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Beginning Research in Australia and New Zealand

© Christine Sievers

Going further south into the Pacific Ocean this week, I came to Australia and New Zealand. There are plentiful sites for this area, which sometimes can get confusing when you are starting your research. Since this article is about researching immigrant ancestors, I looked at them with a perspective different from someone living there.

If your ancestors immigrated from Australia or New Zealand and you are living far away, the best sites will give you as much information as possible, with mail and internet links to contact information. They are countries of immigrants. Eventually, you will have to research where they came from before arriving in Australia or New Zealand.

As with all good genealogy research, you start from the present and work backwards. Before moving into the country of immigration, you should have exhausted all the sources of information in the country to which they immigrated. Sources closer to home, that is if you have not immigrated further. This research should have uncovered from where in Australia or New Zealand they immigrated.

Once you start your research in Australia or New Zealand, it is again important to exhaust all sources there before trying to dig into the previous emigration countries.

Some sites I found covered both Australia and New Zealand. So, I put them together in the categories below.

HISTORY AND MAPS

As always, I recommend doing background research first. Following are some good history and map sites:

Flo's Homepage! - Australia: History - an excellent, concise history

Pioneers in New Zealand - fascinating collection of stories by the historian, Anthony G. Flude

Map of New Zealand - provides location of cities

Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection - Historical Maps of Australia and the Pacific

HOW-TO INFORMATION

Now that you know something about Australia or New Zealand, where do you begin? Here is are some orientation sites:

Internet Family History Association Genealogy Course - information helpful for both Australia and New Zealand

Genealogy.com: Australian Research - includes an important list of contact mailing addresses for records

CONNECTING

Making contact with others doing research in the same countries is one of the best features of the Internet. These sites will provide the connections that will help answer your questions and aim you in the right direction:

Australian Genealogy-Suite101.com - a fellow Suite101 editor has provided an excellent place to join or start a discussion about Australian genealogy, and don't miss her informative articles and links

Australia Mailing Lists

New Zealand Mailing Lists

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