Beginning your family s history in New Zealand Beginning your family s history in New Zealand Seonaid with Auckland (Shona) Libraries Lewis, Family History Librarian Family history month 2014 Family history month 2018 Seonaid Lewis BA ILS, DipRIM RLIANZA, family history librarian Central Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries
Genealogy a study of pedigree Names Birth date Marriage Death Relationships
Family History is about the stories
How to guides
Start with what you know Yourself Siblings Parents Parents siblings Grandparents Grandparents siblings Great-grandparents
Basic principles Interview your relatives Record women with their maiden names Surnames are recorded in CAPS Date format: 7 Apr 1876 or c1876 or abt 1876 Place format: Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand or Guildford, Surrey, England, UK Check and double check all information View original or official sources Cite your sources: where did you get your information from? Concentrate on one line at a time retain focus!
Example from FamilySearch 9
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Why cite your source? To remember where the evidence came from So you know where the item is now To make your research credible with others Others can easily refer back to the evidence To acknowledge other people s research If you plan to publish your research
Academic citation standards American Psychological Association (APA) Modern Language Association (MLA) Chicago Or Elizabeth Shown Mills
Whether you cite correctly academically or not the important thing is to ensure you record where you got that information from and any other details needed, so that people can retrace your steps if necessary
Commencement of Civil Registration AUSTRALIA TASMANIA Dec 1838 WESTERN AUS Sep 1841 SOUTH AUS Jun 1842 VICTORIA Jul 1853 NSW Mar 1856 QUEENSLAND Mar 1856 N. TERRITORY Aug 1870 A.C.T. Jan 1930 NEW ZEALAND Jan 1848 ENGLAND & WALES Jul 1837 IRELAND 1864 (1845 non RC marriages) SCOTLAND Jan 1855
Civil registration:- birth certificate Civil registration.- birth certificate.- Margaret Donald McKENZIE b 19 Jun 1897, St Nicholas, Aberdeen, Scotland. The General Register Office, Scotland: 13 June 2002.
4. Question and verify a. Every fact/statement b. Every document Key Strategies Interrogate the record Who wrote it? Why did they write it? When was it written? Where was it written? How was it written (translated/transcribed)? What was the source of the information? 16
Key Strategies 5. Check name variations a. Different spellings of the names b. Changes in use of first and middle names c. Cultural naming patterns d. Nicknames e. Name changes (informal or by Deed Poll) f. Multiple marriages g. Events that can cause a name change (emigration/immigration) h. Inability to check what a clerk has written i. Accent variations that can make it difficult to be understood j. Formal use of names: Mr R. Knights/Mrs R. Knights k. Formal names in a legal situation 17
Parish record:- marriage Parish record.- christening copies from S/S Henry and Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church, Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England, UK. Sent via email by George Daniel CATCHPOLE b1930: March 2013.
Parish record:- Newfoundland "Newfoundland, Vital Statistics, 1753-1893." Images. Baptism: Jane HARVEY, b 18 Aug 1808, bp 16 Jan 1822, Methodist, Carbonear, Conception Bay. Department of Public Health and Welfare, St John s Newfoundland. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org : accessed 2012.
Civil registration:- BMD index Civil registration:- births from quarter Apr-May-Jun 1851. George William BOOTHER, Shoreditch, volume 2 page 453. Findmypast UK:- Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes for England & Wales 1837-1983, retrieved 18 Aug 2010.
Census records 1841 UK Census: George BOOTHE b1824, Castle Lane, St Margaret, Westminster, Middlesex. Public Records Office HO 107 / 738 / 10 / 31 p15. Retrieved from Findmypast UK Aug 2010.
Immigrat Immigration: passenger, crew lists Hedley HARVEY b1898. Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, 8892 rolls); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Retrieved from Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 accessed June 2012.
Photographs Photograph: Evelyn Julia HARVEY (nee POTTLE) b1872 and son John William HARVEY b1901, Freshwater, nr Carbonear, Newfoundland (n.d.). Emailed by Selby Harvey PARSONS b1949 Aug 2010.
Remember Good research is identified by Genealogical standards of proof Correctly cited sources Index of names and places
Setting up... Choose a genealogy software program - Legacy, RootsMagic, Family TreeMaker etc http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Decide on a filing structure electronic & physical Ensure you back up everything!
Historic births, deaths and marriages https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Births, Deaths and Marriages New Zealand births, marriage and deaths indexes, 1991-1997 database
District keys
http://www.genuki.org.uk
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton You may as well make it dance George Bernard Shaw