Family information about service personnel
The following sources, which are located in the Family History area of the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre, may provide genealogical information about service personnel and their families.
- Church Register Index
- An index to baptisms, burials and marriages recorded in the registers of churches in Christchurch and north Canterbury. Details of each baptism, marriage and burial are recorded on cards which are filed in red catalogue drawers. Although not comprehensive, the index does include references to many Canterbury families. It may include the baptism or marriage of the serviceman himself, as well as information on his parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members.
- Obituaries index [microfiche]
- An alphabetical index to obituaries published in The Press newspaper from 1876-1994. This index might include obituaries for some well-known service personnel, or for other members of their families, most likely fathers, grandfathers or brothers.
- G. R. Macdonald dictionary of biographies index
- Biographies compiled by G. R. Macdonald of 19th century Canterbury pioneers are held on microfiche at the Canterbury Museum library. An index to these biographies is held in the Family History area of the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre. This may include references to the parents and grandparents of service personnel.
- Cemetery transcriptions
- The library holds transcriptions of the gravestones in Canterbury cemeteries. There is a master index to all the cemeteries and each individual volume also contains a cemetery-specific index. Most cemeteries include a section for the burial of returned servicemen. The library also holds New Zealand cemetery records on microfiche, which contain transcriptions of gravestones in cemeteries around New Zealand.
- Alexander Turnbull Library Biographical Index [microfiche]
- For many years (ca. 1920-1990) the Turnbull Library created scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings about people, especially obituaries. These scrapbooks are on microfiche and are available in the Family History area. The index includes references to the scrapbook obituaries, as well as to other sources of information about a wide range of people from all around New Zealand.
