New Zealand map and words cloud with larger citiesI’ve mentioned findmypast’s 100in100 project (100 new record sets in 100 days) before, together with some of the new records they’ve added online during this campaign. You can find those here, here and here.

Another recent addition is BIG news for our friends across the ditch in New Zealand, as findmypast added almost  800,000 records from New Zealand 1925 electoral roll. This is good news for researchers, as New Zealand is in the same boat (so to speak) as Australia, in that their censuses have been destroyed as well, so you’ll be needing to look for alternate records, and electoral rolls make a great substitute as they give their home location as well as occupation.

Going back to the New Zealand censuses for a moment … New Zealand has had censuses from 1858 through to present day, however the pre-1966 returns have been destroyed with the exception of a few for the Maori population. As mentioned before electoral rolls are are valuable substitute as they list the names of individuals from each electoral district who were qualified to vote. Everyone eligible to vote was required to register on the electoral roll by law, even if they did not intend to vote.

Apart from the electoral rolls, findmypast have also added some New Zealand employment records to their collection, so you’ll be able to find out what working life was like for your New Zealand ancestors.

The Department of Lands and Survey was established in 1876. This department was responsible for many different areas of work such as creating and maintaining Crown lands and roads and undertaking surveys, as well as monitoring immigration and administrating healthcare. The department even oversaw tourist resorts, although in subsequent years other departments took over some of these responsibilities. And as New Zealand grew the Department of Lands and Surveys played an important role in establishing settlements across the country.

FMP - NZ employment recordsThe New Zealand Lands and Surveys Department Nominal Roll of Officers is an index of 269 of the department’s staff members in 1901 (‘officers’ is simply another term for ‘staff’). They include surveyors and assistant surveyors, draughtsmen, lithographers, rangers, clerks, auditors, cadets (both male and female), and more. And these records contain details of workers’ employment, so they reveal fascinating information about working conditions at the turn of the century including length of service and pay rates.

The amount of information listed in these records varies, but the records can include the officer’s name, department, location, length of service, rate of pay as well as other comments and details of their employment.

SUBSCRIBE
As findmypast is a subscription site you do need to either purchase PayAsYouGo credits, or be a subscriber. If you don’t already have a subscription you can view these records by subscribing to www.findmypast.com.au for a month for just AU$9.95, or for a year at AU$99.50. If you have a world subscription through www.findmypast.com (US), or www.findmypast.co.uk (UK) you will also be able to access these records.

START SEARCHING
search to New Zealand 1925 electoral roll here
search the New Zealand Lands and Survey Department records here

MORE ABOUT 100IN100
to keep up with the latest additions to findmypast’s 100in100 project click here