New Zealand divorce and census records

Question

Where is the best place to research divorce records and census records please?

Researching in New Zealand.

Answer 1

As Fiona says - NZ did not start keeping Census records until the 1960s and thus those details wont be available for 100 years.

 Some divorce records can be found in the Archway Archives - but not all. The Archway Archives also has military records, land sales records, and probate records.

https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/

Papers Past really is hit and miss. BDM announcements for sure - but I have not seen any divorce announcements in Papers Past yet. So far that site does not go past 1950.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

There is a CD you can purchase from the NZ genealogical society that has Marriages all the way up to 1956 - which may be useful - especially if the person you are looking for remarried. (NZ$40)

https://www.genealogy.org.nz/productdisplay.aspx?pageid=195&categoryId=227&productId=568&colour=

And of course there is also the Govt index of BDMs - 100 year restrictions for births, 80 years for marriages and no restrictions for deaths, if the person was aged over 80 when they died.

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/

Comments

Robynne, divorces often come up in the court news in Papers Past. If the court report is in “Truth”, they can be quite salacious.

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"Truth" is certainly where you should look for divorces. My father as a lawyer subscribed to that, and I read it. There was a listing of the week's cases with the decree and grounds.

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Thanks everyone. I've ordered the CD.

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My great-grandfather was divorced after he returned from WWII to find out that his wife had been adulterous with the local grocer. The divorce hearing was mentioned in the "news of the day" section of the New Zealand Times in August 1918.

Answer 2

There are no NZ census records like other countries - only the statistical data was collected. Your best bet is the electoral rolls or directories on Ancestry. Divorce records sometimes appear in Archway; sometimes in Papers Past. Finding divorces can be rather hit and miss.