Author Topic: A Guide to Tracing Living Relatives in New Zealand  (Read 9542 times)

Offline spades

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A Guide to Tracing Living Relatives in New Zealand
« on: Friday 12 November 10 03:10 GMT (UK) »
Maintaining personal privacy is a cornerstone of genealogical research. Genealogists should exclude the names and details of living family members from information published online to avoid subjecting them to identity theft, spamming and worse. Rootschat users use an online alias to protect their identity and the subjects of our research deserve the same protection.

This necessary discretion makes tracing a living (or possibly living) relative all the more challenging, since you can’t post their name or other private information online. And because any information published online can be seen by family and friends of the living every effort should be taken to avoid causing them pain, embarrassment or distress.

Please be aware that Rootschat Moderators will delete or edit posts that contain personal information that could be used to identify or cause harm to a living person.

You are of course welcome to post information on Rootschat that doesn't breach this ettiquette but it advisable to do as much research as you can first and then ask general questions to narrow your search (e.g. Where would I find records about a man who was a jockey?).

So where do you start?

Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you know where they lived? Their occupation, their sports and hobbies, what school or university they attended, who they married and where? Did they receive any awards, and from which organisation? Did they attend church? Were they members of Rotary or some other community organisation? Where did they spend their holidays? Who were their friends?

Even if you don’t know the answers to these questions, make enquiries. Take nothing for granted, confirm or eliminate. Each fact will narrow your search field.

Here are some places to look:

Electoral Rolls (available at public libraries)
Local libraries
Local funeral directors
Cemeteries: http://www.pycroft.co.nz/services/NZ_Government_On-Line_Data.html
Local newspaper (a letter to the Editor publicising your search)
Local family history societies
NZ Telecom White Pages http://www.whitepages.co.nz/
Google (surprisingly successful) http://www.google.co.nz/

Family tree websites:
Kindred Konnections http://www.kindredkonnections.com/newzealand.html
Ancestry http://www.ancestry.com/
Genes Reunited http://www.GenesReunited.co.uk/

Social networking websites:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/

And don't forget to contact people who knew the individual you’re tracing. What do they recall about them (ask about occupations, family, sports, hobbies, etc. as above)? A single recollection can make all the difference. In New Zealand we often talk about ‘two degrees of separation’ rather than six, so finding a connection between people is often easier than you might think.

Good hunting,

Spades

ELLERKER - Beverley ERY ENG
HEALEY - IRL?
MURDOCH - Wigtownshire SCT, Otago and Westland NZ
PALING - Nottinghamshire ENG
RILEY - Flamborough; Cottingham; South Dalton ERY, Manitoba CAN, & London ENG
STURTON - Arnold, Nottinghamshire ENG
SUTTRON - All, NRY & DUR ENG
TAYLOR - London ENG
TYLER - London ENG
TERNAN/TIERNAN - Dublin IRL