Hutt Valley Genealogy Branch

News

Hutt Valley Biographical Index and Genealogies (HBIG) Online

In May of this year, two of our Branch members, Lynley Yates and Dawn Chambers launched the Hutt Valley Biographical Index and Genealogies (HBIG) website.

HBIG is a collection of Early Settlers Genealogies and historical information covering the Hutt Valley. The foundation stone for the website is the publication "Genealogical Resources in the Hutt Valley" edited by Peggy Crawford for the Hutt Valley Group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (1992).

The main aim is to provide a guide to the types of records available and where they can be found. These may be held in local libraries, historical societies, council archives, private collections or national repositories. New resources are being added as they are developed and most of the information is in the form of fully searchable PDF documents that can be readily updated.

The area covered includes Eastbourne, Pencarrow, Turakirae, Wainuiomata, Gracefield, Waiwhetu, Petone, Lower Hutt, Korokoro, Maungaraki, Normandale, Belmont, Naenae, Taita, Stokes Valley, Silverstream, Akatarawa, Pinehaven, Upper Hutt, Whiteman's Valley, Mangaroa, Maymorn, Te Marua, Kaitoke and the Rimutaka Hill Summit.

More Hutt News Online at Papers Past

In June, the National Library of New Zealand's digital newspaper archive, Papers Past, added eleven years worth of issues of our local weekly, the Hutt News, to their searchable database (1934-1945). This means that 946 issues of the Hutt News are now available, covering 1 April 1927 to 26 December 1945. You can search the Hutt News on Papers Past here.

Hutt Valley NZSG Branch Volunteers Transcribe Cemetery Records

Did you know that about a dozen members of our Branch have volunteered their services to help get the last batch of the Hutt Valley cemetery records on line, with our secretary, Terry Stock, co-ordinating this significant effort. About 20,000 entries must be put into the Council's electronic database. The council-managed Garden of Remembrance in Wainuiomata is already on line, as is the Lawn Cemetery in Taita, leaving only the old section of the Taita burial ground to go electronic.

In a recent Hutt News article, Council's corporate information manager Chris Gousmett said that, for the sake of completeness, the council is adding about 1500 names to its database from nine non-council cemeteries. They are St James churchyard, Lower Hutt; Christ Church Taita churchyard, the Bridge Street Wesleyan Cemetery, Lower Hutt; Korokoro Cemetery; Knox Presbyterian churchyard, Lower Hutt; Homedale Methodist Cemetery and Sinclair Cemetery, both in Wainuiomata; and two Maori urupa in Te Puni and Seaview.

On behalf of the Branch, Terry said that the work is proof of the Society’s belief in the value of making the material available to the public. The online service is primarily about modernising information management, but the spinoff is easier access for people outside the region who want to research family histories. Click here to read the full story.

To search the Hutt City Cemeteries Online database click here

See our Branch Newsletters for further news highlights