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The skeleton of a family tree is the Birth, Death and Marriage of our ancestors and it's important to prove each branch of the tree. For Jason's family tree we started with his grandparent’s marriage certificates. From these we found out more about his grandparents and also the name of their parents.
Keep reading to find out how you can get started with your Family History.
The Bones - Part 1
Civil Registration - Births, Deaths and Marriages
New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages started being registered in 1848 and became compulsory in 1856 for European births, deaths and marriages. It was compulsory for Māori marriages from 1911 and births and deaths from 1913.
The other key dates are 1876 for births and deaths and 1880 for marriages as it was in these years that more information was added to the registers. The table below shows the information that you would expect to see on printouts of historical birth, death and marriages.
Type |
Pre 1876 - Births & DeathsPre 1880 - Marriages |
Post 1876 - Births & DeathsPost 1880 - Marriages |
Birth |
Name of Child Date & Place of Birth Name of Parents including maiden name of mother Father’s Occupation Informant (could be a relation) |
Parents Birthplaces Parents’ Marriage date and place |
Death |
Name of Deceased Occupation Date & Place of Death Cause of Death Informant (could be a relation) |
Name of Parents including maiden name of mother Father’s Occupation Where & When Buried Where Born How long in New Zealand Name of Spouse Age at marriage Where married Ages & Sex of living children |
Marriage |
Names of Groom & Bride Ages Date & Place of Marriage Occupations Condition (whether they were single or widowed) Witnesses |
Birthplaces Where they resided Name of Parents including maiden name of mother Father’s Occupation |
Unless required for legal purposes we suggest that you buy a printout of an event rather than a certificate as it contains more information. These currently cost $20.40 for post 1874 printouts and $26.50 for pre 1875 printouts (Oct 2016).
Finding a Historical Birth, Death or Marriage
Online there are indexes that allow you to find:
- Births that occurred at least 100 years ago.
- Stillbirths if registered at least 50 years ago.
- Marriages 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.
These can be searched at https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search
Indexes to more modern records (pre 1990) can also be found, using the microfiched indexes at Christchurch City Libraries, but the information on the indexes is not as full as what you find online.
With over 8 billion records worldwide for researching, Findmypast.com.au is a growing source for family history research.
Included in the collections are the New Zealand birth, death and marriage indexes. These are from the same database as above, but the added bonus is more flexibility in searching the records. You can search the records HERE
We've got a blog post on searching these records that may help to find your elusive ancestors.
You can subscribe to Findmypast.com.au so that you can research from home, or use the website via the electronic resources at Christchurch City Library (you do need to be at the library to use it).