After a number of months checking cartons and listing, the majority of records for the legacy Howick Borough Council are now searchable online through the Auckland Council Archives Database.

The series available include the minute books for the council and its predecessors from 1912-1989 including those for the Howick Township Road Board and the Howick Town Board. There are also statements of accounts, rates books, subject/correspondence files, building specifications, contract files and engineers' files. We are also working on the Papatoetoe City Council records and you will gradually see these added to the database aswell.

The majority of the archives holdings for the South Auckland area is stored off site so once you have found the records you would like to view, you will need to contact us to arrange viewing.

As with the collections we have for other legacy local government agencies, we are dependent on what has been passed down to the archives. It was not until the 1970s that councils were legally required to keep specific records so there are some gaps in the collection.

Senior Archivist Keith Stuart will be visiting the libraries in the area as their records come online to explain what Auckland Council Archives hold for the local area and how to access the records.

Following the listing of the Howick Borough Council records, work has now commenced on making the descriptions of the records of the former road boards in the South Auckland area available to search online.

The roads boards were the local government agencies prior to the borough councils. Already we have discovered some treasures such as the Pakuranga Road Board “rate payers” list from 1873-1874 and the rate books from 1886-1905. Such lists are a valuable reference for genealogists.

While there is a big task ahead to get all of the south archival records listed in the archives database, staff and the public can still get access to records not yet online by contacting Auckland Council Archives by emailing archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or phoning the Archives office on 09 307 7792.

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, three new family history index databases are now available to search via our website.

Papatoetoe bicycle register 1936-1944

This family history index has been created from the Papatoetoe Town Board/Papatoetoe Borough Council bicycle register for the period 1936 to 1944.  The index is a full transcription from the register and gives the registration number, the bicycle owner, address, description of the bicycle and serial number.

Many councils throughout New Zealand passed by-laws regulating bicycles, including Papatoetoe Borough Council, as a means to improve safety and to control bicycle traffic.  Such by-laws required the registration of bicycles where bicycle owners had to provide their full names and address and pay a registration fee.  The register we hold has registration numbers starting at 361, which indicates that there may have been earlier registers, but these do not appear to have survived.

Search the Papatoetoe bicycle register 1936-1944

Waitemata County Council wine licensing applications 1916-1934

In 1914 the Government passed a bill requiring winemakers to be licenced and placed restrictions on how much they could sell.   The applicant would pay a fee at their local Magistrate’s Court and be issued a licence.  The Magistrate’s Court would then distribute the fees collected to the local authorities in whose district the licenced premises were situated.  This index database contains information regarding the date, name of applicant and locality for which a wine license was issued. This information was transcribed from a Waitemata County Council file on wine licensing. 

Search the Waitemata County Council wine licensing applications 1916-1934

Takapuna building permit register 1913-1932

This index is a transcription of the Takapuna Borough Council building permit register covering the years 1913 to 1932, which is the only surviving record of building permits being issued for properties in Takapuna for this time period. 

The index was created due to a need by archives staff to have the ability to quickly search for permit information.  Without this index it would take us hours to go through the register line-by-line to find permit information for a property.  However, this index is also of interest to family historians as it contains the names of property owners and builders.  Besides the names of people, the index includes building permit number and the date issued, type of permit issued, the street where the property is located and the legal description of the property. 

Search the Takapuna Borough Council building permit register 1913-1932

Volunteer Indexing Programme

We are looking to recruit another volunteer to our team at our central office on a Friday. Perhaps you have an interest in family history or historical documents and have some computer skills and time to offer Auckland Council Archives?  We provide an induction programme, plus ongoing training and support.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us at:  archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

The St James Theatre complex located between 304 and 328 Queen Street has often been the subject of queries by customers at Auckland Council Archives. 

In response to the number of enquiries we were receiving just prior to the recent sale of the buildings in October 2014, we have created a research guide outlining the types of records that Auckland Council Archives holds relating to the theatre.

Now that this grand old theatre is beginning to be restored and a café has opened in the foyer, we expect that we will continue to field enquiries from curious customers wanting to know what we hold about the historic theatre - hopefully this guide will assist.

View the St James Theatre research guide

Donations of former council records, publications, plans, photographs and memorabilia from the public and former staff are welcome. For more information, please email the Council Archives team at, archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Phone              09 307 7792

Email                archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Website           www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/councilarchives

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