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LAND – Wellington
Introduction The Wellington Office of Archives New
Zealand holds a large collection of
Wellington Land District records from
Lands & Survey (Wellington) and Land
Information New Zealand (LINZ).
The core records comprise the Deeds
Registration System, which was the
predecessor and for a time parallel
system to the Certificate of Title system in
effect today.
Other records [mainly LS-W & AFIH]
complement the Deeds Registration
System and often give further information.
DEED REGISTRATION
Overview The Deeds Registration System
documented changes of ownership and
boundaries for pieces of land from the
1840s onwards. The key index in this
system is the Deeds Index (DI), which
gives an overview of what has happened
to a parcel of land up until 1924.
Under Deeds Registration, the first
establishment of a land title was usually a
Crown Grant or Warrant, which passed the
land from the Crown into private hands.
Later transactions and changes to the land
could be registered into the Deeds System.
It was not mandatory to register a sale of
land, but registration enabled ownership
to be tracked and validated through a
Government system. When a transaction
occurred the documentation was taken to
the Deeds Office. There it was numbered
and copied into the relevant type of
register, usually a Deeds Register (DR),
Crown Grant Record Book (CG) or Will
Book. The original document was
returned to the owner. These transactions
were then copied into a Deeds Index.
Under the Land Transfer Act 1870 land
transactions could be registered in either
the Land Transfer system or in the Deeds
System. From 1924 onwards land could
only be registered in the Land Transfer
system as the Deeds system was phased
out. Some land remains in the Deeds
System today.
Searching Deeds To search the Deeds Registration
System, one of the following is needed:
● A Certificate of Title record that refers
to a Deeds Index entry. (Certificates of
Title records are held by LINZ)
● Legal Description: The Section Number
(Appellation) of the piece of land.
● The name of an historical Registered
Owner (See Nominal Indexes).
Certificates of Title
The first Certificate of Title issued against
a piece of land should cite a preceding
deeds reference. This is noted in the top-
left corner of a certificate of title (see
pages 4-5). All subsequent certificates of
title quote the preceding certificate of title
reference.
The first certificate of title issued for a
piece of land is therefore key to locating
historical information in the deeds system.
Deeds Indexes [AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99]
Deeds Index volumes (held in the LINZ
Register Room) record all the registered
transactions for a piece of land, on a
dedicated page within the index.
Each page details the documents that
were filed, including the document
(instrument) type and number, date of
registration, date of the document and
where it is recorded/transcribed. The last
may be in a Deeds Register Book [AFIH
22395 W5691/100-386], a Crown Grant
Book [AFIH W5687/67-88] or a Wills Book
[AFIH W5687/259-270] (see below).
Deeds Index volumes are organised
geographically by registration district and
then by section number. There is an index
at the front of each Index Book, giving the
page numbers for the sections in a
registration district.
December 2010
In this guide Introduction Deeds Registration Overview Deeds Indexes LINZ Register Room Chart Certificate of Title example Other Wellington land records
Note: Records are held in Wellington Archives New Zealand Head Office 10 Mulgrave Street, PO Box 12 050, Thorndon Wellington 6144 Telephone: 04 499 5595 Facsimile: 04 495 6210 [email protected] Auckland Regional Office 95 Richard Pearse Drive, Mangere PO Box 201 103, Auckland Airport, Manukau 2150 Telephone: 09 270 1100 Facsimile: 09 276 4472 [email protected] Christchurch Regional Office 90 Peterborough Street, PO Box 642, Christchurch 8140 Telephone: 03 377 0760 Facsimile: 03 365 2662 [email protected] Dunedin Regional Office 556 George Street, PO Box 6183, Dunedin North Dunedin 9059 Telephone: 03 477 0404 Facsimile: 03 477 0422 [email protected]
A517742
Research guide 10
Research Guide 10 – LAND – Wellington – December 2010 2
Finding the Correct Deeds Indexes
(a) If the Section Number is known check the Wall
Chart (see below).
(b) If an Instrument (document) Number is known, look
in the Nominal Primary Indexes (see next column)
[AFIH 22393 W5691/1-38]
(c) If only the owner’s name is known, check the
Indexes to Primary Deeds – Alphabetical (see
below) [AFIH 22396 W5691/386-388]
A reference to the Deeds Index Book is also found on the
first Certificate of Title for a piece of land, which can be
obtained from LINZ. If the land was transferred out of
the Deeds system into the Certificate of Title system,
underneath the final entry in the Deeds Index Book will
be an Application Number for a Certificate of Title.
Searching by Section Number using Wall Chart
The Wall Chart in the LINZ Register Room lists all major
Registration Districts (localities) and gives a Deeds Index
volume number [AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99] for each
section in a Registration District. Each volume’s index
gives page numbers for sections and districts.
Searching by Instrument (Document) Number
When a document was registered in the Deeds system it
was assigned a sequential number, known as an
instrument number. The Indexes to Primary Deeds (see
below) list the documents by instrument number.
Searching by Person’s Name
Indexes to Primary Deeds – Alphabetical 1845-1990
(probable gaps) [AFIH 22396 W5691/386-388]
These Wellington Index volumes, sometimes called
‘Deeds Indexes’ or ‘Alphabetical Indexes’ or ‘Nominal
Indexes’, are an alphabetical list of people who had an
interest in a piece of land. Each name entry provides an
instrument (document) number which leads to the
Nominal Primary Indexes (see next column).
The alphabetical/nominal indexes were compiled as
people registered documents into the deeds system, so
the names are in approximate date order. There is some
overlap between indexes so researchers should check all
three indexes, and it is likely the indexes are incomplete
in the later 19th century.
A nominal index is also available to the Deposited Deeds
c1845-c1868 [AFIH 22398 W5691/391]. This provides
references to both the deeds indexes and deeds
registers. More information on this system is noted
under ‘Deposited Deeds’ (see next column).
Further Deeds Records
Nominal Primary Indexes [AFIH 22393 W5691/1-38]
The Nominal Primary Indexes to Deeds are arranged by
Instrument Number and state both the type of document
and the parties to it. They refer (usually as book and
page number) to where the document was recorded, for
example in:
Deeds Register Book [AFIH 22395 W5691/100-385]
Crown Grant Book [AFIH 22367 W5687/67-88]
Wills Book [AFIH 22879 W5687/259-270]
The Nominal Primary Indexes also provide a reference to
the Deeds Indexes [AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99], which
show all dealings for that particular piece of land.
Instrument numbers can be found by searching for
owner’s names in the Indexes to Primary Deeds –
Alphabetical [AFIH 22396 W5691/386-388].
Deeds Registers [AFIH 22395 W5691/100-385]
As each deed was registered an entry was made in a
Deeds Register. The information in the register book
includes a full transcript of the transaction, the instrument
number, type of document, date registered, parties
involved and reference to the relevant Deeds Indexes
[AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99] (see page 1).
Deposited Deeds
Original deeds could be deposited with the Registrar for
safe keeping, when registered into the deeds system.
Deposited documents were given a deposited deed
number and the details were recorded in the Deposited
Deed Books. [AFIH 22397 W5691/389-390]
Access to the Deposited Deed Books is through a
Deposited Deeds (nominal) Index.
[AFIH 22398 W5691/391]
The Deposited Deed Books record the instrument
number of each document in the deeds system, which
gives access to the Nominal Primary Indexes [AFIH
22393 W5691/1-38] and through those to the Deeds
Indexes [AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99] and Deeds
Registers [AFIH 22395 W5691/100-385]. The original
Deeds are held by LINZ.
Section 515 Wellington Deeds Index No.1 Vol.2 [AFIH 22394 W5691/40]
Archives New Zealand
3
Deeds Records and the LINZ Register Room
at Archives New Zealand, Wellington
Order by Archway Section Index Wall Chart
Certificate of Title information:
• D.I. Number (Deeds Index number)
Crown Grant Record Books [AFIH W5687, 67–88]
Deeds Index [AFIH 22394 W5691/39–99]
These are organised by section (or equivalent
e.g. Town Acre). They list all transactions for a
piece of land and give further references
Primary Entry Index
[AFIH 22393 W5691/ 1–38]
Nominal Index [AFIH 22396 W5691/386-388]
Deeds Register Books
[AFIH 22395 W5691/ 100–386]
Deposited Deeds Registers
[AFIH 22397 W5691/ 389–390]
Warrant Books [W5687/244 -252 & 279]
Name of Registered Owner
Legal Description Section number or District Plan DP Number from CT, or DP from City Council Web Sites
Quick Map (to get section number)
START
Wills Books [AFIH W5687/259–270]
Deposited Deeds Index
[AFIH 22398 W5691/ 391]
The above diagram outlines several common approaches to searching the records of the Wellington Land District [AFIH] held at Archives New Zealand Wellington.
'Sheep Farming' Wanganui – Palmerston North road [AAQT 6539 A368]
Research Guide 10 – LAND – Wellington – October 2010 4
This is the Certificate of Title number This section gives a reference to the previous registration of the piece of land.
If a Deeds Index volume/ page number is shown, use it to access the Deeds Index Books [AFIH 22394 W5691/39–99].
The following do not relate to records held at Archives New Zealand:
- Certificate of Title volume/page no. - Transfer number - Application number
but may assist LINZ staff to find an earlier Certificate of Title record, which may include a reference to a Deeds Index.
This phrase indicates that there is no guarantee of area and shape under
the title. The Registrar has crossed out the word ‘Title’, as he/she has been
satisfied as to the ownership.
This is the legal description of the land. If it is written as ‘section x of the registration district y’. Use this information with the Section Index Wall Chart to locate a Deeds Index.
(Later legal descriptions are often written as Lot x DP y. An archivist can help you use this information to search Quickmap to find the original legal description which can be used to check the Section Index Wall Chart.)
This shows the date of registration and the name of the registered proprietor.
This shows any subsequent action on the Certificate of
Title, including the cancellation and issuance of new Certificates of Title.
Other Information on a Certificate of Title
Key information to Search the Deeds Registration System at
Archives New Zealand
Certificate of Title Example
Archives New Zealand 5
OTHER WELLINGTON LAND RECORDS
Crown Grants Introduction
Crown Grants were the original means of moving land
ownership from the Crown to an individual. The system
of Crown Grants was largely replaced by the issuing of
Warrants from 1880, which was in turn was largely
replaced by the issuing of Section 116 certificates from
1952, though in special circumstances Warrants and
Crown Grants can be issued even today.
Crown Grants were originally prepared in the Colonial
Secretary’s Office with the Surveyor General. A copy of
each grant was kept by the Colonial Secretary (separate
volumes for Town, Suburban and Country lands). Later,
further series were made for other classes of grants.
These records were handed to the General Crown
Lands Office when it was set up in 1858.
The Crown Lands Office prepared and issued Crown
Grants until 1892 when the office was incorporated into
the Department of Lands and Survey.
Crown Grants (National Set) [ABWN 8090]
A copy of every Grant issued was kept by the Crown
Lands Office and its successors. They constitute the
only complete set of Crown Grants issued with any
amendments or cancellations noted 1842-1961.
A Crown Grant is searched for through the Alphabetical
Indexes 1842-1920 [ABWN 8092] held in the main
Register Room. The volumes cover provincial regions.
There are also Crown Grants Sectional Indexes 1856-
c1899 [ABWN 8096 W5274/547-560]. The volumes
cover specific provincial regions.
Crown Grants (Wellington Lands & Deeds set) [AFIH 22367 W5687/67-80]
The Land & Deeds District Office set of Crown Grant
Record Books 1852-1914 is accessed from the Deeds
Indexes [AFIH 22394 W5691/39-99 & 392] in the LINZ
Register Room (see page 1).
Crown Grants (Wellington Lands & Survey set) [AFIH 22359 W5687/18-56]
The Lands & Survey Wellington District Office set of
Crown Grant Registers 1850-1914 is accessed from the
Wellington Land District Roll Plans 1840-1977 [AFIH
22381 W5692/1-124] (see below).
Crown Grant Indexes & Registers Lands & Survey set (Wellington)
● Crown Grant Nominal Register – Index to Crown
Grants [AFIH 22365 W5687/65]
● Crown Grants Nominal Register 1850-1881
[AFIH 22363 W5687/61 & 283]
● Registers of Issue of Crown Grants 1852-1914
[AFIH 22364 W5687/62-64]
These registers were a record proving that a Crown
Grant had been issued by Lands & Survey and the
appropriate fee paid.
● Index to Crown Grants & Special Crown Grants
[AFIH 22362 W5687/59-60]
These indexes provide access by name of Grantee to
the Lands & Survey, Wellington Land District, Crown
Grant Registers [AFIH 22359 W5687/18-56]
● Register of Crown Grants – Temporary Records
[AFIH 22361 W5687/58]
Prior to 1856 the original Crown Grant was handed to
the grantee and signed for in a register. The register in
this series recorded details of these early Crown Grants
in the Wellington Land District. Brief details of each
Grant are given along with a small sketch map of the
land. These were only a Temporary Grant. The final
Crown Grant is the Lands & Survey copy [AFIH 22359]
with the same number as the Temporary Grant.
● Register of Crown Grants by Registration District
[AFIH 22357 W5687/12-15]
The first volume contains an index (by Registration
District) to other registers. The Grant number is the
Lands & Survey Crown Grant [AFIH 22359].
Maori Crown Grants (Wellington Land District)
● Index to Maori Crown Grants 1876-1886
[AFIH 22366 W5687/66]
● Maori Crown Grant Registers 1876-1886
[AFIH 22358 W5687/16-17]
These record Maori Crown Grants in the Wellington
Land District. Entries are similar to Crown Grant
Registers and are copies of original Grant documents.
The index lists only the first name, but often more than
one name is entered for a block in the Register.
Successor Records
Warrant Books (Wellington) 1880-1965 [AFIH 22874 W5687/244-252, 279]
Warrants are authorities for issue of titles under the
Land Transfer Act 1870. From 14 August 1880 they
replace the Crown Grant process and they may still be
issued in special circumstances.
Warrants were issued as pages containing several
entitlement authorities. These individual pages were
subsequently bound to form the volumes for the
Wellington Land District. Two copies were produced,
for Lands & Survey 1880-1960 [(ADXS 19578) LS-W
75/1-11] and for Land & Deeds (above).
References to these Warrant Books can be found in:
• Roll Plans
• Certificates of Titles
• Crown Land Register cards
• LINZ Card Indexes (LINZ Hamilton)
Warrant Titles (National set) 1880-1967 [ABWN 591 W5274/1-76, 633]
Some volumes contain an index. Alphabetical Registers
to Warrant Books 1880-1918 [ABWN 8094 W5274/77-
91] organised by province, also provide access to
Warrants by name of owner. After 1918, the Land
District and date are needed to find a warrant.
Details of a Warrant can also be found on the Certificate
of Title itself, held by the appropriate office of Land
Information New Zealand (LINZ).
6 Research Guide 10 – LAND – Wellington – December 2010
Section 116 Certificates [ABWN 592]
The Warrant System was followed by the system of
issuing Section 116 Certificates, from 1952. The
original certificates are held by LINZ but their set is
incomplete. The set held at Archives New Zealand is a
duplicate [ABWN 592]. These records are arranged
sequentially by number and can be accessed from a
citation on a Certificate of Title document.
Other Records Provisional Title Registers
These may be loose-leaf or bound volumes. The loose
leaf Volumes 1-13 are at Recall Wellington (contact
LINZ). The Bound Volumes 14-24 are at Archives New
Zealand in Wellington. [AFIH 22488 W5687/172-182]
Provisional Titles were first provided for by Section 8 of
the Land Transfer Amendment Act 1871. They are now
issued under Section 50 of the Land Transfer Act 1952.
Provisional Titles recorded land alienation from the
Crown during the period between authorisation of the
disposal and the issue of a Crown Grant or Warrant. In
the early days this document preparation and execution
process could span many months. The delay may have
been while awaiting survey of the land.
Certificates signed by the Commissioner of Crown
Lands were incorporated into the “Provisional Register”
folder at the Land Registry. When the relevant Crown
Grant or Warrant was registered a certificate of title was
issued, all memorials endorsed on the Provisional Title
were recorded on the Land Transfer Title, and the
Provisional Title was cancelled.
References to these Registers can be found in:
• Roll Plans
• Certificates of Titles
• Crown Land Register cards
• LINZ Card Indexes (LINZ Hamilton)
Allotment Books These are the original record of alienation of land by the
Crown. The books are organised alphabetically by
district and record the acquisition of land and its
subsequent disposal.
Allotment books refer to a variety of further records
including the Crown Lands Register (see below), Lands
& Survey Crown Grants [AFIH 22359 W5687/18-56],
Provisional Title Registers (see above) and New
Zealand Gazette notices. Allotment books also record
the issue of a Certificate of Title, particularly where the
land was leased by the Crown.
Two groups of Allotment Books are held, from the
Wellington office of Lands & Survey: [AAMI 6292/1-11]
[(ADXS 19507) LS-W 18/1-18]
Though the entries are by district, the books seem to be in no set order either chronologically or geographically. On being surveyed, blocks of land were entered in the books and subsequently details of the sale or lease. The amount of information in each book varies.
Various reserves – recreation, railways and education – are recorded, as well as allotments for forestry, dairy co-operatives and local bodies.
Maori Road Warrants [AFIH 22875 W5687/254-256]
Road Warrants on Crown Land
[AFIH 22875 W5687/257]
Roll Plans [AFIH 22381 W5692/1-124]
These large format plans, created by Lands & Survey,
draw upon several major plan sequences including
Deposited Plans (DP) Maori Land Plans (ML) and
Survey Office Plans (SO). Roll Plans often include
references to these plans and may note early Crown
Grants, subdivisions, and applications for Crown Land.
Roll Plans are listed on ARCHWAY, and may be found
through name or SO number searches. Additional
information may be found in:
Roll Plan Indexes [AFIH 22888 W5687/280-282]
Wellington Roll Plan Register [AFIH 22486 W5687/170]
Plans on Aperture Cards • Survey Plans (SO 10300-38391)
[AFIH 22891 W5687/293-326]
• Maori Land Plans (ML 1-5662)
[AFIH 22890 W5687/286-292]
• Deposited PlansDP 1-91244)
[AFIH 22893 W5687/332-396]
Photographed plans on Aperture Cards exist at Archives
New Zealand but digitised versions of these plan
sequences can be accessed via Quickmap (available at
Archives New Zealand in Wellington). Copies of these
plans can also be obtained from LINZ.
SO Plans Cross reference [AFIH 22355 W5687/10]
The earliest Wellington Survey Office plans were stored
in Drawers and numbered sequentially with references
such as’1/23’ equating to Drawer 1 plan number 23.
Such references are found on older Deposited Plans or
Maori Land plans. These old plans were later given a
Survey Office (SO) Plan Number – a straight numerical
sequence. This book allows cross referencing of old
Survey plans which have been renumbered.
Maori Block Index (alphabetical by block) [AFIH 22375 W5687/148-149] For each Maori Block, the relevant Maori Land Plan
(ML) number is given. Also shown is the plan number
for each partition of this Maori Block.
Crown Lands Register Each District Land Office maintained a register of land
held or acquired by the Crown. These consist of three
series of cards organised by:
• Registration District [AFIH 22483 W5687/156, 160]
• Survey Block/District [AFIH 22924 W5687/161-162]
• Deposited Plan No. [AFIH 22925 W5687/163-164]
Each card gives brief details of the land block and date
of acquisition.
Archives New Zealand
7
Lands & Survey Wellington records
Many records from Lands & Survey Wellington
complement the deeds registration records. [LS-W]
Registers of Applications for Crown Land 1853-1953 (indexed 1853-1887) [LS-W 16]
These registers record Applications to Purchase Crown
Land, made to the Lands & Survey Office in Wellington.
The actual application files are bound into volumes
[LS-W15]
References to these applications can be found in Roll
Plans (see previous page) and in:
Crown Grant Nominal Register – Index to Crown Grants
[AFIH 22365 W5687/65]
Crown Grants Nominal Register 1850-1881
[AFIH 22363 W5687/61 & 283]
Wellington Land Claims Commisioner’s Reports 1851-1896 [LS-W 68/1-15]
Reports into Land Claims made by individuals for land
originally bought from the New Zealand Company. A
card index in the Wellington Reading Room provides
access to these reports.
Successful claims resulted in a Crown Grant for the land
in question. These Grants will be entered in:
Crown Grants (Wellington Lands & Survey set)
(see page 5) [AFIH 22359 W5687/18-56]
These reports may include references to any sale or
division of land between the time of the original
purchase from the New Zealand Company and the
writing of the Commissioner’s report into the purchase.
Land Claims Commission Claimant applications 1851-1895 [LS-W 67/1-9]
Original applications for recognition by the Land Claims
Commissioner of purchases of land from the New
Zealand Company. Access is via the BIO 1 card index
in the Gateway at Archives New Zealand in Wellington
or from the reports of the Commissioner [LS-W 68].
Other early records Index of Grantees for Sections – Wanganui 1839-1876
[AFIH 22371 W5687/116]
Register of Land Transfers & Applications 1853-1864
[LS-W 22/1]
New Zealand Company records
The New Zealand Company was formed in 1839 to put
into practice Edward Gibbon Wakefield’s theories of
systematic colonisation through settlements in New
Zealand. The Company began purchasing land at Port
Nicholson in later 1839 and at Whanganui in 1841.
After the Company failed in 1850 its colonial
responsibilities were taken over by the Governor and
many NZ Company land records became part of NZ
government records.
NZ Company records are listed on ARCHWAY. Some
of the series relating to land purchase in the Wellington
region by the New Zealand Company are:
● Land Office papers 1839-1858
include registers of applications for land, certificates
showing sections of land selected by purchasers,
lists of sections and allotments showing owners,
registers of transfers of land orders, and descriptions
of land reserved for the use of Maori. [NZC 33]
● Land Office papers 1839-1850 - NZC Indexes &
Registers – Selections & Sections [NZC 133]
● NZ Company Deeds 1839-1844
Deeds of Release/Sale/Purchase – Port Nicholson
[ABWN 8111 W5280/194]
● Survey Office papers 1840-1845
(Most records are Surveyors’ Diaries) [NZC 135]
● Former NZ Company records 1840s-1852
Land orders, cancellations, lists of holders, etc
[LS-W 64]
● Former NZ Company records 1840-1853
Relating to section holders – most are registers
[LS-W 65]
Maps Maps of Wellington are held with section numbers which
correspond to entries in the NZC 33 register[AAFV
997/132-133] & below.
Part of Wellington Town plan (including Thorndon and site of Archives New Zealand, Wellington), by William Mein Smith, 14 August 1840 [LS W000/19]
8 Research Guide 10 – LAND – Wellington – December 2010
