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The internet as we know can provide important information about anything that we desire, even for tracking our family history records. Recently I found important web sites with information pertaining to my late grandfather - and a bit unknown to me about his past. So to search for family records, I entered his name in the excellent resource maori lands on line (mlol) from the maori land court site (mlc). The results produced the name of his blocks of maori land, the number of shares, trustees, and hundreds of share holders within those blocks. I then emailed mlc requesting documentation about how he acquired the land and if other family member's records were included.
Evaluating Family Records For Relevancy
Evaluating the mlc succession transcript photo-copied family records (court orders, indexes, memorandums, etc) from the 1920's to 1960's displayed names of his stepfather, and the remarried name of his mother. Importantly, a court listing displayed another names my grandfather had, and that it was registered in blocks of land. It also recorded several other family names, of which the surnames were familiar to my senior family. This was new information to us, as we were not sure who his parents really were, and that he had another name. Current NZ birth certificates, I think were not produced or recorded after about 1913, and did not provide sufficient family records for maori births (and in fact were recorded separately).
Expand Family Search Sites Options
Not to worry really, using the mlc family recorded names for my grandfather, I then entered them in family search (another excellent resource), which displayed a large listing of names (thanks to the LSD church). The names tracked back to the 1860's - displaying my great grand father's name. Hence I could mentally picture a family tree - well almost. I needed public records (bit different from the mlc records) so I searched and emailed NZ archives.
Contact Family Members
I also contacted family members - cousins and an uncle, as we had long lost contact (25 years). Thanks to old friends (where about a quarter of NZ's population are registered) I could trace their email addresses. I also posted a request for additional contacts on maori org (under finding whanau/family) to try to get more family information. Receiving all this resulting information, allowed me to email my lost family members, and of course to expand my family tree.
Search Relevant Family Database Sites: Then Contact
Hence, I'm sure anyone can search information relating to their family history, but of course you need to know the relevant and often government based websites, family search engines, social sites, population or census records, local contact sites similar to old friends, and so on. Also, you would need to contact those sites to inquire about receiving specific records - of which some may be restricted or require official approval (e.g. patient records, death records), depending on your government laws and regulations.
Create Family Tree By Collating Data
I could not find information from direct names using a Google search, I think because many government sites and their name records/index cards may not be indexed with Google for privacy reasons. So to effectively search for family records, you need to search various online web sites, contact (email) those sites, and contact family members. Once you have collated sufficient information, then it should be relatively easy to create and hopefully complete a family tree..
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