this page

Genealogy links, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/hands/links-genealogy/genealogy-links, (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 28-May-2024

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Death Search

When searching, you must enter:

• A Family Name and Search From Date or
• A Registration Number.

You can search for death records if:

• Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago, or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago

To achieve the best results you should use a 'less is best' approach. If you receive too many results then narrow your date range.

Searching pre 1875 records:

• If you search a specific date and the date of event is not in the database, the entire year is searched for you.
• Registration numbers for individuals with the same name can be sequential as index books were scanned to create the records.

Surname searches include birth surnames, previous surnames and current surnames so you may see names that do not match your search criteria. If your search results do not contain the surname you are looking for try including a Search To Date or Given Name as non search criteria names go to the top of the list number and the number of records returned may have been exceeded.

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