We have Fijian birth, death and marriage records on microfilm on permanent loan from the LDS in the Central Auckland Research Centre. They are divided into the categories General, Fijian, Indian and European and are helpfully indexed.

This is an example of an index, taken from Fiji births, general index 1876-1960.

A birth record may give you date, name, sex, parent’s names and ages, whether married, previous children, profession and parents’ birth place, with signature or their ‘mark’. This example is from Births general 1883-1891.


This example is from Births general 1911 in Fiji (although the child was born in 1888 the birth wasn't registered until later, along with two of his other siblings).

In the Central Auckland Research Centre, we have a collection of microfilm collectively called “Miscellaneous Films”. These are a series of films covering a variety of resources and have been grouped together in the Research Centre, just for the convenience of storage.

So, what sort of material can be found amongst this collection?

There is The diary of William Bambridge containing an account of his journey from England to New Zealand in 1841 which runs to two films.

William Bambridge was a school teacher who accompanied William Charles Cotton and Bishop Selwyn to the Te Waimate Mission. They arrived at the Bay of Islands on 20 June 1842 and he remained until December 1847.

Other items include:-

• Returns of blockhouses, redoubts and stockades in the North Island, 1869
• Index of microfilm of the source material of the "Story of early Dunedin"
• Annual reports, minute books and club photographs, 1946-1972 Eastern Suburbs Rugby Football Club
• Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey : papers, 1905-1923
• The joy remains : autobiography of Sister Margaret of the Cross
• St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society : records 1882-1972
• Development and education in the Cook Islands : a study of community and education in an emergent Pacific Islands Territory by W.G. Coppell

 The collection includes other diaries, papers of several people, including Joseph Banks. It is definitely something for those particularly interested in the early history of New Zealand to have a look at.

No doubt there are some gold nuggets hidden amongst the material that we are unaware of and you may be just the person to find it.

Marie Hickey 



Image from FindMyPast UK