Hastings District Libraries

Discover more about your military ancestors, learn their stories and the huge sacrifices they made. 

To commemorate ANZAC Day on Thursday 25 April, findmypast.au is offering FREE access to all military records from Monday 22 April to Friday 26 Aprl.

The comprehensive collection includes 3.6 million records from across the globe.  Search military records for

• Australia and New Zealand - almost 340,000 records
• Britain - over 4.4 million records
• Ireland - almost 165,000 records
• United States - over 21 million records

Click here to Search

Library Access

Conditions:
Access from library only

Research your family history online with findmypast UK.   Findmypast.co.uk is a database of family history records from the United Kingdom. There are millions of individual records taken from censuses, parish records, military records and passenger lists. 

Please note

• All records are available free of charge for people using findmypast inside the library. However, some features, such as the family tree builder are not available to library customers. 
• Related link: Findmypast Australia & Ireland  (Also contains New Zealand records)

Access Notes:
Available only in libraries, no charge. One concurrent user only.

2 Microfilm and 3 Microfiche Readers are available upstairs in Hastings Library.

There are 2 Canon 800 Microfilm Readers with the following services:

• Use both microfilm and microfiche
• A range of lenses
• Print A4 or A3 (50c per copy)
• Save to USB memory stick
• Burn a CDRom

Ask at the Reference Desk to use these two machines.

The other Microfiche Readers may be used as required, although staff are available to assist. 

Hastings Library holds the following newspapers on microfilm:

•     Hastings Standard     Apr 1896- Dec 1910
•     HB Tribune                Dec 1910 - Jun 1937
•     HB Herald Tribune     1937 [Jan] - 1970 [Apr], 1970 [Jun] - 1978 [Nov], 1979 [Jan] - 01 May 1999
•     Hawke's Bay Today    Apr 1999 -

May be viewed on our two microfilm readers.  Printing available.

Call upstairs and ask at the Reference Desk for assistance in using these.  

Shipping records and passenger lists are found in many different records.  Listed here are just some of the resources available.

National Archives

A good starting point.  National Archives have Research Guide on Migration (Pdf - 114.8 KB).  This guide covers the following topics: 

• Shipping Records 

• Immigration 1840-1880s 

• Immigration 1880s - 1970s

• Specific Group / Nationality Migrations

• Emigration

• Other sources of immigration information

Christchurch City Libraries

http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/FamilyHistory/PassengerLists
A very useful guide to shipping and passenger information on the Christchurch City Libraries website.  This pathfinder covers all of New Zealand, includes specific Canterbury information.