Cemetery records
You can
search the archives database to find original burial, plot and administrative records for the following cemeteries:
- Albany Village
- Birkenhead-Glenfield
- Hillsborough
- Mt Victoria
- North Shore Memorial Park
- O'Neill's Point
- Otahuhu
- Pompallier
- Waikaraka
- Waikumete.
We have indexed the following cemetery records, which you can search online:
Auckland Libraries provide two online databases of burial records for:
You can also
find a burial or cremation record of north, west and south Auckland cemeteries online.
Council staff records
Staff appointments and salary records can contain information about former council staff members, such as:
- name
- date of birth
- marital status
- superannuation
- date of appointment
- department
- position held
- salary
- education and qualifications.
Not all staff records are retained and privacy legislation applies to access to these records.
In some cases archives also holds photographs of staff.
Dwellings and business records
Part of family history research can be to discover details about family homes, dwellings and businesses.
Dwelling and business records fall into two main groups:
- Records relating to building permit or consent applications and plans.
- File series dealing with dwellings, businesses and other buildings and properties.
Regulatory building and property records
A significant collection of archival records comes from the council regulation of building dating from the early 20th century.
These records include:
- building permit registers and indexes
- building applications
- specifications
- plans
- committee and council minutes
- correspondence with applicants and developers
- records relating to inspections.
Access to these records is usually by the property name or street address of the property.
The records contain the names and addresses of the owners of domestic and commercial buildings, as well as the names of their builders and architects.
File series
The file series were generated by various business groups of the council and deal with issues such as property subdivision, encroachments, health and sanitation, tenders and contracts, town planning, water and electrical services.
Although people are identified in these records, sometimes locating them can be time-consuming unless you know of specific issues with which they may have been involved.
Electoral or burgess rolls
These are the rolls of people qualified to vote for members of the council.
In addition to names, they give details of the elector's address, and sometimes a property description and values.
A number of these records have been indexed.
Health information records
The records we have on health information are usually a product of an 'inspection' or 'reporting' relationship with local health authorities, or a consequence of a major health issue e.g. an influenza epidemic, which a keyword search of the archives database will reveal.
Licensing records
Councils have been responsible for the licensing of a variety of activities over time, including:
- auctioneers
- dogs
- drivers
- hawkers
- street musicians
- publicans.
Records are arranged by the date the license was issued or registered, rather than the applicant's name and details.
They include:
- the name of the applicant
- address
- activity
- date the licence was issued
- comments or remarks regarding cancellations, renewals or prosecutions.
A number of these records have been indexed.
Mayors and councillors
If your family served as a board member, councillor or even as mayor, they will appear not just as attendees of meetings in the minute books, but also in a variety of other sources and lists.
As an eminent citizen there will often be a photographic record too.
Minute books
Minute books of boards, councils and committees record all business discussed and decisions made in meetings. As such, they are key documents.
Although minute books are written in a formal manner, they can provide details about individuals.
In the early period, they dealt with correspondence from citizens and business people about issues concerning them or services they required.
Some of these minute books have subject indexes within them which makes searching by name easy.
Occupations and pastimes
There are occasional series relating to occupations and pastimes found among the local authority records.
Rating and valuation records
These records provide basic ownership and descriptive information regarding properties throughout the region, the earliest dating from 1867 for the Mt Albert Highway District.
Information includes:
- occupier's and owner's names and occupations
- a legal description of property
- a brief description of the property
- the valuation or rating value.
Access to these records is either by the owner's surname or street address.
War records
Some of these records are from series that relate directly to war.
There are also a number of records about war located in more general series.
World War I
The Our boys, our families research guide showcases First World War research resources available at Auckland Libraries and Auckland Council Archives.
