Taonga Tuku Iho

Newspaper Microfilm

The centre holds microfilm of:

• The Evening Post newspaper from 1946 to 2002
• The Dominion Post / The Post from 2002 onwards

A digital microfilm viewer / scanner is available but note that this cannot be used to print directly from so take a USB memory stick if you wish to take image files away with you, or photograph the screen.

Birth, Death and Marriage records

Also available is a complete set of birth, death and marriage index records on microfiche covering all registered 'events' up to 1990, and a selection of CD-ROM databases produced by the NZ Society of Genealogists containing information not available in any other form.

Please note: some historical Birth, Deaths and Marriage index information is available online via the Department of Internal Affairs' historical births, deaths and marriages website (click the link to find out what 'historical' means for the different types of records). There are also a number of searchable indexes available for historical records via Ancestry (access is in-library only).

For context around what was collected over different time periods, we also recommend DIA's About the records page.

Microfiche Available:

Electoral Rolls

A full current set of New Zealand electoral rolls are available at Cummings Park Library. The other library location where you can find electoral rolls for all New Zealand electorates, is Te Awe Library, on Brandon Street in the CBD — all other branches only hold a Wellington set.

For New Zealand historical electoral rolls, we subscribe to research databases for genealogy and family history enthusiasts that can help you to trace your family history, and include access to historical New Zealand electoral rolls, from 1853-2010. Access is generally available in-library only.

Collection of Māori Land Court Minute Books on Microfilm

The Minute Books of the Māori Land Court are an important source of whakapapa – containing the names of significant local places, land blocks and people. They are also an important resource for Waitangi Tribunal claims.

With the closure for earthquake strengthening of Wellington's Central Library building, our printed reproduction copies of the Minute Books are currently unavailable, but our microfilm copies can be accessed at the Taonga Tuku Iho Heritage Centre.

The main part of this collection covers 1865-1974, i.e. Wellington, Wairarapa, Ōtaki, Taranaki and Whanganui. However, also included are some smaller microfilm collections for Rotorua, Taupō and the top of the South Island – but nothing for the Auckland region or north of Auckland.

There is an online index made available for searching by the University of Auckland for all of the Minute Books from 1865-1910:

Note: you also have options for browsing in the top right-hand corner, e.g. by District. (Aotea is the District for Wellington, Wairarapa, Ōtaki, Taranaki and Whanganui)

In Te Whanganui-a-Tara we also have the Wellington Office of e Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand, whose collection provides coverage for the Minute Books for all of New Zealand (through a combination of microfilm and printed volumes):

Waitangi Tribunal Research Reports on Microfiche

A small selection of Waitangi Tribunal research reports available are available on microfiche. These are research reports prepared in the process of gathering evidence for Waitangi Tribunal inquiries, and may be undertaken by claimants, Waitangi Tribunal staff and contractors, Crown Forestry Rental Trust researchers, and commissioned researchers.

Below is a list of research documents available on microfiche at Taonga Tuku Iho — please note that some of these may be available online on the Waitangi Tribunal website.