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Heritage

Discover your Family's History at our libraries.

Find out what European New Zealand family history resources we hold or can access, what information you are going to find in those resources, and when you need to look elsewhere. Our main focus is Christchurch and Canterbury information from the 19^th and early 20^th century.

The family of Arthur John Inwood and his wife Angelina pictured outside their dwelling [ca. 1900]

Beginners' guide

How to begin your family history: the basic rules of research, answering specific questions about individuals and writing it all up.

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Finding Family Information

Starting Points

Major life events.

• Birth, Baptisms and Adoption
• Marriage and Divorce
• Death and Burial

Next steps

Arriving and living in New Zealand.

• Shipping and passenger information
• Naturalisation records: what resources are available when an immigrant was not British
• Directories, Electoral rolls and Land: information about where people lived, voted & land they held

Filling in the gaps

Extra details to add to your family history.

• Biographical: resources that provide information about an individual
• Churches, Education and Hospitals, Orphanages and Charitable Aid: finding institutional histories and records
• Business: company and bankruptcy information
• Employment: resources and records about occupations
• Government and Justice: politicians, petitions, police and court information
• Local History: finding local historical information and societies and museums
• Newspapers: what newspapers can provide during your family history research
• War: find out about servicemen and women by visiting our New Zealanders at War guides

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Where to next?

Where to next?: links to other organisations and international information.

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