Know how to use
Ancestry.com
June 2016
What is Ancestry.com?
Ancestry.com is an international database for genealogical research. It includes resources from New
Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Indonesia, Micronesia, North and South America, Canada, Mexico, Africa,
Asia, and 38 European countries, including the United Kingdom. Ancestry.com is only accessible
using library computers.
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
http://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
‘Australia & NZ’ then ‘New
Zealand’; you will be taken to a
page with 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 on Edit Search to
refine the search
Look at the record by clicking
on View Record or see at
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 printerfriendly 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

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
various years

When browsing check at the end of a Roll for a Supplementary Roll with late enrolments

Electorates usually change with 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 at first
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