The Old Colonists Association Register is an original manuscript listed on Manuscripts Online, that is held within the Sir George Grey Specialist Collections on L2 of Central City Library.

The Old Colonists Association was originally developed out of reunion gatherings for early Auckland settlers who arrived on the Duchess of Argyle and the Jane Gifford, the first two immigrant ships into Auckland.

It was extended to include early colonists of fifty years' standing and their descendants.

Members were listed in the Register between 10 October 1919 to 16 November 1934, and includes a list of 13 early vessels with their arrival dates pasted on the register's front endpaper, which covers the period 1840-1842.

The register contains a list of members of the association, including information relating to joining date, badge number, address at time of joining, when and where born, date of arrival in New Zealand, name of ship, and some miscellaneous remarks.

The inclusions of gems such as where and when born is pure gold, for those wanting to trace their ancestors back to their country of origin. And the date of arrival and ship's name answers the inevitable family history question "when did my ancestor arrive in New Zealand" for many researchers.

The Old Colonists Association Register is often cited as a source in our databases "Index Auckland" and "Auckland Area Passenger Vessels".

Searching for "Dora Close" in Index Auckland brings up six records. The top record is her entry in the Old Colonists' Association Register. You can open the actual image of the page by "Clicking here to view".

In this image of the Old Colonists Association Register, you can see where Dora Close was born, amongst other wonderful pieces of information.

Twelve months ago, Auckland Library's Sir George Grey Special Collections held the exhibition Scrapbooks, noting that scrapbooking is a great way to display your family history research. 

In that vein, why not make 2013 the year to start researching a heritage album for a special event in your family – such as a wedding anniversary or a big birthday? We have a couple of gorgeous books in the Central Auckland Research Centre on just this topic and they are worth a browse for a wealth of tips and ideas to get you inspired and motivated. 

They include tips such as how scrapbookers have gone about creating special books such as a 70th birthday album; how to sort all those random photos sitting in shoe boxes into “scrapbookable” categories; and guidelines on how to keep the flow going between albums if your project will extend over several books. There are also ideas on how to make your presentation more authentic, with guides to vintage fabrics as well as the popular colors and motifs of the day (bearing in mind the books have a North American bias.)

Another suggestion to make an ancestor more “real” is to research events during their lifetime and add these tidbits into the scrapbook -- what events were happening in the world when they were born, started school, or became a teenager? Printing or scanning headlines from newspapers is not only a terrific way to add a sense of social history to a personal story but a fun way to get the children involved. (We have on microfilm the NZ Herald going back to 1863, as well as the Auckland Star and assorted local papers.)

The Queen's Birthday weekend is upon us. In the UK, they are having a 4-day weekend to celebrate.
In recognition, The National Archives in England, have digitised about 60 Addresses to Queen Victoria for viewing in an online exhibition. It covers both jubilees in 1887 and 1897. The images are gorgeous, and you can also view a video clip telling you information about it.

Are you aware of our own Address to Queen Victoria?

In 1897, around 25,000 children in the Auckland education district signed a congratulatory address to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years as Queen. The Auckland education district covered all public schools from Northland to Rotorua and Tauranga.

The information available includes the child’s name, which school they belonged to and a page number which refers to the signatures in the original manuscript held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections (NZMS 540).

Because of its fragile condition, the original manuscript has been copied onto microfiche. These are available in the Auckland Research Centre and the Sir George Grey Special Collections.