Newspapers

I don't live in New Zealand, but if I did, there are many places I'd visit to pursue my genealogy research. One of those would be the local library for each town/city that my research subjects lived in. A few of the larger libraries have searchable online databases (such as the Auckland City Library), but most genealogical research material can only be viewed by going to the library. One key resource is newspaper archives. PapersPast.com is an excellent resource, but many of the newspapers published in NZ are not available there. Here is a sampling of some of those newspapers:

If your ancestors are Roman Catholic or of Irish origin you may wish to have a look at the New Zealand Freeman’s Journal (1879-1887), a weekly Catholic journal published in Auckland. It carried general news items, family notices, news items from Ireland as well as advertisements and could help fill some of these gaps in your research.

For those with Yugoslavian ancestors the Auckland City Library has (on microfilm) several issues of Napredek (Progress) written in the Croatian language and published irregularly in Auckland from December 1906 – June 1909. As well as publishing news from Yugoslavia and beyond, it includes items like marriage notices, reports of weddings, advertisements etc providing a rich resource for family historians.

It may be possible to track ancestors linked to the Thames gold mines in the following titles - The Times and Thames Miners Advocate, dated February 1869, followed by The Mail, March 1870. These were followed by the Thames Guardian and Miners Record, published 1871-72 and the Advocate and Miners News published 1874-1899. Both titles published a range of content from business advertisements, local news and court reports to issues and events surrounding the mining industry and land ownership.

The Waitemata Post 1910-1914 continued by the Waitemata News 1914-1917 provides a glimpse of life on the North shore. Covering Devonport, Northcote and Birkenhead it provides a great source for North Shore news, issues and events including news from the Borough Councils, some personal notices, and even news of people entering and leaving the area.