Just a brief note to let you all know that our Kintalk blog has now merged with sister blog Heritage et AL. If you subscribe to Kintalk, then I encourage you to change your subscription over to Heritage et AL to be sure of being kept up to date with all the family history happenings, and to learn more about our heritage collections and heritage news.

Kintalk first went live in July 2008, originally edited and authored by Karen Kalopulu and the family history team; and was carried on in her name after she passed away in 2009.

Popular and information rich posts from Kintalk have been migrated over to Heritage et AL, so you will find them there instead.

Heritage et AL was launched in May 2012 . . .  "Four research centres and the Sir George Grey Special Collections and a whole heap of incredible heritage library collections, arranged around two harbours and many volcanoes! Plus cool links and heritage news stories. Stay tuned .."

Now both blogs will be together on the Heritage et AL blogspot - so don't forget to subscribe to keep up to date!

Happy hunting . . . 


Seonaid

In amongst our computers and film cabinets, we have six
8-drawer cabinets full of CD-ROMs containing a mixture
of databases and pdfs of books.

They are hidden treasures, used mainly by the experienced researcher who realises that not everything is online as yet and that family history societies and self-published authors still use CD-ROM technology, as its relatively cheap and easy to make their projects available.

Although all CDs are listed on the library catalogue, we also have a handy index to assist customers  with seeing what is in this unique collection.

The first couple of pages list the newly received CDs which amongst others, include various Berkshire and Oxford parish registers, and a 200 disk set of Stonepics Newfoundland cemetery images and transcriptions - this collection is so large, its in its own black binder and is on top of the CD-ROM cabinets!

If you want to view what we have available in our CD-ROM collection, just click the link here to open the pdf document.



Hope to see you soon . . .

Happy hunting!

Seonaid

At a recent talk here at Auckland Libraries, many of us came away buzzing over ideas on preserving ‘our’ story. What can we do right now, to get those interesting things about ourselves organised for posterity?
Our speaker, Jan Gow, discussed a computer programme called Treepad, that has a free edition, but also a  paid edition with useful add-ons such as the ability to save images. But as she said, there are other options, too. For the paper-addicted among us, the stationery sections at book stores are our happy place, from basic binders to the joy of the beautifully-covered journal. One could purchase a different journal for each decade (perhaps colour coded?), and add to it over time. If spread-sheets are so your thing, you could come up with something practical there. And you could always make up an e-book, which I’ll address in a later post. Publishing an e-book can cost you virtually nothing, and you can easily get print copies for little cost, as well. The message is that there are plenty of ways that suit you of getting your story down for that life-long work-in-progress.
A number of practical ideas came out of this.
Take copies of your photos and find out the story behind the image. Write down what you remember about it. Many of our parents, or even us, have slides (remember those?)  One could project slides and simply photograph them from the big screen, but there are devices to copy slides you could look in to. It could be something worthwhile for a family history group to invest in for members to borrow.
Identify significant occasions. Some ideas are transportation (your car-owning history over the decades is a great one!), games, pets, holidays, schools, careers, special events, and of course food. You could scan recipes from Grandma’s old recipe book to add to your collection. That gorgeous prize-winning shortbread...! You could organise your story according to these categories, or by the decades.
Remember to catalogue precious items. What is the story behind that china teacup, or painting, or your grandmother’s ornament? Photograph the item, and add the image to your work in progress with details of the story behind it. Scanning letters, cards and newspaper clippings is a good idea, too. This could be a great thing to do to get the kids (and let's face it, adults!) off social media for a spell, too.
One thing that appealed to me was to make a day of combining oral history with cataloguing. A family member recently suffered a stroke, which brings home abruptly how sad the loss of one's memory can be. When I visit next, I plan to spend time going through those tea cups, ornaments, paper items, and inherited furniture that none of the family really knows anything about, photographing them and jotting down the story behind them. Recording the conversations on my phone will help. Not only will it, I hope, be a form of therapy for them, but also fun, and for our family, a record of our own family history.
For more ideas, have a look through our catalogue here. I've used the reference 1 GEN  DOC. There is inspiration aplenty, such as the books  Keeping Family Treasures and Keeping Chronicles: Preserving History Through Memorabilia.
 Joanne - Central Research

Auckland Libraries and the Genealogical Computing Group are hosting the Auckland Family History Expo again from 5pm, Friday 11 August through till 6pm Sunday 13 August at the Fickling Convention Centre at Three Kings.

Dirk Weissleder

Chris Paton

This year, our international
guest speakers are Chris Paton (Scottish/Irish),
Dirk Weissleder (German/European) and Helen Smith (Australia/British).

Helen Smith

Friday night's programme
Friday 5pm-6pm: Reception. Mix and mingle with tea, coffee, beverages and canapés. Seats confirmed on receipt of payment.
Submit bookings by email with “Family History Expo welcome event” in subject line, including names of attendees to arc@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
6pm-7pm: Welcome and opening address followed by: Chris Paton, Genealogy without borders.
7pm-7.30pm: Living DNA: High definition Ancestral DNA testing (live webinar from the UK).
7.30pm-8.30pm: Chris Paton, Dirk Weissleder and Helen Smith, panel discussion and Q&A session: The future of family history.

Satuday and Sunday are free. We have over over 40 seminars and workshops and more than 24 family history exhibitors including:

• Ancestry
• Auckland Council Libraries
• Auckland War Memorial Museum
• Beehive Books/HOG Tours 
• Chinese genealogy researchers 
• Families in British India (FIBIS) 
• FamilySearch 
• FamNet/Jazz Software 
• Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS),
• Kippenberger Research Library - National Army Museum - Waiouru 
• Indian genealogy / West Research Centre
• My Heritage 
• New Zealand Fencible Society Inc
• New Zealand Micrographics/Recollect 
• New Zealand Military Historical Society,
• New Zealand Society of Genealogists Head Office and Interest Groups:
  English, European, Irish, Maori, Pacific Island, Scottish; 
• Unlock the Past/Gould Genealogy
• Wales – New Zealand Family History Society.

Download a .pdf of the full programme here

Sponsors

This was an interesting post from a few years back that we thought you'd enjoy again.

An interesting little read on our shelves is the book 'Til death us do part : causes of death 1300-1948.

As the author Janet Few says in the introduction, “One thing that all but our most recent ancestors have in common is that they are dead.”

This small but fulsome book discusses the many possibilities of our ancestor’s deaths. The cancers and heart disease that end our lives today were much more difficult to diagnose until the twentieth century and the lifestyles of our ancestors made them less prone to contacting them. Instead, they could look forward to famines, epidemics and infectious diseases.

http://www.traveldarkly.com/plague-pits-london/

Few describes the different kinds of plague that could be experienced and their symptoms’…hard dry boils, particularly in the groin or armpits and it normally took three days to die.’ A range of preventatives included what was known as a ‘tuzzy muzzy’ , a bunch of herbs to warn off the bad smells, and urinating on a mixture of yarrow, tansy and feverfew, and then drinking the strained liquid.

The Seventeenth century plague doctor www.medievalists.net

Work related diseases led to the demise of many of our ancestors. Tuberculosis, also referred to as consumption, phthisis, decline or the white plague, was a product of urban poverty, poor nutrition, and work conditions. It was very infectious, with late teenagers often the victims.

Occupations determined certain ailments in their workers. Examples are: knife grinder’s asthma, Mad hatters’ disease (mercury poisoning, which was often contracted by those working in the hat industry), and fossy jaw (caused from ingesting phosphorous; the disease of the match girls).

The names of these diseases are intriguing in themselves. Summer madness, also known as St Anthony’s fire, Sacred fire or Invisible fire, because the skin turned black as if burnt, was common in times of bad harvest when poorer quality crops were eaten.

The green disease, or chlorosis, also known as the virgin’s disease as it was prevalent in teenage girls, was blamed on tight corsets and studying too hard with matrimony frequently prescribed as a cure.

War was responsible for the deaths of many of our ancestors, with the armed forces far more likely to die of disease than in combat. In the Crimean War only one in six casualties died in battle.

www.medievalists.net

Being a wife was a dangerous profession with between five and ten percent of all mothers dying in childbirth until the mid-nineteenth century. The list of options was grim: childbed fever, blood loss, and toxemia. Abortions were illegal and therefore dangerous.

In the days before Health & Safety, our ancestors drowned in wells, were burnt by open fires, fell off horses and ladders and suffered frequent bouts of food poisoning caused by a lack of refrigeration and the foraging for food in woods and hedgerows.  Although our health is better and we are vaccinated against the very things that blighted our ancestor’s lives, we do manage to die in ways they could never imagine.

Bridget Simpson

Was 2016 a breakthrough year for you in your research? Did you uncover something of huge interest? We here at Central Research have come up with our own personal family history highlights, and over the next few weeks, we'll be sharing some of them with you.

First up, is Maureen:
Early in 2016 I predicted that Irish genealogy was a case of ‘watch this space’.  And so it proved in September when many of the records that had been promised in the preceding years became available free to the internet – civil registration and land records among them. Now is the time to explore these records, particularly the images of the birth, death and marriage records, which were previously available at a cost of €4 each.  Supplemented by the increasing records available in subscription databases, there has never been a better time to crack some of those brick walls.  For more information please check out the following websites and blogs:

The hero of the Auckland Libraries' New Zealand Family History Month programme this year, was the Auckland Family History Expo, that was held at the Fickling Convention Centre, Three Kings Friday, 12 to Sunday, 14  August.


The Expo was organised as a community partnership with members of the Genealogical Computing Group (GCG), an interest group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG), who sponsored our international keynote speakers, Dick Eastman and Shauna Hicks.


The theme for this year's Expo was "The Melting Pot" to signify Auckland's wide diversity of cultures.

There were 130 people at the Friday night opening event, to listen attentively to Dick Eastman's The family history world in 10-years' time and Shauna Hicks' DNA: sex, love and damn lies. Both talks were so entertaining and informative.

Dick Eastman, US Expo keynote speaker

Dick's talks reminded us of where genealogy had started from, and its steps along the way to where we are today - with an introduction to Cloud. Dick said that the genealogy community was getting younger - driven by technology and media. He predicted that future researchers won't be interested so much in pedigrees, but will be interested in the stories. With global immigration, our collections will need to be broader and more inclusive of non-white ethnicities.

I was pleased to be able to tell Dick, that we've already tried to make a very good start with this. We have active Maori and Pasifika researchers, and hold terrific genealogy and family history resources for them at Auckland Libraries. We support the Chinese community on the Chinese Digital Community website and there are many authors and historians in the local Chinese community. And we purchase their books as they come out.

Smita Biswas from the West Auckland Research Centre is in the midst of an awesome project with the Indian community, helping with collecting genealogies and family histories.

Shauna Hicks talked about her DNA experience, and how she came to discover a lie in her family's history which meant that some of her research based on the paper trail was incorrect. The story was quite a poignant one, but delivered in a humorous, informative way.

Shauna Hicks, Australia, Expo keynote speaker

You can read Dick Eastman's account of the Expo here. You can also read an account about the Expo on Shauna Hicks's blog here.

On Saturday and Sunday, we were kept very busy. It was hard to accurately count how many people came through. Some people stayed all day, others came for a while - there was a constant turnover of people.

Saturday was our busiest day, we counted 350 people (in the two seminar rooms and the exhibition hall) at around lunchtime, when the crowds had thinned out a little. From the sale of the USBs with speakers notes, we estimate we could have had as many as 500 people through. We had a lot of people through who were completely new to genealogy and family history.

Sunday was less busy, and alot of people that came, had also come on Saturday. Our estimate for that day was between 200 and 300 people.

We had 24 exhibitors, two-streams of 30 lectures, four computer workshops (held in the Mt Roskill Library above the Convention Centre) and 12 "ask an expert" workshops. The exhibitors were kept very busy helping people with their research. The Auckland Libraries stand dealt with 152 reference queries on Saturday, and 53 reference queries on Sunday!

On Sunday, during Emerson Vandy's talk about the new PapersPast, and Shauna Hicks It's not all online - where else can I look? an alarm went off so we conducted an emergency evacuation of the Fickling Convention Centre, just in case it was a fire. In the end, it turned out to be a faulty security alarm, which was rectified after an hour. Being made of stern stuff, once no danger was apparent, our people simply re-entered the building and continued where we left off.

I was most impressed firstly, by the awesome demonstration we all showed in how to evacuate a large crowd from a building, and secondly by the determination and patience of everyone there to endure such a dreadful noise for an hour!

You can view photographs from the event on Auckland Research Centres' Facebook page. Further details and more photographs available on the NZ Society of Genealogists news page - just scroll down till you reach 12 and 13th August..

We're very grateful to our sponsors who contributed with financial sponsorship:
Auckland Council Libraries, Genealogical Computing Group of the NZ Society of Genealogists, Findmypast, Ancestry, and the NZ Society of Genealogists.

Additionally, we also had 72 raffle prizes donated by sponsors valued at over $6300 in total.

Winners of the raffles were as follows:

Ancestry 
● World Heritage subscription and DNA pack (5)
Debbie Stanford
Daphne Ellis
Joy Todd
B Fletcher
Glenda Jamieson

Auckland Libraries 
● Auckland Libraries Heritage Pack (4)
Bruce Ralston
Valerie Price
Jean Philpotts
Roy

Eastman’s Newsletter
● Annual Newsletter Subscriptions (2)
Joan McCracken
Raewyn Nevin

Family Historian
● Family History V6 (2)
Ron Jackson
Tony Christianson

FamilySearch
● Pen and pencil set (1)
Coral Shearer

FamNet
● Famnet Annual subscription (10)
Anne Megget
Bruce Ralston
Alan Brierley
Kathy Hill
Leslie Cornwall
Roy Clements
I Whetton
Wendy Fitzpatrick
Myrine McMahon
Jan White

Findmypast
● Findmypast World Subscriptions (5)
Shauna Hicks
Daphne Ellis
Leane
Clyde Downes
Karen Bruford

Family Tree Maker
● FTM v14.1 program (3)
Bronwyn Bernard
Rosalie Bromwich
G Gibson


Legacy
● Legacy 8 program (2)
Debbie Archer
Nancy Buckman

Let’s Research (Beehive Books)
● Two hours research with Jan Gow (2)
Claire Becker
Bev Thomson
● Skeleton Travel Mug
Robyn Johnson
● Sail Away 3D pencil tin
Tony Christiansen

Memories in Time (Fiona Brooker)
● Family History Research
Reiana Tema
● Made for you
Fredda Martin

My Heritage 
● My Heritage subscription (2)
J Ryde
Margaret Diggelman

NZ Society of Genealogists
● NZSG Family Historian Vol 1
Daphne Ellis
● NZSG Family Historian Vol 2
Paul Carter
● NZSG Passenger Lists CD        
Lynden Ansell
● NZSG Naval Chronology
Robery Finlay
● NZSG NZ Cemetery Records
Alex Robinson

Salt Lake City Plaza Hotel
● Five nights accommodation
Leanne

Progeny
● Charting Companion 1
Melanie Middleton
● Genelines
Delma Moore
● Map my family tree
Barbara Jessiman

Roots Magic
● RootsMagic v7 program (2)
Graham Wilson
Rex Wood

Simon Fowler (author and genealogist)
● Branching out  and Ancestors in Army (10)
Colleen Moore
Christina Mac
Glenda Bennett
Mike
Pam Shoebridge
Christine Woods
Brian Jones
Lyn Tocher
Jill Earley
Cathy Owens
● Tracing Naval & Tracing Army (5)
Liam Garrity
Christine Briely
Roger Williams
I Whetton
G Gibson

The Genealogist
● The Genealogist Diamond Personal Premium subscription (2)
Sue Crookston
Dennis Hildreth
● Treeview program (2)
June Castle
Kathy Hill
Happy hunting

Seonaid

Find us on Facebook @AkldResearchCentre
Find us on Twitter @Kintalk

Ah, winter. Lovely, lovely winter.

It's almost at an end which is such a shame, because how perfect is winter and a book? Some would say the beach and a book but there is so much potential for disaster there. What if you get wet, and then get covered in sand, and get all this sandy, gritty mess all over the pages, or drop the book in the water-filled moat the kids have made in the sand, or even worse, what if you drop the Kindle? And then the sun glares off the pages, causing huge blind spots in your vision, or you have to wear non-prescription sunglasses and can't see, or you've got sunscreen all over your hands and you touch the pages, and its a library book! Or you spill your vanilla milkshake all over it... No. Too much can go wrong at the beach, way too much. But winter? Winter is perfect for reading on the couch or in bed, on the bus ride home, or at a café with a coffee. Fictional bliss!

On to the family history fiction.

You would not be wrong in assuming from the title "Kissing Mr Wrong" that this is one for those who like romantic comedy in the chick-lit vein. It is indeed. Yet besides the romantic angst and confusion, there is a lovely family history thread running through it with associated mystery to solve.

Set in England, Lu is a 30-something children's book illustrator whose beloved grandmother, Delia, has asked her to find out who her birth parents are. Delia knows she was adopted, she has her father's name and some documentation, and figures all Lu has to do is go on the internet, like they do on the TV shows.

Lu has never been interested in her family history, but as she embarks on a mission to find out who her real great-grandparents are, she finds herself becoming hooked on the research, and the war becomes more and more real to her.

If you're a long-time family historian and know a lot about the First World War, the information may be a bit basic for you, with scenes like the "Mr Wrong" of the story, Nick, teaching Lu how to find the information, and Lu learning details about the war, when she hasn't been all that interested before. But it's such a fun read, as you would expect a romantic-comedy to be. Like the scene where worried grandma Delia, concerned over having to be put under for dental surgery, says to Lu: "It'll be like Death Row, the lethal injection. I'm ninety-two, you know, no good to anyone, I've had my time. They'll want to put me down, save me being a drain on resources." She sighed. "It's probably for the best."

The story is of course all about the budding romance with the confusion, conflict, why Nick is the wrong one for Lu, domestic dramas and happy-ever-after, but the family history thread running through it is most enjoyable. I loved this story.

There are large-print versions floating around the library system, as well as an audio book version.

August is New Zealand Family History Month!

It is an opportunity for us all to celebrate and commemorate our ancestors. To focus on learning and perhaps contributing to the knowledge that helps us to find out more about our personal heritage.

Libraries, archives, museums, heritage/historical societies and genealogy/family history societies around New Zealand are holding tours, events, lectures and workshops.

Auckland Libraries is no exception. Throughout August, there is a programme of events held at about 20 different Auckland Libraries' venues, From family history storytimes for children, to beginners' classes for new researchers, through to advanced classes for those who may have been researching family and/or local history most of their lives.

As well as the different events held in libraries throughout the Auckland region, there is also the Auckland Family History Expo, that Auckland Libraries and the Genealogical Computing Group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists have organised for the weekend of Friday, 12 August to Sunday, 14 August.

After the Expo, we have another exciting event at Central Library, on Monday, 15 August. Another opportunity to hear our Expo keynote speakers, Dick Eastman and Shauna Hicks, speak on additional topics. Dick on "Genealogy searches on Google" and Shauna on "Skeletons in the Family: Looking at asylum and prison records."

Some researchers may also be interested in events and tutorials our friends at the NZ Society of Genealogists are holding during Family History Months.

August will be a fun-filled, information packed month for keen researchers!

Happy hunting

Seonaid

My grandfather joined the British navy in 1911.  I have his service record and these have now been digitised and are available on Ancestry under UK military Royal Navy registers of seamen;s services 1853-1928.  The service record shows all ships he served on and the dates from and to along with other details.

Over the years I have managed to get some photos of ships he served on but not all of them so I was pleased when the book British Warships 1860-1906 – a photographic record by Nicholas Dingle arrived in the Research Centre.  Chapter 1 is a brief history of the Royal Navy 1815-1860 and chapter 2 is where it all starts.  It is possible that not all Royal Navy ships are covered in the text but a good many are and to top it all off, there are photos of many of them.  Therefore, you may be able to find details such as tonnage, speed, number of guns, date built, names of sister ships etc.

If you have an ancestor or relative who served in the Royal navy before 1906 then this book is worth looking at.  As for me, I found photos of another three ships to add to my collection – may your search be as fruitful or even more successful than mine.

Marie Hickey

Judy Russell, "The Legal Genealogist"

Paul Blake

Do you have Huguenot ancestors? 

Yes? Then you will be interested to know that we added these new 
CD-ROMS to the family history collection this week. 

1 GEN REL HUG    Huguenot Families Numbers One to Twenty
4 ENG REL HUG   Consistory and Administrative Records c. 1560-1660
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Church of Threadneedle St, London
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of La Patente & Saint Jean, Spitalfields
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of the Cities of London &  Westminster & of Spitalfields

4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the Walloon & Huguenot Churches of Canterbury, Bristol, Plymouth, Southampton & Stonehouse
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the Walloon & Huguenot Churches of Norwich, Colchester, Thorney & Thorpe-le-Soken
4 IRL REL HUG      Reg. of the French Churches in Dublin & Portarlington, Ireland
5 EUR REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of Guisnes, Cadzand, Dover & Le Mans
6 AAM REL HUG    Naturalizations of Foreign Protestants in the American Colonies

To find more resources in the family history collection, type the word 'Huguenot' in the subject search box of the Classic Catalogue and limit the search to 'Heritage & Research' in the drop down menu.

Good luck with your search!

The Family History Team

Auckland Family History Expo @ Central City Library

When: Friday 7 August - Sunday 9 August
Where: Central City Library
Cost: Free for all events, except Friday opening event

The Auckland Family History Expo is a weekend-long event covering a wide range of topics related to genealogy and researching your family history.

A range of exhibitors will have stalls set up throughout the weekend, and a variety of talks on research techniques, resources and tools will be taking places in three separate venues around the library.

See the programme of events for each day:
Friday 7 August - $10, booking instructions below
Saturday 8 August - free, no bookings required
Sunday 9 August - free, no bookings required


Keep an eye out for Auckland War Memorial Museum's interactive Mobile Roadshow Unit, which will be parked outside Central City Library in Lorne Street all day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

As always, library staff will be available in the Central Auckland Research Centre to provide research assistance and access to resources.

Exhibitors

• Ancestry
• Findmypast
• FamilySearch
• Archives New Zealand
• Auckland War Memorial Museum and WW100
• The Guild of One-Name Studies
• The NZ Fencible Society
• Hooked on Genealogy and Beehive Books
• Anglican Archives
• Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum
• The New Zealand Society of Genealogists and its interest groups: New Zealand, Australian, Scots, Irish, English, European, Huguenot, Pacific Island and Māori.

FRIDAY
Family History Expo opening
Whare Wananga Level 2, 4pm - 8pm

Attendance will cost $10 to cover hospitality. Booking is essential given that limited seats are available. To reserve your place, email the Central Auckland Research Centre or phone 09 307 7771.

4pm-5pm: Welcome and opening, followed by panel discussion
Featuring Michelle Patient (Guild of One-Name Studies), Ben Mercer (Ancestry), Seonaid Lewis (Auckland Libraries), Helen Smith (Genealogical Society of Queensland), Gay Williams (New Zealand Society of Genealogists).
5pm: Light refreshments
6pm: All is not lost - keynote address by David Lomas (Missing Pieces, Lost & Found)
For many New Zealand families there is a missing piece. All is not lost, presented by journalist David Lomas, will look at how missing people are found by David and his fellow researchers on the TV3 programme Lost & Found and its predecessor Missing Pieces.



SATURDAY
Whare Wananga, Level 2 (seminars)  
10.15am: Commemorating the 1918 Flu Pandemic
Discovering insights from the online collections. Introduction by Sandra Coney (Auckland Council), presentation by Ben Mercer (Ancestry.com), Topics will include Births, Deaths & Marriages; NZSG Cemeteries Collection; the special place of Waikumete Cemetery; and preparing for the centenary in 2018.
11.15am: AncestryDNA and your family tree
Combining history with science, making connections online with Ben Mercer (Ancestry.com.au). Topics will include the AncestryDNA toolkit, building your family tree, breakdown of ethnicity, and making connections online.
12.15pm: Heraldic treasures at the Auckland War Memorial Museum library
Join manuscript librarian Martin Collett and learn about heraldry and the treasures within the Auckland Museum Library. 
1.15pm: They went to Australia and now can't be found
Presented by Helen Smith, Genealogical Society of Queensland.
2.15pm: FamilySearch
Learn how to use this wonderful free website to assist you with your family history. Presented by Jan Gow, Hooked on Genealogy.
3.15pm: The rest of the iceberg: researching beyond the internet
Presented by Barbara Wyley, NZSG.


Te Marama Room, Level 1 (workshops)
10.30am: Getting started with your family history research
Presented by Jan Gow, Hooked on Genealogy.
11am: DNA basics
A beginner’s guide to how science can help your family history by Helen Smith, Genealogical Society of Queensland.
11.30am: Tips for carrying out a family history interview 
Presented by Sandra Metcalfe, NZSG.
12noon: FindMyPast A-Z
Hints and tips for making the most of your Findmypast searches. Presented by Fiona Brooker, Findmypast.
12.30pm: Researching your Huguenot family history
Presented by Marion Heap, NZSG.
1pm: Researching in the Pacific Islands 
Presented by Christine Liava'a, NZSG Pacific Island Interest Group.
1.30pm: Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum
The Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum deals in the Eastern Borderlands of Poland during WWII and, in particular, the Soviet occupation of the area and deportations of Poles to Siberia. Presented by Irena Lowe, Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum.
2pm: Beginner's guide to researching your NZ family history 
Presented by Elaine Bell, NZSG research office holder.
2.30pm: Researching your Australian family history 
Presented by Helen Smith, Genealogical Society of Queensland.
3pm: Researching your Irish family history
A beginners guide presented by Maureen West, Auckland Libraries.
3.30pm: Building FamilyTrees with FamilySearch
Presented by Sister Lynda Bennett, FamilySearch.


Akozone computer suite, Level 1
Hands on computer tutorials
11am: Family history eResources at Auckland Libraries
Learn to use Auckland Libraries' online resources with Marie Hickey, Auckland Libraries.
12pm: FamilySearch NZ/AU
Tips and tricks on using FamilySearch to find New Zealand and Australian records, presented by Jan Gow, Hooked on Genealogy.
1pm: Ancestry NZ/AU
Tips and tricks on using Ancestry to find New Zealand and Australian records presented by Christine Clement, Ancestry.
2pm: Findmypast NZ/AU
Tips and tricks on using Findmypast to find New Zealand and Australian records presented by Fiona Brooker, Findmypast.



SUNDAY
Whare Wananga, Level 2 (seminars)
10.15am: Present, Past and Future - with Findmypast
Discover how Findmypast can help you trace your family history with Fiona Brooker, Findmypast.
11.15am: Māori Land Court Minute Books
Whakapapa is found throughout the Minute Books – come and learn how to use them. Presented by Raniera Kingi, Auckland Libraries.
12.15pm: NZ Society of Genealogists
An outline of who we are, and what we can offer to all family history historians. Presented by Gay Williams, NZSG President.
1.15pm: Special settlement schemes
Includes schemes such Albertland, Puhoi, and the Bay of Islands settlements. Presented by Mark Stoddart, Archives NZ.
2.15pm: Scotland's People
The very best thing your ancestors could have done for you is be born, married or died in Scotland. Presented by Jan Gow, Hooked on Genealogy.
3.15pm: Digging for treasure
Using online newspapers to research your family’s history, presented by Michelle Patient, Guild of One-Name Studies.

Te Marama Room, Level 1 (workshops)
10.30am: How to do a One-Name Study
Presented by Michelle Patient, Guild of One-Name Studies.
11am: Timelines for brickwall research
Presented by Helen Smith, Genealogical Society of Queensland.
11.30am: Read all about it
Use newspapers and magazines to enhance your family and social history research. Presented by Marie Hickey, Auckland Libraries.
12pm: Q & A - what would you like to know about researching your family history?
Ask your local NZSG reps.
12.30pm: Researching your English family history
Presented by Viv Parker, NZSG.
1pm: Researching your Scottish family history
Presented by Marie Hickey, Auckland Libraries.
1.30pm: Starting your German family history 
Presented by Graham Clark, NZSG European Interest Group.
2pm: Whakapapa research with Auckland Libraries
Are you thinking about starting your whakapapa journey? Come along to this session and make a start today. Presented by Raniera Kingi, Auckland Libraries.
2.30pm: Evernote for Genealogists
Evernote is an easy-to-use flexible tool which not only stores notes (text, sound, images and handwriting) but makes them easy to find. Presented by Michelle Patient, Guild of One-Name Studies.
3pm: Headlines or smallprint
Add some flesh to the bones of your family history with these search tips. Presented by Fiona Brooker, Findmypast.
3.30pm: Ancestry search tricks
Presented by Christine Clement, Ancestry.

Akozone computer suite, Level 1
Hands on computer tutorials
11am: Ancestry UK
Tips and tricks on using Ancestry to find records to assist with research in the UK and Ireland. Presented by Christine Clement, Ancestry.
12pm: Auckland Libraries Family History eResources
Learn to use Auckland Libraries' unique online resources with Seonaid Lewis, Auckland Libraries.
1pm: Findmypast UK
Tips and tricks on using Findmypast to find records to assist with research in the UK and Ireland. Presented by Fiona Brooker, Findmypast.
2pm: FamilySearch UK
Tips and tricks on using FamilySearch to find records to assist with research in the UK and Ireland. Presented by Jan Gow, Hooked on Genealogy.

See the Auckland Libraries' website for more details

An old institution: the first Land Court building erected in New Zealand, built at Hokianga. Sir George Grey SpecialCollections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19070502-2-4

To search the minute books you will need to use the Māori Land Court Minute Book Index. This index was created in the 1990s by librarians at the University of Auckland. The index covers 1,100 minute books from the whole country for hearings held between 1865-1910.

The index is available via two platforms. Either through Knowledge Basket, which Auckland Library members can access via the Digital Library, or through DBTextworks.

Auckland Library members can search the DBTextworks version on pcs at the Central Auckland Research Centre, the South Auckland Research Centre and the West Auckland Research Centre. We recommend using the DBTextworks version if possible as it enables specific field searching, the results can be easier to interpret and you can utilise the ‘browse feature’ to look up terms used in the index (helpful if you are unsure of spellings etc).

The index does not contain the content of the minute books themselves, so you will need to note the district, bookname and page numbers to then refer to the appropriate hard copy or microfilmed minute book. The hard copies can sometimes be easier to read than the microfilmed versions. Also, multiple volumes can be included on one reel of microfilm; each volume is only indicated at the start of that volume - which can make finding the appropriate volume and page more difficult.

When searching, you would usually be using some of the following information:

• Names of land blocks
• Names of people who may have given evidence in court between 1865-1910 or died before 1910
• Names of hapū or iwi who may have been mentioned in court between 1865-1910

Other possibilities include date, place of sitting, judge, type of case or district.



This screenshot shows a search for succession cases on the Wairoa block involving Wiremu Kauika, using the Advanced Search:

Note that the database uses the surname, first name format. Eg Kauika, Wiremu

As is often the case when database searching, ‘less is more’, and it may be appropriate to include search information in only one field; sometimes just searching on a surname is sufficient. If you get too many irrelevant results than you can add more information to narrow your search.

A useful tip for name searching which accommodates the fact that names may have been recorded in the minute books in different orders, is to use the ‘within’ operator. Eg a search for Wiremu W2 Kauika will find all records where ‘Wiremu’ is within two words of ‘Kauika’ (in either order) allowing for an intervening middle name.