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Archives & Research  Ngā Taonga tuku iho me te Rangahau

We have a fascinating archival store of historical imagesArchives & Research

Hastings District Libraries have a great many archival and research resources available for public use. These include:

Genealogy Collection

  • Microfiche & microfilms, including New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages to 1990
  • Hawke's Bay newspapers on microfilm
  • Genealogy reference books
  • Local telephone directories
  • Journals (many donated - thanks for this!)
  • Electoral rolls for NZ on microfiche and in print

Available for free use on our Research Computers are:

  • Ancestry Library Edition
  • New Zealand Gazette Archives (one PC only)
  • Papers Past - historic New Zealand newspapers online - now searchable
  • Findmypast - discover your family history

Microfiche / Microfilm

The library has three microfilm readers with the ability to save scanned images to a memory stick. These are available upstairs in the Genealogy section of Hastings Library. See our Genealogy collection page for a full list of microfiche and microfilm available.

Library staff are available and happy to assist.

Newspapers

We subscribe to newspapers in various formats:

  • Print
  • Microfilm
  • Online and Databases
  • NZ newspapers held at Hastings District Libraries

Hastings War Memorial Library has these newspapers available on microfilm:

  • Hastings Standard      Apr 1896 - Dec 1910
  • HB Tribune                 Dec 1910 - Jun 1937
  • HB Herald Tribune     Jan 1937 - April 1970, Jun 1970 - Nov 1978, Jan 1979 - 01 May 1999
  • Hawke's Bay Today    Apr 1999 - Present

Print copies of regular newspapers are held at the library for varying lengths of time. See our newspapers page for a full list of available print newspapers in the libraries. 

Please check with your library to find if we hold a newspaper you are interested in. You can call us on +64 06 871 5000, or email on libraries@hdc.govt.nz

There are a number of ways to access shipping records and passenger lists. Here are some of the resources available:

National Archives

National Archives have Research Guide on Migration (Pdf - 114.8 KB). 

This guide covers the following topics: 

  • Shipping Records 
  • Immigration 1840-1880s
  • Immigration 1880s - 1970s
  • Specific Group / Nationality Migrations
  • Emigration
  • Other sources of immigration information

Christchurch City Libraries

http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/familyhistory/passengerlists/passengerlists.pdf
A very useful guide to shipping and passenger information on the Christchurch City Libraries website.  This pathfinder covers all of New Zealand, includes specific Canterbury information.

Auckland Area Passenger Arrivals

www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/passengers/passenger.html
Auckland City Libraries have a searchable database of passenger arrivals in the Auckland area, 1838-1889, 1909-1921

Other Websites

The sites listed below include passenger lists.  They are not necessarily complete and the information needs verification.

  • Find my Past - Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890 - 1960
    This database lists millions of passengers who left British shores between 1890 and 1960. Emigrating to USA, Canada, Australia, NZ and other countries.  It is run by findmypast.com. Without paying, you can see a basic search result. Name of person, date of sailing, name of ship, port of departure and port of arrival. You can search by name and by ship. To see a full transcript people need to subscribe to findmypast.com or access Find My Past from within Hastings District Libraries.
     
  • New Zealand Bound
    “Dedicated to identifying genealogical resources to assist in locating which New Zealand bound ship an immigrant ancestor was aboard”
    You can search by available passenger lists, or by the port of arrival.  Produced by Olwyn Whitehouse.
    This is a Rootsweb hosted site has links to other shipping sites.
    Be aware that on some links not all ships are listed, for instance, on the (Denise and Peter’s page) ‘Our Passengers page’ Ships into Dunedin the ship Schleswig Bride is not listed, although it arrived in 1868.
     
  • Passenger Ships in NZ
    Site hosted by the Perth Dead Person’s Society. (Yes that is what the Society is called!)
    Lists passenger ships arriving in Australasia.  There is a passenger list for any ship with a highlighted name.  Ships are listed in date order of arrival in port, from 1839-1905.
    “Based on a list which the computing group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists placed in the public domain in 1988”
    This where you will find the arrival of the Schleswig Bride.  Note that some of the information comes from Denise and Peter Wells
     
  • Passenger Lists compiled by D & P Wells.
    A personal genealogy site launched in 1999 and still current.  Hosted by Denise and Peter Wells. 
    The site has links to other genealogy material as well as shipping lists. 
    You can search the shipping lists by port of arrival or by name of ship. 
    There are some brief “thumbnail” sketches of families as people have submitted details of their ancestors to the site.

Hastings

Monday 10.00am - 5.30pm
Tuesday 9.00am - 7.00pm
Wednesday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Thursday 9.00am - 7.00pm
Friday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday 1.00pm - 4.00pm

Havelock North

Monday 10.00am - 5.30pm
Tuesday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Wednesday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Thursday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Friday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday 10.00am - 1.00pm

Flaxmere

Monday 10.00am - 5.30pm
Tuesday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Wednesday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Thursday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Friday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday CLOSED

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While every endeavour has been taken by the Hastings District Council to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and up to date, Hastings District Council shall not be liable for any loss suffered through the use, directly or indirectly, of information on this website. Information contained has been assembled in good faith. Some of the information available in this site is from the New Zealand Public domain and supplied by relevant government agencies. Hastings District Council cannot accept any liability for its accuracy or content. Portions of the information and material on this site, including data, pages, documents, online graphics and images are protected by copyright, unless specifically notified to the contrary. Externally sourced information or material is copyright to the respective provider.

© Hastings District Council - https://www.hastingslibraries.co.nz/ / +64 6 871 5000 / libraries@hdc.govt.nz