Family history Resources at Waimakariri District Libraries

Print resources

Genealogy is a rapidly growing hobby. The library has a variety of books that might help with your research. General guides to genealogical research can help you get started - you will find these on our library shelves at 929.1.

 

The library subscribes to the magazines Family History Monthly and Memories. We also have several copies of the NZ Genealogist Magazine.

 

 

Cemetery and Births, Deaths and Marriages Records

  • Waimakariri District Burial Records CD is available at Rangiora and Oxford Libraries (not currently available at Kaiapoi). This covers 17,260 entries from public and private cemeteries in the District, including headstone transcriptions.
  • Cemetery transcriptions for the South Island 1910-1950 are held on microfiche at the Rangiora Library. The transcriptions consist mainly of headstone inscriptions and burial records.
  • Cemeteries administered by the Waimakariri District Council can be searched on the Council's Search Cemeteries Database.

 

Rangiora Library has copies of the District Keys to the New Zealand Registration Indexes for births and deaths. The following microfiche are available at Rangiora Library:

 

  • Births 1840-1950
  • Marriages 1840-1950
  • Deaths 1848-1950

 

Book at the desk if you would like to use the microfiche reader.

 

Online resources

Our online local history resources include general histories of the District, family histories, church and school histories and more. 

 

There are numerous sources of genealogical information on the internet. We have compiled a list of web links of particular relevance on our Online Resources Genealogy page.

 

Ancestry Library Edition

Ancestry Library Edition is available for use within the libraries only. Ancestry gives access to a wide variety of content from British, American, European and Australian sources such as census records, birth registers, immigration records etc. It now also includes New Zealand city and area directories 1866-1955, New Zealand electoral rolls 1853-1981, New Zealand Maori voter and electoral rolls for 1908 and 1919, Canterbury Provincial rolls 1868-1874, New Zealand jury lists 1842-1862, New Zealand Maori land claims 1858-1980 and New Zealand naturalisations 1843-1981.

 

Other Resources

You might like to join the Waimakariri branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists to learn from other genealogists. They meet at 7.30 pm on the third Tuesday of each month at the Rangiora Brass Band Rooms, Northbrook Road, Rangiora.

 

The local museums and historical records societies also have valuable resources such as photographs and old local newspapers.

 

Waimakariri District Cemetery records

In the libraries you can access the Waimakariri District Burial Records CD compiled by the Waimakariri branch of the NZ Society of Genealogists in 2006, covering 17,260 entries from public and private cemeteries, including headstone transcriptions. This is available for searching in the libraries only, or email your query via our contact form. Locations and histories of cemeteries within the District and also burial plot maps can be found on our Cemeteries within the Waimakariri District page. There is also an alphabetical listing for St Barnabas Church cemetery in Woodend on that page. Cemeteries administered by the Waimakariri District Council can be searched on the Council's Cemeteries Database.