Twenty million family records go online

Photo / ThinkStock

New Zealanders will be able to delve through their family history as more than 20 million family history records go online today.

The records cover 140 years of New Zealand's history from 1842-1981 from the six major historical collections - the New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981, Canterbury Provincial Rolls 1868-1874, Jury Lists 1842-1862, Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls 1908 and 1919, Maori Land Claims 1858-1980 and New Zealand Naturalisations 1843-1981.

All the collections, found at www.ancestry.com.au, have been digitised and individual records fully indexed.

They were able to find actors Russell Crowe's Maori ancestors using the records, ancestry.com.au content director Brad Argent said.

His maternal grandmother was from the Ngati Rangi tribe, a sub-tribe of Ngati Porou, from the East Coast of the North Island.

The website also hosts more than 800 million British records.

- NZPA