Find your ancestors in New Zealand marriage index

What can these records tell me?

Each result will provide you with a transcript of key details, recorded from the original marriage records:

Name
Registration year
Spouse’s full name
Registration number

You can order a printout or certificate from the New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages website, which may provide you with additional information such as the couple’s ages, professions, place of marriage, statuses, parents’ names and occupations, and witnesses. A printout is a scanned image of the original record and a certificate is an official document that will include registered information, although, it will contain less information than a printout. There is a fee associated with such orders. For more information, please see the section Order printouts and certificates online.

Discover more about these records

Since the Marriage Registration Act of 1854, marriages in New Zealand have been recorded. From 1911-1951, Maori marriages were registered separately from the General register. However, some Maori events were recorded in the General system.

The records are from the combined indexes of both the General and Maori registers.

It is important to note the first four digits of the registration refer to the year the event was registered rather than the year of event.

As more questions were asked for marriage registration after 1880, those later registrations will contain more details.

Order printouts and certificates online

In New Zealand, the Registrar-General is responsible for registering all births, deaths, marriages, civil unions and name changes. The issuing of printouts and certificates provides access to this information.

Birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change printouts and certificates can be ordered by several means: fully online, by phone, face-to-face, or by post.

New Zealand registered historic birth, death and marriage data is available to search online at https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz, where associated printouts and certificates can be ordered for the following:

Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
Marriages that occurred at least 80 years ago
Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.

Non-historic printouts and certificates can be ordered online subject to using a Realme account (online evidence of identity). https://www.bdmonline.dia.govt.nz/NonHistoricRecords

For more information visit www.govt.nz

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Life Events (BDMs)

Find your ancestors in New Zealand marriage index

What can these records tell me?