If your ancestor arrived in the North Island
If the following resources do not cover the dates you are interested in, look at the general resources for searching a passenger by name.
Auckland
- Eadie, F. Roll of early settlers and descendants in the Auckland province prior to the end of 1852
- The roll contains the names of people who settled or were born in Auckland province before the end of 1852. Names and dates of birth and death, if known, are given, and also the vessel and date of arrival in New Zealand and first known place of residence. If born in New Zealand, date and place of birth are noted.
- Auckland Area Passenger Arrivals 1838-1886 and 1909-1921
- Indexes newspaper reports of Auckland area inward passengers for the period 1838 to 1886, with a few for 1887 to 1889. Also, newspaper reports for Kororareka, Russell and New Zealand Company settlements from 1838 to 1845. Much trans-Tasman migration is not included, and often those in steerage were not included in the newspaper reports. The 1909 to 1921 information is courtesy of Archives New Zealand, although largely it is from late 1915 onwards.
- Auckland Area Passenger Vessels 1838-1886
- Provides details of particular ships including information on the name of the Captain, ship's tonnage and the port of origin. This database allows you to follow up on details of the particular ship you are interested in.
If your ancestor arrived in New Plymouth
- 1852-1880: arrivals and departures shipping index, New Plymouth
- This is taken from the Taranaki Herald’s shipping intelligence column that appeared in the first edition of the newspaper in 1852 and continued through to the early 1900s. The list is arranged alphabetically by surname and contains information both on immigrants and immigrant shipping from Europe and on passengers who sailed between New Plymouth and other New Zealand ports e.g. Manukau, Wellington, Nelson.
- Rutherford, J. The establishment of the New Plymouth settlement in New Zealand, 1841-43
- Contains the official passenger lists of the pioneer ships of the Plymouth Company, a subsidiary of the New Zealand Company, and lists of other arrivals between 1841-1860.
If your ancestor arrived in Wellington
- Port of Wellington entry, 1856-1887 passenger index and ships' index
- This includes both provincial government and central government immigrants and lists all ships arriving in Wellington with passengers from Great Britain, Ireland and Europe. It names people, the vessels that brought them and the sources of information - mainly newspapers.
- Ward, L. E. Early Wellington
- Contains the passenger lists of all ships landed up to May 1842.
