Family History - Government
Information about individual politicians and those who interacted with the government through royal commissions, petitions and patents in New Zealand in the 19th and early 20th century.
On this page
Politicians
There were two houses of parliament between 1853 and 1951: the upper house, the Legislative Council (appointed), and the lower house, the House of Representatives (elected).
General
- New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840-1984
- has information on parliamentarians and cabinet ministers. Earlier editions were published in 1913, 1925, 1950 and 1969.
- Who’s who in New Zealand
- Published at irregular intervals from 1908 until 1991.
- New Zealand who’s who, Aotearoa.
- Published from 1992 onwards. Latest edition is 2001.
- New Zealand parliamentary debates (Hansard)
- Members of Parliament’s (MPs) speeches are recorded. There may be a farewell speech from a retiring MP or a eulogy for an MP who has died.
- J. Martin, The House: New Zealand’s House of Representatives 1854-2004
19th century politicians
- A. Cox, Men of mark of New Zealand 1886
- W. Gisborne, New Zealand rulers and statesmen from 1840 to 1897
- W. Leslie, Parliamentary portraits 1887-1890
- P. Mennell, Dictionary of Australasian biography 1892
20th century politicians
- Biographies of members of the New Zealand Parliament 1984, 1986
- Who’s who in the New Zealand parliament 1987, 1990, 1993
- New Zealand Parliament who’s who 1996
- The New Zealand parliamentary directory 1999
Women politicians
- J. McCallum, Women in the House: Members of Parliament in New Zealand 1993
Royal commissions and commissions of inquiry
- Witnesses who gave evidence to commissions and committees, 1858-1935: an index: reported in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
- Entries are alphabetical by surname of witness in this microfiche resource. Biographical detail and personal opinion can sometimes be found in witnesses' statements to commissions.
Petitions to parliament
- D. Hampton, Petitions to Parliament, 1854-1975: an index. Entries on the nine fiche are arranged alphabetically by surname.
Politicians
Local government
- Handbook of the Christchurch City Council
- Useful for finding Christchurch mayors or councillors. Includes the dates when they held office.
- Chairmen and Mayors of the City of Christchurch
- Listed on the Christchurch City Council website.
Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2, Tūranga holds a card index of portraits of prominent Christchurch citizens. This includes photographs of mayors and councillors published in newspapers or held by the Council.
Mayors of Christchurch
The census
From the 1850s the government has undertaken a nation-wide census. Unlike the 19th century English census which contains records for individual households, the New Zealand census contains purely statistical information and no information on individuals.
Information survives about Auckland and New Plymouth individuals and the land they occupied in 1845 as a census was taken for these areas. Auckland City Libraries provides online access to the Auckland Police Census 1842-46 as part of their History and Genealogy database collection. A census was also taken of individuals in Nelson in 1845 and 1849. Archives New Zealand, Wellington hold these and later census records.
New Zealand patents
- D. Hampton, & A. Tunnicliffe, New Zealand patents, 1860-1890: an index to applications by New Zealand residents
- Based on material published in the Appendices to the journals of the House of Representatives and the New Zealand Gazette.
- New Zealand patents, 1891-1912: an index to applications by New Zealand residents published in the New Zealand Gazettes