Guest contributor: Anahera Sadler, Pou Kohinga Matua (Maori Reference Librarian)

Website: http://www.maraedirectory.com

If you are looking to connect or reconnect with your whanau, hapu or iwi and think you are from the region of Tamaki Makaurau then this website is definitely worth a look in.

The Tamaki Makaurau Marae Directory is an initiative sponsored and maintained by Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development). The directory provides a listing of all marae in the greater Auckland region, enabling the local community, tangata whenua and visitors to easily find and visit local marae.

The website encompasses 75 marae from Warkworth in the north through to Pukekohe in the South. It is searchable either by name of marae or by region (North, East, West or South). A picture of the marae is viewable, a pepeha (a way to introduce yourself in a Maori context - waka, maunga, awa, iwi, hapu, marae) are recorded, contact details and google maps with driving directions are also listed to further aid the researcher to identify where the marae are and how to get there.

So, make the most of this resource...reunite with your whanau, strengthen your links, delve into these sacred places steeped in whakapapa, stories of days gone by, and learn about their relevance today!

Guest contributor: Marie Hickey

New on ancestry.com - Canada Ocean Arrivals 1919-1924.

Unlike previous immigration databases these are digitised copies of the actual arrival cards.

Information given includes: name, age, marital status, if accompanied by spouse their name, current occupation, intended occupation, birthplace, religion, why going to Canada, whether or not they intend to stay, if previously they lived in Canda where, and why did they leave, ports of previous entry and departure from Canada with dates, amount of money in possession, whether they can read, what language, who paid the passage, where in Canada are they going to, which Canadian railway will they be travelling on to their destination, nearest relative in the country they may be coming from, physical or mental defects of self and/or family members travelling at the same time, signature.

The name of the ship is noted on the index page as is the port and the date of arrival.

Else Churchill has written a very informative blog on the Society of Genealogists' website about these records which is well worth readingwww.sog.org.uk

British Army records WWI
All records held at The National Archives, Kew, have now been digitised and indexed. These have been uploaded onto the ancestry.com website which is available at most Auckland City Libraries.