Recognising the value of those original contributions, the Far North branch has revived the project and would like to expand its number.
“We are aware of how many of the original submitters to the project have since died and we wish to maintain the value of their contributions, and provide the opportunity for more people to participate.”
More than 400 individuals are on the register, with information coming from local, national and international contributors.
She said that unlike political histories that tend to focus on public figures, genealogical records tell the stories of ordinary people who did extraordinary things.
“Like leaving their homelands to travel to an unknown future on the other side of the world. That is where a district’s real stories lie, in the lives of people.
“To preserve social history at a family level to assist future generations. Similar projects are carried out by other family history and heritage groups throughout the country.”
Some of the stories the register has uncovered so far have fascinated the group and Renner said they have uncovered some “large families. Multiple marriages leading to blended families, which there’s a tendency to think of as more characteristic of the 20th and 21st centuries”.
The kind of information they are looking for includes birth, death and marriage details of pioneer couples and their children. Also the names of their parents, places of origin and immigrant ships they came on.
“The paper forms are kept, and will also be digitised to help preserve the originals and the names are indexed into a spreadsheet for easy reference.
“The branch will use the register to assist members of the public who make enquiries about their forebears, but the privacy of the submitters and any other living person mentioned on the forms will always be protected.”
If you want to see your family history recorded for future generations, head down to the Te Ahu Library on Friday, August 22 from 12pm, where you will be able to make your own contribution to the register.
If you’re ready to begin or expand your family history research but don’t know how to start, you can enrol in the library’s 2pm Ancestry Workshop, to learn about using the Ancestry program on the library’s computers, with no costly subscription fee.
Anyone who would like to submit their family details to the Pioneer Register project but doesn’t yet have the full information, could use the free Library Ancestry.com databases to gather the missing details.
“Ancestry provides access to millions of New Zealand records, in which you may discover things you didn’t know about your ancestors and their activities.”
At the workshops anyone can learn how to access the free library edition of the Ancestry.com website.
“And if they’d like to take that interest in researching their family history further, the Far North Branch of NZSG holds monthly workshops on all aspects of research to help them with their journey of discovery,” Renner said.
For enquiries about the Far North Pioneer Register, please email farnorth@genealogy.org.nz.
