How to use Ancestry.com
May 2017
What is Ancestry.com?
Ancestry.com is an international database for genealogical research. It includes resources from New
Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Micronesia, North and South America, Canada, Africa, Asia, many
European countries and the United Kingdom.
Ancestry.com is only accessible using computers and devices within the Libraries.
Using Ancestry.com, you can access millions of records, including:

UK census records 1840-1911

Birth marriage and death records

Military records

Directories and passenger lists

Court, land and probate records

NZ electoral rolls 1853-1981
Accessing Ancestry.com
Free access is available from
library.huttcity.govt.nz
Search Ancestry.com
On the next screen, click on the
Electronic Access link
library.huttcity.govt.nz
huttcitylibs
HuttCityLibraries
Getting started
From the Ancestry.com home
page you can choose Search and
All Categories or click on Begin
Searching
Start searching by entering your
ancestor’s details
Search New Zealand data
collections by selecting ‘Oceania’
then ‘New Zealand’ or click on the
NZ icon to go to a page listing the
New Zealand data collections
The New Zealand page provides a
list of searchable data collections
It also allows you to choose a New
Zealand region
An example search using the New Zealand Electoral Roll
Search the Electoral Roll by
entering a name and location
Click Edit Search to refine the
search
Look at the record by clicking
View Record or see the original
document by clicking on the
Images icon
In Edit Search you can choose
to search a range of years, limit
name searches to the exact
word or sounds like, and add
keywords
When viewing the original image
you can then save the transcript
or original image to a USB, send
the document by email, or view
a printer-friendly version
Note that only Electoral Roll
years with * (e.g. 1890*) are
searchable by name
You can browse other Electoral
Roll years by selecting a year
and province, then an electoral
district
1853-64*, 1865-66, 1866-67, 1867-68, 1868-69,
1869-70, 1870-71*, 1871-72, 1873-74, 1874-75,
1875-76*, 1876-77, 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80,
1880-81*, 1882-84, 1885-86*, 1887, 1890*, 1893,
1894, 1896*, 1897, 1899, 1900*, 1902, 1903,
1905-06*, 1908, 1911*, 1914*, 1919*, 1922,
1925, 1928*, 1931, 1935*, 1938*, 1941, 1943*,
1946*, 1949*, 1954*, 1957*, 1960, 1963*, 1966,
1969*, 1972*, 1975, 1978*, 1981*
Extra information
 New Zealand Electoral Rolls are a “census substitute” as our census data is not accessible
 Ancestry.com displays your search results starting with the best match first
 When you search for an electoral year and name, the results for your selected year will appear
first followed by other years from earliest to most recent
 You can search for a given name without a family name
 You can use ? instead of a letter, or * at the end of a word e.g. Sm?th* for Smith, Smythe…..
 If you are getting no results try broadening your search; there may be transcribing errors or the
names you are searching may have different spellings or have been altered
 Using Edit Search works better than using the search tabs and Update
 Not all electoral years are indexed; check the New Zealand Electoral Roll page, and try browsing
 When browsing check at the end of a Roll for a Supplementary Roll with late enrolments
 Electorates often change at each election; Ancestry.com will give you the correct list for any year
 The NZ Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls 1908 & 1919 and Canterbury NZ Provincial Rolls 18681874 are also available on Ancestry.com
 The NZ Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls 1908 & 1919 cover the Maori electorates and for these
years Maori names are not found in the NZ Electoral Rolls 1853-1981 collection
 Maori electorates give the tribe and sub tribe or hapu
 Property, age, race, and gender all affected who could vote; plural voting existed for men until
1889 and 1893 was the first year women voted
 Petone Library has the Hutt and Maori Electorate Electoral Rolls from 1981 to the current rolls;
War Memorial Library has a complete set of the latest New Zealand Electoral Rolls. For all New
Zealand Electoral Rolls from 1981 to current rolls, visit the National Library