A Quick Tip

Since early 2022, in each issue of e-KIT, our electronic newsletter, we have a section called ‘A Quick Tip’. This page is a summary of all those tips. Enjoy!
Hint: If you can think of a topic you have read in e-KIT but can't remember the date it was published, find it on this page with Ctrl-F.
24 January 2025 - AI - Artificial Intelligence
Have you wondered if this could help with your family research? If it seems a little scary consider using YouTube training videos to find out more. There are many of them and most are good. These include Family Search and others. Just type AI in Genealogy as a search topic. This will be a good start.
The most common program is Chat GPT but there are others. Some are free. Many of the Commercial Genealogy programs already include AI as a research tool.
How you ask the questions is the most important skill needed. If you are clear with your question AI has the best chance of providing answers. Programs with OCR, Optical Character Recognition are able to translate or analyse documents.
10 January 2025 - NZ BDM
When searching New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages and noting the number you need to establish which number is quoted.
The microfiche index number is the Folio number and there is often more than one entry with this number. The online number from the Historical BDM website is the Registration number and this number is unique.cCheck the source of the number when searching other websites which host NZ BDMs.
Thanks Robyn!
18 December 2024 - Involving Younger Generations
Are you looking to get the younger generations into family history? Perhaps you should let them interview you? They will ask questions you might never think of. Remember how precious those letters and notes from your family were - you can use the answers to record something about yourself for the next generations.
Or build a Word Cloud with them to show them all the different names in their family. Word Art and Free Word Cloud Generator are just two websites that make them.
6 December 2024 - Google Scholar
When you’re looking for information to broaden your understanding of your family’s lives, have you ever tried Google Scholar? scholar.google.com/ This part of Google allows you to search for “scholarly literature”. Some of it may not make for fascinating reading, but the great thing about “scholarly literature” – they cite their sources which may lead you to some great new resources.
22 November 2024 - Renaming Files
Got a large number of files to rename? Have you looked at the Bulk Rename Utility? It’s free to personal users and is a powerful tool to rename files. The National Library use the paid version for their work.
It allows you to add, replace and insert text into file names as well as many other features. You do need to be careful (especially if renumbering), but it gives you a preview of your changes before you click go. There is also a users forum, as well as lots of videos on YouTube.
8 November 2024 - Revisiting Documents
When was the last time you had a look at the documents you first collected in your research? Perhaps it’s time to have another look. You may discover details you missed the first time around or find references to people you now know who are. You might find that little detail that helps break down a brick wall!
18 October 2024 - Archives NZ Digital Collection
Did you know that Archives NZ also has a huge photo and art collection? Search for a place and then filter by “Digital copy available” to see what has been digitised. You can see some highlights on their Flickr account.
4 October 2024 - Recollect
Have you heard of Recollect? You might have heard it mentioned in conjunction with the West Coast or Wellington. Recollect is a platform which allows organisations to put their digital content online. Search “recollect nz” and you’ll find a number of them including Wellington City Libraries, LINZ, New Zealand Literary Archive, Stratford and New Zealand Ship and Marine Society amongst many others!
20 September 2024 - NZ Gazette
Following up from the previous e-KIT, the Library Cat has one of her team get in touch:
The FRC has the NZ Gazette as a computer data set searchable from 1841-2004, excepting for the years 1848-1853. However, we do have the years 1850, 1851 and 1852 in hard copy. Our Research Team are happy to do look ups for members, or members can come to the FRC and search for themselves. If you would like a look up please advise the year and the type of content along with the name being searched.
Thanks, Robyn!
[NZSG members can get links to all copies of the New Zealand Gazette through the Kiwi Resources – Government]
6 September 2024 - NZ Gazette Access
We'd like to thank Porirua Branch for this information on the New Zealand Gazette:
In the last e-Kit newsletter sent to NZSG members, mention was made of the disappearance of the online archive of the New Zealand Gazette which had happened without anyone at Archives NZ or the National Library being informed. I’m not sure exactly what archive this was referring to but the NZ Gazette can still be accessed online from various places, although possibly not for all years. [Editor's note: it is probably the missing search function that is the issue]
The following sites are free but you can’t search the Gazette on them, only browse through the issues:
- Victoria University has the NZ Gazette Archive from 1841-2007, but with 1848-1853 not being available. This is provided via LexisNexis.
- The New Zealand Legal Information Institute has NZ Gazettes, 1845-1846, 1913-1992.
- For more recent Gazettes the New Zealand Gazette website contains all notices published since 2000 which are searchable but don’t show you the actual Gazette notice, just a transcription. However, they have full PDFs of editions from 2000-2017 which can be browsed after you’ve done the search and have found the reference.
If you want to be able to search older Gazettes you can do this
on paid websites:
- The Kiwi Collection has an index of names extracted from the NZ Gazette from 1844-1953. The FRC holds copies of Gazettes.
- Ancestry has The New Zealand Gazette, 1860-1894.
- FindMyPast has the New Zealand Gazette 1876-1886.
16 August 2024 - Branch Facebook Pages
If you are interested in what is happening in NZSG Branches – other than your own, have a look at the Facebook links on the NZSG website.
I didn’t tell you this, but some of the Branches with Facebook pages don’t link their newsletter to the NZSG Website, but much of the information is available on their FB page sites.
But wait there’s more – programme coordinators in Branches can get great programme ideas on these sites.
Some of the sites are followed by large numbers of people. If you comment strategically on a post, you can promote your Branch on another site, but I’m sure no one would do such a thing. Oh really?!
Facebook does have its uses, if used as a tool.
2 August 2024 - Healthy Tips
- Eat healthy food
- Exercise wherever you can
- Get plenty of sleep
- Do some family history.
19 July 2024 - Interest Groups
If you are not a member of an Interest Group but your relatives came from one of the areas the groups cover, you could well be missing out.
There are 19 Interest Groups listed on the NZSG Website under the Get Involved Tab covering Countries or specialty knowledge areas.
As well as the many countries covered there is the Online DNA Group and Genealogical Computing Group.
If you can’t find one that specifically relates to your area, consider beginning one. There are sure to be more than just you, interested.
The more people who join these groups, the more interesting will be the discussions and insights.
5 July 2024 - GRO vs Free BMD
In this month’s Porirua Branch Newsletter, available on the NZSG Website, there was an interesting discussion about the Pros and Cons of the different UK BDM sites.
Below is the table created by a fine person from the Branch. It details which site has the best options depending on what you are looking for. The GRO (UK - General Register Office) is not just for getting certificates, it is also searchable. Sometimes the FreeBMD site is the better option. The table below will help.
Other information including FreeBMD and other BMD sites, is available via the NZSG Website under the Resources Heading.

Thank you Porirua Branch for sharing this valuable resource.
14 June 2024 - Cleaning Headstones
Inspired by the Mosgiel Branch Newsletter here are some tips on cleaning headstones:
- Check if you need permission from the cemetery and get that permission (it will be for health and safety reasons as well as to know who has done the work).
- Keep yourself safe. Do not attempt to clean an unstable headstone or one in a precarious position.
- Only use water to clean – chemicals may stain the stone.
- Do not use power tools or wire brushes.
- Do a test area before you clean the whole headstone.
- Granite can be cleaned with water and soft cloth.
- Bronze plaques (such as for those who served) will naturally patina over time so don’t do more than removing any debris from them. Prevent staining by not leaving objects on the plaque.
- And lastly, do no harm. If in doubt contact the local memorial mason for advice.
31 May 2024 - New Zealand Private Maternity Homes
One of Kilbirnie branch's Life Members Bruce McLean, came across the following website and thought it may be of interest. This was circulated within the branch and inside 24 hours two members found an item of interest to include in their family histories.
The document lists maternity homes across New Zealand with the charge staff and the homes' addresses. It is very intuitive to search.
In the 1880s, the Home for Friendless Women run by the Wellington Ladies' Christian Association was founded at Newtown. In 1885, this was renamed the Alexandra Home for Unwed Mothers. It served as a training centre for midwives and maternity nurses. According to Te Ara: "From the early 1960s the number of unmarried mothers who kept their children started to rise. This meant that homes which catered for unmarried mothers were increasingly underused. The Alexandra Home for Unmarried Mothers in Wellington reopened in a new building on a new site in 1974, but by this time its services were no longer in demand."
Contributed by Rodney King - Secretary of the Kilbirnie Branch.
17 May 2024 - Memlist
If you are not presently part of the MEMLIST you might wonder what it is, or have seen it lurking at the bottom of the GET INVOLVED list on the NZSG Website.
What is this strange thing? Well, it’s the NZSG Community forum. It’s also a help desk where you can ask your tricky questions and other members will provide possible solutions.
The questions are wide and varied. Recently, Archives NZ was changing its way of doing things. There are members who knew what was happening and helped us all to understand. A similar thing happened with the British Archives while they were closed for maintenance, somebody knew and passed on the information.
Your Brick wall questions can be asked whether easy or complex. There are members with the knowledge to provide a path for you to follow. The combined knowledge on this Forum is wonderful. You will constantly be amazed at the answers you see to complex questions.
So, don’t hesitate, it’s members helping members. Send Wendy an email. She does a fantastic job as the forum administrator for the Memlist. Send her your email address and she will sign you up. It’s as easy as that.
6 May 2024 - Australian Obituaries
Have you heard of the Ryerson Index. This organisation has been collecting Obituaries since 1803 and from 2020 has also indexed Funeral Director websites. It can be used as an aid to find the original Australian record of a death.
It’s easily available on the NZSG Website under Resources/ Overseas resources/Australia headings. There is an Obituaries Heading and a link to the Ryerson Index.
The other index under the same Obituaries heading is very useful if you are researching possible deaths in South Australia. It is the Gerald A Savill Index of the Advertiser Funeral Notices.
According to the NZSG Website the team spent 370 days at the State Library of South Australia in 2001 extracting information from microfilm. The Index reaches back to 1971 and since its beginnings, has continued to grow.
There is an incredible story on the Website of Gerald Savill’s dedication to the task which has now been taken over by the State Library in 2020. Gerald passed away at 86 in 2023.
19 April 2024 - Scandinavian Interest Group
Our new Scandinavian Interest Group is just the latest one we have started. Have a look at our list of Interest Groups on the NZSG website to see what other areas, both geographical and of interest, we have.
5 April 2024 - Onward Project
From Porirua Branch:
Looking for a Photo of a NZ WWI Solider? You might find one in one of the five volumes that have so far been published by the Onward Project.
The Onward Project seeks to locate and publish a photograph of every member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who served overseas during the First World War 1914 - 18.
To date they have published five volumes, totalling nearly 20,000 portraits. You can download an index to all 5 volumes from the Onward Project website. The books can be found in many libraries, including the NZSG Library.
The title of the book series is: Onward: Portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
[The index to the Onward Project books is available on the Kiwi Collection.]
22 March 2024 - First Families Collection
Courtesy of the Matamata Branch Newsletter

You can find more information on updating your First Families Submission or sending in your first one on the NZSG website.
8 March 2024 - RootsTech
Missed out on RootsTech because of other commitments over last weekend? Don't worry! All the presentations are available on the FamilySearch website under RootsTech. Login to your FamilySearch account, make a playlist and watch the presentations at your leisure.
[There is even a presentation on the NZSG for you to watch!]
23 February 2024 - Putting a Dot in the Box
Back in the July 2022 Fielding Branch Newsletter, Janet Doyle, shared someone’s genius idea of putting a fullstop in the surname box of the NZ Birth records online if one is unsure of the spelling of the surname, and know the approximate year of birth. The surname box must be filled in on the website.
She mentioned she has also found this helpful for Halcombe cemetery listings, putting a dot in the surname box and leaving the first name field blank retrieves a full list of burials in Halcombe. It was good to receive feedback from someone who found his grandfather Barker’s birth record under the surname Barber using this method when he had been searching for years.
9 February 2024 - NZ Ancestor Search Helper and NZSG Kiwi Collection
Some of you will know Debbie Evans, the Editor of the NZSG Porirua Branch Newsletter. I’ve just read the February issue which was full of interesting information.
As this was the first issue of the year there were no recent events to report on (an Editor’s nightmare), but she allowed herself what she called a “Ramble”. Within this story about her research were interesting sites that I am sure some of you will not know about.
The main one was Luke Howison’s, NZ Ancestor Search Helper. This very useful tool combines much of the accessible data on a person under one heading. Since reading that in the Newsletter I have discovered several items of information about relatives who I could not previously locate.
Debbie’s second item, that she discussed enthusiastically, was the NZSG Kiwi Collection. Debbie was able to find lots of information among the 15 million records, many of them unique to that research tool.
Thanks very much Debbie. From those of us still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, your help is much appreciated.
[Debbie is one of our amazing volunteers! You too can help by getting in touch!]
26 January 2024 - eMagazines
This great little tip comes from the Editor of the NZSG Kapiti Branch Newsletter and it refers to the latest Family Tree Magazine for 2024.
SO HOW did I manage to read the February 2024 Issue before it’s available in the shops?? By using my ordinary Kapiti library card to access the magazines via their “Libby” app. You too, are able to read it! Ed
Lorna from the Kaptiti Branch also reminded me to look at Press Reader. This is another useful tool to help in the challenge of keeping up with International Genealogy news.
Some of us know about these newer technology tricks but others wouldn’t. This is the benefit of belonging to a branch where members share their hard-earned knowledge. Thanks very much Kapiti Branch.
By searching in my local library’s eCollections, I have found both of these and other etools giving access to a range of magazines and titles.
12 January 2024 - Overseas Resources
After Maud's article on the Gale Newspapers, I have dug deeper into this section of the Overseas Resources in the NZSG Website. What a goldmine of information. I’m sure most of you were aware of this, but I never spent any time looking deeper, at relevant newspapers relating to the era our ancestors were living.
There was so much information, hardly any on our family, who were not famous or had any reason to be in the news, but on what life was like when they were living. It’s a wonderful insight and maybe an under-utilised resource. I can highly recommend it.
15 December 2023 - Merry Christmas
To all Board Members, Branch Committee Members, Specialist Interest Group Convenors and Volunteers in whatever capacity…
I hope you are able to have a well-deserved rest.
And a wonderful 2024…….
1 December 2023 - NZSG Website
If you have some time free over the holidays, have a look around the NZSG website. There are all sorts of things you might have missed. Our Monthly Presentations are there, as well as presentations from the Online Writing and Publishing Group. You can find the new Overseas Resources or see what's new on the Kiwi Collection.
17 November 2023 - REST!
I’m not the best or most qualified person to mention this, (It’s not even any of my business,) but your hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. From the Volunteers in the FRC, to the Branch teams, and Members of the Board: You are dedicated and hard-working champions, committed to helping one another to find and record our heritage. In the process, I’m guessing that time to do your own research has been hard to find.
Summer is coming, it’s time for a rest, to recharge and to enjoy the wonderful part of the world we live in.
3 November 2023 - NZSG Website
The NZSG Website is an amazing place for newcomers to Genealogy to learn how to start on their journey into their family’s past. Train them early and they will continue the right way.
What an asset that is to newbies, and olderbies, who have forgotten, or started the wrong way.
And under the Resources Heading is a vast amount of training material. For young and older.
It’s an under-rated treasure trove.
20 October 2023 - Ancestry Profile Picture
Have you seen an Ancestry profile picture with an orange flower on it and wondered what it's for? It means the person has included information on the Genealogy Society they belong to. You can do it too!
If you go into Your Profile page (found in top right - click on your photo if you have one or person icon), and click on Edit, you will find three tabs. Under the Family History tab, you can add details of yourself and the Genealogy Society you belong to. It will come up amongst your details on your profile when someone clicks to see it.
Thanks to our Chair Sarah for letting us use her profile pic as an example!

6 October 2023 - Accessing Items on the NZSG Website
Are you having trouble with accessing some items on the NZSG Website? Don’t worry, it may be that you have forgotten to pay your subscription. The confusion can come from the fact the site looks normal, it looks like you are logged in, (your name is in the top right corner), but some pages aren’t displayed.
If you are desperate to use a particular feature on the Website, then paying the fee will immediately allow access to all pages. Phew! And there I was blaming the site for not working.
22 September 2023 - Saving Documents by Date Order
When dating saved documents if you use the date format yyyy-mm-dd, it will sort them in date order, so you can see them chronological order. Who knows what that might reveal!
8 September 2023 - Rotorua Library Research Feature

The Rotorua Library has a research feature that is very useful, as Christine Clement discovered when she was researching New Zealand Air Accidents. The data she received included the pilot's name, age, the aircraft registration, e.g. ZK-HHS, and the date of the accident.
Christine’s comment was that this is outside of the dates for Papers Past or the Internet but as you hopefully can see from the screenshot, they keep an index of the Daily Post as a searchable resource on their website.
She wonders if other Libraries have this research feature? Rotorua has a 30-minute limit on research support and then there is a charge of $25 per half hour. If there is no other way to get the information this is an economic and valuable tool.
20 August 2023 - FamilySearch Affiliate Library
Did you know the NZSG Library is an Affiliate Library for FamilySearch.org? If you find an entry with the pesky key locking it up on FamilySearch, you may be able to access it through our Research Service (some you will need to visit an LDS Library for).
Information on FamilySearch and how to search it can also be found on our website under NZSG Services/Research Services.
4 August 2023 - Searching the NZSG Website
We all know the NZSG Website doesn’t have a Search feature but, as was alluded to in an earlier e-KIT, the FIND feature in Google Chrome does work and very well.
If you are using Chrome as your Search Engine you will note there are three vertical dots on the far-right hand side just below the Cross you use to close Chrome.
If you click on those dots one of the subheadings is FIND. By clicking on this and typing the name of the area of the Website you wish to locate, in the box that pops up, it should take you directly there. You can also use Control-f (Ctrl f). This will do the same thing.
Try it. It will take a bit of practice, but it is worth the effort. Happy searching.
19 July 2023 - Searching the NZSG Website
If you would like to search for something on our website, you can use Google. Type site:genealogy.org.nz in the search bar with your search term and it will only search our website.
3 July 2023 - Ancestry Trees
Many of us have trees on Ancestry. Many of us look at others' trees on Ancestry. Isn't it annoying when that 3xgt-grandmother born in 1763 is listed as "living". Sometimes, this happens through no fault of the user, but because the record that creates the person in the tree does not automatically make that person deceased.
To avoid this in your tree, periodically go into "Tree View" and have a look around. You might be surprised at how many there are!
21 June 2023 - Births, Marriages and Deaths
(This order is more logical)
The Governments BDM site Government Births, Deaths & Marriages recently had improvements made.
Births – You can now search for:
- Birth of a living person who was born 100 years ago or more.
- Birth of a deceased person who died 50 years ago or more or who was born 80 years ago or more.
- A stillbirth that occurred 50 years ago or more
Searching pre 1875 records:
- If you search a specific date and the date of event is not in the database, the entire year is searched for you.
Deaths
- Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago, or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.
Marriages
- Marriages that occurred 75 years ago or more
Sometimes with pre 1875 records you may not get the result you expect so try:
- Entering only the names of the bride or groom not both.
- Entering the groom's names in the bride's fields or vice versa.
Compliments of Dept. Internal Affairs - NZ Births Deaths and Marriages
2 June 2023 - Can't See Images in an Email?
The e-KIT contains both Words and images. Some of the images are the headers we see above each article but often there are actual photos.
If, when you have been looking at the e-KIT you couldn’t understand why you couldn’t see a photo the explanation below hopefully will help.
At the top of every e-KIT is the header

If you can’t see this at the top of the e-KIT, you haven’t downloaded images.
You do this by clicking on the message below just under the sender’s name.

Once you have done this, you will be able to see photos, logos, etc.
We are very keen for you to get the best information and enjoyment from each e-KIT.
Thanks to Charmaine Hall, our Membership Administrator for this helpful tip.
19 May 2023 - Military Ancestors
If you are looking for Military Ancestors, the Auckland Museum not only runs Cenotaph online for the records of the Soldiers in your family, but it also has a Research Library. This link will take you to the backroom area of the Website and a goldmine of Military information, and information on many other topics.
You can visit, but it’s important to follow the instructions on access, which are shown on the website when you click on the link.
Thanks Library Cat team for this valuable tip.
[The Cenotaph database is also on the Kiwi Collection.]
5 May 2023 - Members Interests
Don’t forget the Members Interests section under the Collections Heading on the NZSG Website. You may have put some names of interest in there years ago, but now you know more. This new information may be enough for another member to recognise your relative.
That area gets regular traffic. Wouldn’t it be a bonus if someone found your relative and solved your frustrating mystery.
21 April 2023 - Researching Those Who Served
ANZAC Day – It gets easier to research our ancestors who served in the Military. The Kilbirnie branch has some very useful reference sites in their Genealogix Newsletter - April 2023
ANZAC Day is later this month and it got me thinking about accessing various military records to find our ancestors who served in the Armed Forces.
Here are just a few ideas of where to look.
There is the Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph Database which allows you to explore, contribute to and share the records and stories of those who served New Zealand.
Archives New Zealand has research guides on their website on finding war records. You will find records for those who served in World War One are digitized and available to view on the Archives New Zealand website. Archives New Zealand does not hold WW2 personnel records. You will need to contact the Ministry of Defence to obtain them.
The UK National Archives has recently announced that Ancestry has been awarded the contract to digitise their Ministry of Defence records including World War II Service Personnel Records. Ancestry says more than 3 million records will be released between 2024 and 2029.
You will find WW1 UK soldiers service records on both Ancestry and Findmypast and The National Archives. The UK National Archives will help with service records.
If you are looking for information on a grave of a fallen service person there is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Also have a look at the Commonwealth War Graves Photographic Project which was set up to photograph every war grave and individual memorial of serving military personnel from WW1 to the present day. You can search their online database and order your required photo.

Grave of Alexander Alfred Wilson, died 31 July 1944 aged 24 years, 486 Squadron RNZAF, Brookwood Military Cemetery, England
In the April Genealogix there is an article noting that WWII Prisoner of War record cards have recently been indexed by the UK National Archives.
Thanks to Sue Dinsdale and the Kilbirnie Branch Newsletter.
5 April 2023 - Liquid Mode for Phones and Tablets
Thanks, to Jan, our amazing Webmaster, for this information about how to read The New Zealand Genealogist in liquid mode on your mobile phone.
If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your phone or tablet, you can find it at Google Playstore for Android or the App Store for Apple. Both Apps are free. Installing Adobe Acrobat will not affect any other reader Apps you already have on your phone or Tablet. Once you have opened The New Zealand Genealogist in Acrobat, along the top is a black bar with multiple icons. Look for the icon that looks like a raindrop with horizontal lines going through it.

Click on this and it will rearrange the document into one column. A much easier format for mobile viewing.
You can allow Adobe Acrobat to become your preferred reader of PDFs.
24 March 2023 - Members Interests
Have you added your family names to our Members Interests? One of our members did recently and was very pleased to make contact with another member researching her family the next day! It's a great way to connect with other researchers and family members.
10 March 2023 - RootsTech
Missed out on RootsTech last weekend? Recordings are available for a year on the FamilySearch website for the next year! Many of the genealogical companies released information on their new services and products, and there are lots of presentations on many different aspects of research. So it's worth dipping into when you have the time.
22 February 2023 - Tech Spot - Two Screens
Why would another screen make my genealogy journey easier. Well, for example, when using one screen you must have your tree programme open to add data to it. This then has to be minimised to look at the programme the data is coming from. With two screens you can keep the tree programme open all of the time on one screen and open and close all your source programmes on the other. It’s quicker, and some would say safer, because there is less chance of closing a programme without saving the data.
How hard is it to fit another screen? Usually, very easy. Most plug into a USB socket these days. I notice in many Branches there is someone who is the “computer guru”. I am sure help is available. It used to be my son asking me for help. Now I ask him.
Is a second screen expensive? Not really. A decent one can be around $350 but it depends on size and resolution.
If you have a “smart TV” you can always link the TV to the computer by HDMI cable or Bluetooth – I think I just lost you. For this solution it might pay to ask the Branch guru.
10 February 2023 - Free UK Websites
If you're doing research in England, Wales and Scotland, have you discovered the "Frees" - these are three websites full of transcriptions made by volunteers from around the world. They can be a useful additional source to find family when your searches elsewhere are not being fruitful
They are:
FreeBMD - the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. This Database was recently updated on 1 February 2023 and now contains 290,437,468 distinct records (a total of 384,938,298 total records). Check out the updated records .
FreeCen - transcriptions of Census records. It can be very useful for Scottish research to help you narrow down your options before paying for the image on ScotlandsPeople.
FreeReg - transcriptions of Parish Registers. You may find some that do not have images available online or are not indexed online.
27 January 2023 - Hyperlinks
What is a Hyperlink ? For those who have often wondered, and to answer questions we have had on how these Blue words work here is a brief explanation.
In behind the words is an access address, to somewhere in the World Wide Web (www). This address is often long and complex, e.g. you can click on, “NZSG Branches and Area Contacts", but this address is actually https://genealogy.org.nz/BranchesIGs-and-Area-Contacts/11083/
Clicking on the Blue Words takes you directly to that location without having to type in the long address, and getting all of the dots, hyphens and slashes correct – Easy!
Safety - There is no risk to your computer safety by clicking on these hyperlinks as they all are filtered through the NZSG website. You will see if you hover over the link, they all refer to https://genealogy.org.nz/link followed by a number. This means you can be assured that the link you are clicking on is safe.
There are other hyperlinks to email addresses both in e-KIT and on our website. Again, this is easy – just click on the blue hyperlink and it will open your email service with the address already entered.
But! there are situations where you get this horrible blue box that says, “add an account”. This means your device does not have a preferred email provider set up. It is particularly relevant to Windows 10 or 11. To resolve this problem find Settings on your computer then Apps. Look for Default Apps and then email or mailto. Here you can select your preferred email provider whether it be Outlook or Yahoo etc. Once you have set this up, you will never see the horrible blue box again!
Hyperlinks are placed in strategic places throughout the e-KIT to save you time and the headache of all that accurate typing. We hope this information helps.
[Don’t click on links that you are not sure about, especially ones that turn up in random texts. Legitimate organisations will usually not send links via text.]
13 January 2023 - NZSG Local Resources
How long since you have looked at the local resources page on the NZSG Website? Under Resources there is a local resource area. The NZ Websites page has a list of over forty websites specific to New Zealand research which is being added to all the time. This is a great place to find more information about your family and help flesh out their story.
[We rearranged our website since this Quick Tip! You can now find a huge number of links to local resources on the Kiwi Resources pages.]
16 December 2022 - Database Updates
Just like the Kiwi Collection, the big genealogy databases do regular updates to their records. But how do you find them?
Ancestry - go to the Card Catalogue – find the “Sort by” drop down box and choose Date Added or Date Updated
FamilySearch - their blog has a What's New at FamilySearch page
FindMyPast - check out their FindMyPast Fridays for updates
The Genealogist - their News page lists their updates
The NZSG Library has the Library editions of these databases. If you need a look up (including the 1921 England and Wales Census!), email Research Services (noting of course, the Christmas shutdown period).
2 December 2022 - Rootschat
There was a rumour a few years ago that Rootschat would be shutting down. But it is still going strong and answering genealogist’s questions all over the world. Apart from all the area specific boards on Rootschat two of my favourites are the handwriting deciphering and photo restoration. If you have never looked at this website, I encourage you to do so.
(Editor note: thanks for this update JAP – we really appreciate snippets like this)
NZ Help Groups
And remember there are a lot of help groups on Facebook in New Zealand. Of course, the most helpful is our own website and we also have our memlist for questions and comments. But on Facebook you will find similar sites to Rootschat where you can get help with your research or find groups in your area. NZSG does not endorse any of these Facebook pages, but members have reported success in getting answers to a particular questions. If you are a Facebook user, just enter “genealogy in New Zealand” in the search box.
[And don’t forget to follow the NZSG on Facebook - www.facebook.com/NZSGFRC]
18 November 2022 - e-KIT
What would you like to see in e-KIT? Have you found a great website you would like to share with members? Is there a regional resource in your area that other members would benefit from if they have family from your area? Do you want to promote an event happening? Or a branch meeting? We welcome any ideas to include in future e-KIT editions. Please email your ideas ekit_coordinator@genealogy.org.nz.
But we can’t leave you without something exciting to help your research. Family Search have expanded its free online archives this week with new family history records from all over the world. Their blog has a list of new additions.
26 October 2022 - Christmas Gift Suggestion
Christmas is coming up! If you're stuck for a gift suggestion for your family, the NZSG do Gift Vouchers. They can purchased from our online shop.
5 October 2022 - DigitalNZ
Hopefully by now you will have discovered DigitalNZ - the website which searches many other databases for digital content.
Did you know you can create a “Story” on their website using images found through DigitalNZ as well as your own? It’s a great way of sharing family stories with your family or the world (you can pick your own privacy setting). Or you can join 39 (and counting) others who prefer to do them on cats!
23 September 2022 - NZ Ancestor Search Helper
Have you tried ash.howison.co.nz/ ?
Christine Clement, from Te Puke, sent me this hyperlink. She advises that this prototype tool collates results from New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs Births, Deaths, and Marriages searches as well as results from:
- Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph
- Dunedin City Council Cemeteries
- Wellington City Council Cemeteries
- Christchurch City Council Cemeteries
Maybe you would like to give this tool a try. You could let me know how the search went and let others know, through e-KIT, how you found it?
[Luke keeps improving his tool, so give it a go!]
7 September 2022 - Te Puna Search
This tip has come from Doug Miller, the Convener of the Greater Wellington Scottish Interest Group.
Part of WorldCat, this is the National Library of New Zealand's New Zealand Union Catalogue - detailing the holdings of all New Zealand libraries across the country. Once you find the item you require you can go directly to the online catalogues of the holding libraries to see if it is available and borrow it using the inter-loan system. You can also search overseas libraries for specific items.
Thank you very much, Doug!
22 August 2022 - Mobile Phone App Camscanner
This tip has come from Doug Miller, the Convener of the Greater Wellington Scottish Interest Group.
Mobile Phone App Camscanner

This app allows you to turn your phone or tablet into an image scanner and turn pictures of physical documents into digital files for easier sharing online. Its basic functions include cropping and various photo filters.
It is very useful for taking photos of book pages, and pictures & certificates on walls. You can crop and then straighten any pictures you take.
Thank you very much, Doug!
3 August 2022 - School Records
Greta Gordon has sent the following quick tip.
Greta writes: I found my relation Alfred Hudson in the school records and wanted to keep the information while I carried on searching for other records. So, I hit the copy button at the bottom of the record:
Then I opened an Excel spreadsheet and pasted it in (CTRL-V):

Going back to the Kiwi Collection, I found my next record of interest, copied again, and pasted next to the record I'd already placed in Excel.

I was then able to compare the records side by side and discover some interesting facts:
- There's a discrepancy in the birthdates, with the day and month matching but the year different.
- The last day at Foxhill is two weeks before the first day at Ngatimoti; the Foxhill reference states the destination is Ngatimoti, and the Ngatimoti record states Alfred came from Foxhill.
- The parent’s name is consistent.
On balance, this is likely to be the same person, even though the birthdates don't completely match.
This is very handy when you have multiple possible records for the same person and need to see them side by side to make your comparison.
Thank you, Greta!
20 July 2022 - Scottish Research
This quick tip comes from Emma Maxwell from the Scottish genealogist blogpost, via the Oamaru newsletter. Thank you, Beryl!
This tip particularly relates to any Scottish research you may be doing. If your ‘person’ is at the beginning or end of a page, it’s good to always check the preceding and following pages respectively. However, if your family is split over two pages in the census, you can ask for a refund. If your family are at the top or bottom of a page, do check to see you’ve got all the household. This can also apply to passenger lists, census records and births, deaths and marriages.
7 July 2022 - Geographical Photos
I hadn’t heard of www.geograph.org.uk before. However, it’s an interesting website. It’s a web-based project collecting geographically representative photos for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland. Since 2015, there are over 7,000,000 images on the site covering 84% of the total grid squares. The photos, which are great, are contributed by registered users and approved by separate moderators.
Maybe check it out to see where your ancestors lived.
22 June 2022 - Findagrave
This quick tip comes from Helen Smith.
Helen had been reading about birth records. She said that if you’re using www.findagrave.com and you can’t find the name of the person to whom they’re married, don’t click on maiden name (if a female), put her first and middle names in. also put in their birth date or date of death and you’ll find them.
Helen’s been doing that for the past year and has been really successful with it.
Thank you, Helen!
10 June 2022 - Searching NZ BDM
Deborah Watson in the Facebook Genealogy - NZ Super Sleuths group has posted this great tip for helping with there being no spelling variations option on the New Zealand BDM website:
When you can't find a birth on NZ BDMs but you know the approximate year and the first name of the target, try this trick. Enter a fullstop into the surname field, then the forename that you know into the next field, skip the mother's name (unless it is one without spelling variations), and finally enter the year in this manner, say:
01/01/1880
31/12/1880
You may get a lot of hits but don't worry. Sort by father's name, if you know it, and you may be surprised to see your missing ancestor with their surname spelled in a peculiar manner!
20 May 2022 - Timelines
Have you tried doing a timeline for your family - all of them! Use available records to work out where the parents, grandparents, children, aunties and uncles are at any point in time or over a time period. This might help you figure out a series of events that affected your family, as well as give you some idea of who was near who.
You can use a spreadsheet or a table in a word processing program or just a piece of paper. It can be quite illuminating!
9 May 2022 - Irish Genealogy
When you’re searching the Irish Genealogy website (www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/) for Civil Registration Births and not finding your family member, search for “Unknown” as a first name. Sometimes babies were registered before they were named.
13 April 2022 - NZSG Website
You may find if you click on a link we send you that you get a “Thanks for stopping by” message. If this happens, you just need to click on the link again and the page will open.
28 March 2022 - Secretary Hand
Following on from our handwriting tip last month, Barry Pycroft from Christchurch has provided this tip.
"Secretary Hand" is a style of handwriting used in documents from the 15th to the mid-17th Century. It can be very difficult to read!
Now you can download it as a True Type Font at https://fontsgeek.com/fonts/Secretary-hand-ancient-Regular . Once installed, you can type what you think the sentence on your document says and see if it matches.
Installing the font:
Download the Zip file to your computer and extract it (if your computer doesn't do that automatically).
On a Windows computer, move the .ttf to c:\windows\font and it will be ready to go in Word or any other Windows programme.
On a Mac computer, use the Font Book to install a new font.

2 March 2022 - Researching Siblings
Having trouble finding an ancestor? Have you researched the siblings and their family? Sometimes a record of a known sibling will provide more information on the elusive parents.
They may have more information on their birth/baptism entry. They may refer to their parents in their will. Their descendants may have stories, photos or more information.
17 February 2022 - Search Help
When you visit a website for the first time or they've revamped it, have a look for the Search Help. It will give you tips on how to search effectively.
Archives NZ have recently changed Archway to Collections. Have a read of their help to see how their search functions have changed.
4 February 2022 – The First Quick Tip!
Having trouble reading old handwriting? The National Archives (UK) have a tutorial where you can practise and it will tell you if you're getting it right!
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/
[Sadly, this tutorial has been archived as it doesn’t work anymore. You can still read the information provided by following the link.]
You have reached the end of the Quick Tips! A new one will be in the next e-KIT!
05/02/2025