Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser.

November 2012

Welcome

The purpose of the newsletter is to update you on upcoming events and share information with you about new services, resources and additions to our collections.

 

Auckland Council Archives as a Resource for Family History Research

Archives hold a number of records that may be of use in family history research. Here are brief details regarding three types of record series.

Cemetery records- we hold original records giving details of people buried at or purchasing plots in the Albany Village, Birkenhead-Glenfield, Hillsborough, Mt Victoria, North Shore Memorial Park, O’Neill’s Point, Otahuhu, Pompallier, Waikaraka and Waikumete Cemeteries.  

Licences– councils’ have been responsible for the licencing of a variety of activities over time, including auctioneers, bicycles, drivers, hawkers, street musicians and publicans.  

Rating and valuation records- These records provide basic ownership and descriptive information regarding properties throughout the region, the earliest dating from 1867 for the Mt Albert Highway District.  

Certificate to Authorise the Renewal of a Publican’s Licence George Symon Budge Star and Garter Hotel Panmure 1901 MWB 125 Item 2 id 144892

Visit our website for more information, then visit one of our offices or email us at archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz with your family research enquiry.  If you are interested in family history research, you should also see our Search the Archives section of the website that includes our Index resources – read more below about new indexes that have gone online in the last month.

New Index Resources Online

New additions have been made to the Search the Archives section of the Auckland Council Archives website www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/councilarchives.  There are new family history indexes and an updated digital version of the 1908 City of Auckland Map. 

What are Indexes?

Many archival records contain interesting information about people, their occupations and location.  Often these records weren’t created in a way that makes it easy to search for information about individuals, for instance information in ratebooks are often arranged by street address rather than alphabetical by owners names.  Sometimes records are old and fragile, frequent handling can cause deterioration and endanger their long-term preservation. 

To address these issues, Auckland Council Archives has an programme of creating indexes. An index is a selected archival record that has been partially or fully transcribed. 

Ratebook Wairoa Road Board 1892-1897, TR32 Item 47 W2071

Council Archives is fortunate to have a small team of dedicated volunteers who work on transcribing original handwritten registers. As the original material is often handwritten and hard to read, once a transcription is complete another volunteer checks the transcript before it is converted into a database. 

These Index databases help genealogists, social and local history researchers by providing “a way into” archival records making them searchable by keywords or names.  The indexes allow researchers to discover a wide range of information about past residents of Auckland and the history of our city.

What is new?

The Auckland City Council Motor Register 1913-1919 is a new index database that has been added to our Family History resources.  After a fatal accident involving a private motorist, By-Law Number 15 was passed in 1913 requiring drivers of private motor cars, motorcycles, taxicabs and delivery vans to be licensed.  This Index database includes details of drivers including their name and address and type of vehicle, for drivers of taxis and delivery vans information such as age, height, eye and hair colour are included.

The Devonport Borough Council Packet and Publicans’ License Register (1905-1944) has been added to the Publicans’ License Index Database 1900-1962.  This new register includes licenses for the Masonic and Esplanade hotels.  It also contains packet licenses issued by Devonport Borough Council to vessels owned by Settlers' Steamship Company (later Northern Steam Ship Company).  Packet ships are vessels that operated on regular routes carrying passengers, freight and mail packets from one port to another. A packet license authorised the master of a packet ship to sell liquor to passengers during the voyage.

The existing Auckland City Council Bicycle Register database has been updated to include the Bicycle Register from 1918-1923.  From 1887, anyone wishing to ride a bicycle within the City of Auckland had to register his or her bicycle with the Town Clerk of Auckland City Council.  The earliest register also includes bootblack licence registrations, bootblacks were people who made a living by polishing shoes on the street.  This database includes people residing in greater Auckland area.

The Remuera Road Board Valuation Rolls index database has been expanded with the addition of the Valuation Roll index for 1912-1913.  The Remuera Highway District Board was formed in 1863; this then became Remuera Road Board in 1883.  Remuera Road Board was dissolved on 1 March 1915 when Remuera Road district amalgamated with Auckland City. 

Other Indexes available online are:

  • Auckland City Council Valuation Roll 1908-1909
  • Burgess Rolls for City of Auckland 1872-1892
  • Auckland City Council Engineers Department Register of Employees 1901-1930
  • City of Auckland Licensing District Register of Applications 1901-1920
  • Auckland City Council Property Book c1880
  • Eden Terrace Road Board Valuation Rolls 1883-1903
  • Karangahape Road Board Valuation Book 1883
  • Lock Hospital Register Book 1883-1886
  • Mount Albert Ratebooks 1867-1884
  • Borough of Newton Valuation Lists 1887-1888
  • Orakei Road Board Valuation Rolls 1912, 1920
  • Otahuhu Cemetery Applications for Burial Warrants 1921-1925
  • Otahuhu Borough Council Valuation Rolls 1886-1908
  • Parnell Borough Council Valuation Lists 1897-1901
  • Parnell Borough Council Ratebooks 1873-1875
  • Ponsonby Highway District Board Valuation List 1882-1883
  • Register of Burials Otahuhu Cemetery 1894-1922
    Plan showing leaseholders from Auckland City Council Property Book c 1880 ACC 333 Item 1 Folio 9
  • Register of Licenses:  Drivers, Porters, Carriages, Carters & Private Carts 1895-1899
  • Tamaki West Road Board Valuation Roll 1920
  • Auckland City Council Wage Book for Men in Service in World War I 1916-1919
  • Waikaraka Cemetery Record Book 1890-1906

How to Search Indexes

A simple search can be made across all of these index databases by using a person’s name.  Each individual index database is also searchable by a variety of search terms such as name, location and date.

Auckland Council Archives is grateful to have a team of volunteers who so readily give up their time.  Their efforts in transcribing material from our collections for the Indexes help to make Auckland Council Archives more accessible to the public.

1908 City of Auckland Map

The City of Auckland Map is a unique record of Auckland city’s history and infrastructure.  In 1906 Auckland City Engineer, Walter Bush proposed the preparation of a detailed survey map of the City.  This mammoth task was completed by December 1909 - the work of 36 staff, resulting in 74 map sheets.  The map is incredibly detailed, showing locations of streets, footpaths, tramways, building footprints, property boundaries, and services such as sewers and gas pipes.  The maps were annotated with all changes in the city up until 1923.

Digitization and adding Valuation Roll content to the Map

In its centennial year, the 74 sheets of the map were digitized as a means of preserving the original sheets and providing greater access for researchers by making it available online. 

This year, Helen Donaldson (Archives Technical Support Administrator), has created a new version of the map that includes 1908/09 valuation roll content for properties appearing on the map. Content from the original handwritten valuation roll was transcribed and checked by volunteers from the Archives Indexing team.  Helen matched this with street number information also transcribed by the indexers from the map sheets and tagged the properties on the digitized version of the map.  Now when you search the online version you can hover over drawing pin icons and pop-up boxes appear with data from the valuation roll for that property, giving the name of the occupier, their occupation, a description of the property and its rateable value.  Out of the 8926 properties in the valuation roll 6190 could be matched to properties on the map and can now be searched. 

Collection Snapshot -Auckland Regional Council Archives

Accessible by appointment via the Auckland Council Archives Central office is the ex Auckland Regional Council Archives collection. This collection consists of records of the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) and its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) and the following collections:

  • Auckland Airport Committee
  • Auckland Centennial Memorial Park Board
  • Auckland Metropolitan Council
  • Auckland Metropolitan Planning Organization
  • Auckland Regional Planning Authority
  • Auckland Regional Authority Establishment Committee
  • Auckland Transport Club
  • Auckland Electric Tramway Company Ltd
  • Auckland City Corporation Tramways
  • Auckland Transport Commission 1928
  • North Shore Transport Company
  • Passenger Transport Company Ltd
  • Auckland Transport Board
    Three Kings Tram on Mt Eden Road Mt Eden Village c 1960 MEB 027 Item 41 id 465444   
  • Hobson Bay Watershed Sewage Board
  • Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board
  • Auckland & Suburban Drainage Board
  • Auckland Electric Power Board (AEPB). 

Email us at archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz with your research enquiry.

Local Government Changes a Hundred Years Ago

Under the Manukau and Franklin Counties Act 1911, Manukau County was split into Manukau and Franklin counties, both being formally constituted on 1 April 1912.  On the same day these counties were formed, Pukekohe became a borough in its own right. Otahuhu was also constituted as a borough in 1912 the council holding its first meeting in the Masonic Hall in Otahuhu on the 30 of September 1912.

The surviving archives of Franklin and Manukau County Councils and Pukekohe Borough Council are accessible by appointment via the Auckland Council Archives South office and those of Otahuhu Borough Council, via the research room at the Auckland Council Archives Central office between 2-5pm Monday–Friday or by appointment. See our website for location details or email us at archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

 

 

 

Proposed Cottage for Mrs MJ Cooper 5/11/1912 Huia Road Otahuhu id 527903  OTB 007 Item 21 

Donations

Donations of former council records, publications, plans, photographs and memorabilia from the public are welcome. For more information, please email Sarah Padey, Team Leader Archives Management Auckland Council, sarah.padey@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Christmas / New Year Hours

Auckland Council Archives office research rooms will be closed from Friday 21st December 2012 to Friday 14th January 2013. Access between Monday January 7th to Friday January 11th 2013 is available by appointment only.

Find out more

Phone              09 307 7792

Email                archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Website           www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/councilarchives

Unsubscribe

 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please click the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of this email.