Auckland Land District deeds records
Learn how to find Crown grants and deeds for the Auckland Land District. You’ll find step-by-step instructions and examples for searching for digitised deeds indexes and deeds registers.
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Know before you start
Our Auckland archive has deeds records for the North Auckland, South Auckland and Gisborne Land Districts.
The North Auckland Land District includes Northland and Auckland.
The South Auckland Land District includes Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.
These land records were transferred to us by the Lands and Survey Department and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
Restricted access
To protect personal privacy, access to some files and records is restricted.
Access to some application files is restricted for 50 years from the last date on file.
Requesting access to restricted files
This is how you can request permission to access restricted records.
Contact us — Contact us and we’ll refer you to the relevant government agency.
Contact them — Get in touch with the relevant government agency to obtain written permission to access the records.
Access the record — If you obtain permission, there are 2 ways to access the record:
the government agency you've obtained the permission from will organise access to the record, or
you’ll need to contact us again with your permission letter, and we will enable access to the record.
What you can find
We have several records relevant to the Auckland Land District, including:
Crown grants
deeds indexes
deeds register books
application files
warrants
provisional registers
Old Land Claim plans
Old Land Claim indexes.
Deeds indexes and some deeds register books are available online in Collections search.
What we don’t have
All certificates of title (now known as records of title) issued under the Land Transfer Act 1870 are held at Land Information New Zealand. You can order these online through Land Record Search.
Many original survey plans (SO, DP, ML) are held at LINZ. These can also be ordered through Land Record Search.
Archives codes and terminology
When you use our research guidance, you might find a string of letters and numbers — for example BAJZ 23662 831 3A R22764214 — next to a title. These are our archival codes or references.
You can search the letters or numbers separately on Collections search. They can also be useful if you visit our reading rooms or contact us to access a record, as they help our archivists find records quickly.
The numbers and letters in the codes can represent the record’s:
agency code
series number or accession number
record number
R-number.
For help with searching — including how to use advanced searching and filtering — read our tips on how to use Collections search or ask an archivist for advice.
For more information on referencing the archives, check out the Copying and citing archives page.
Land registration terms
A useful glossary of land registration terms is available on the LINZ website.
Browse the archives
Some of the links in this guide are to series of records in Collections search. Series are groups of records that are related to each other like Auckland Deeds Registers.
To find lists of the individual records that make up a series:
use the links provided in this guide to open the series page in Collections search
expand the ‘Record hierarchy’ dropdown menu at the bottom of the page
select an individual item to display the item description.
These are useful for ordering items to view at the relevant reading room.
You might not be able to access everything online. Many records have been digitised, but if they aren’t, you’ll need to visit the reading room they’re held in to access them. While viewing them, you can also photograph the records. There is no charge involved.
If you still can’t find what you are looking for, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be able to help you find out what records a specific office has, and how to access them.
Learn more about visiting a reading room
Find the legal description for the property you’re researching
The easiest way to begin an historic property search is using the legal description of the land. Some examples of a legal description are:
Allotment 31, Pakuranga Parish
Lot 14 of Section 20, City of Auckland.
You can find the legal description by:
going back to the first (oldest) record of title issued under the Land Transfer Act – titles can be ordered through the LINZ website Land Record Search
using roll plans, R plans or other cadastral maps to find the section and parish or survey district — some of these are available online through Collections search, the National Library or Auckland Libraries’ Kura database.
Searching for deeds using the legal description for the land
Deeds index references are sometimes provided in the first (oldest) title record. These begin with the prefix DI, for example ‘DI 3A.2193’. 3A is the volume number, and 2193 is the page within the volume.
If you don't have a record of title and have the legal description of the land (allotment number and parish/survey district) you can search the Parish index to find the relevant deeds index.
Roll plans and other maps can sometimes be used to find allotment, section or lot numbers for a particular area. Some roll plans for the Auckland Land District have been digitised and are available online. Search for the term ‘roll plan’ and the area — for example ‘roll plan East Tamaki’. You can filter the results by map/plan, series or digitised copy available.
Find a Deeds record or Crown grant
To find a Deeds record or Crown grant you need to follow the below steps.
Search the Parish index — to find the first deeds index reference. The Parish index is organised alphabetically by the Parish or survey district name. Each allotment within the Parish or survey district is listed, giving the first deeds index reference (volume number and page).
Search the Deeds index — to find the list of transactions for the property and dates of transactions. The deeds index provides the reference for the deeds register containing the full text of the deed of conveyance, lease and more.
Search for a Deeds register book, or Crown grant book — to see the full text of the land transaction.
View Deeds records online
To view Deeds records online, you need to begin by searching the Parish indexes. Use the steps below to access the online deeds index for our example ‘City of Auckland Section 20 Lot 14’.
Search the Parish indexes
Follow these steps to locate City of Auckland Section 20 Lot 14 in the Parish indexes and find the deeds index reference.
Open Collections search.
Open BAJZ 23888 — Registers of parishes, settlements, towns, villages, survey districts and islands.
Click on ‘Record hierarchy’ then ‘+’ symbol to open list of volumes.
To find the index for Auckland City, click on the item tile for ‘Parish Index (also includes towns, villages, suburbs and so on) — Ahipara-Pakington Town’ to open the item description.
Click on link ‘View online: IE45547453’ in the item description. The link will take you to the digitised index: Parish Index [also includes towns, villages, suburbs etc] — Ahipara-Pakington Town.
Use the index at the front of the digitised volume to locate the first page number for Parish Index entries relating to Auckland City.
Index and page links are available via the preservation master column to the left of the digitised image.
Index entries for Auckland City Sections begin on page 36. Scroll through the pages to find the entries for Auckland City Section 20 — these are on page 50.
The parish index entry for City of Auckland Section 20 Lot 14 (page 50) is annotated with the Deeds index reference ‘3A.2193’.
3A is the deeds index book reference, and 2193is the page reference.
Notes in pencil in the format of 127/266 relate to a certificate/record of title number (which can be ordered from LINZ).
Search for a Deeds Index
The deeds index lists ownership transactions for a specific property including dates, names, transaction type and reference numbers. Once you have the deeds index reference, follow these steps to search for the deeds index entry.
Go to Collections search.
Enter ‘“Deeds index 3A”’ into the search field (including the double quote marks).
Click on the ‘Filter’ button below the search field to view items by location and series. For this example, choose Auckland repository as the location and Auckland deeds indexes as the series.
From the results list choose ‘Deeds index 3A - Folio 1799-2193 [Eden County, Auckland - typed copy of BAJZ A1660/795a]’ [BAJZ 23662 831 3A R22764214]. Note: this item includes ‘page 2193’ in the page range.
Click on ‘View online: IE11839762'.
Go to image 198 to view page 2193.
The page will list individual deeds for transactions on the specific land lot. To locate more information about, for example, the Lease referenced in the second entry (13972), look at the column labelled ‘where recorded’.This column includes references to ‘deeds registers’.
Deeds registers include the full text of the individual transaction. For example, ‘8D.232’ refers to deeds register book 8D, page 232.
Deeds indexes list the surnames of people related to each land transaction (by number) and often provide a hand drawn plan of the individual Lot at the bottom of the page.
Look at the bottom of the deeds index entries for references to the first record of title. For example, ‘Vol.107 Fol.266’ refers to the certificate/record of title held at LINZ. ‘Appln.3811’ refers to the application file (application for certificate of title) held at Archives New Zealand.
Search for a Deeds register book
Deeds register books contain the full text of deeds of conveyance, lease and more. Each deed often includes a small map showing dimensions of the land.
Once you have the deeds register book reference (from the deeds index) you can search for the record in Collections search.
Our example shows how to find 8D.232 — deeds register book 8D, page 232.
Go to Collections search.
Enter ‘deeds register 8D’ into the search field. You might want to filter the location of your results to Auckland repository.
Select the digitised item ‘Deeds register book 8D [Eden County]’ [BAJZ 23641 677 8D R22764058].
Click on View online: IE62967535.
Select ‘Pages 231-232’ in the list on the left of the page to see deed 13972.
Deed 13972 on page 232 of Deeds Register 8D relates to the lease of Lot 14 Section 20 City of Auckland (corner of Hardinge Street and Victoria Street West), summarised in the deeds index.
Some deeds registers are not available online. You can view and photograph deeds registers in our reading room. Find out more in the Browse the archives section of this guide.
Crown grants
Crown grants were the original means of moving land ownership from the Crown into private hands.
For the Auckland Land District:
copies of most grants are in separate Crown grant volumes [BAJZ 23663]
some grants are included in deeds register books [BAJZ 23641].
If the ‘where recorded’ volume number (in the Deeds Index) includes the letter ‘G’, then this will most likely refer to a Crown grant volume. For example, the reference 3G.450 refers to the volume Crown grants 3G, page 450.
To find volume 3G search for ‘Crown grants 3G’ in Collections search and filter by Location Auckland. You may also need to filter by series ‘Auckland Land District — Crown grant record books’.
Most Crown grants are not digitised. You’ll need to visit the relevant reading room to view and photograph the grant you require.
Our Wellington archive has a national set of Crown grants for all of New Zealand [ABWN 8090].
Finding Parish indexes
Follow these steps if you cannot find the Parish index you need to start with.
Auckland Land District Parish indexes are in BAJZ 23888.
You can type the series number in the search box on Collections search.
Filter by entity type ‘Series’.
Once you've opened the series link click on ‘Record hierarchy’.
Click on the + symbol next to 'Registers of parishes, settlements, towns, villages, survey districts and islands'.
This will display the list of parish index volumes. The contents are alphabetical by the name of the parish or survey district. Then for each allotment number listed under the specific parish or survey district, the first deeds index reference is given (for example, 1A.50).
These links will take you to the digitised Parish Index volumes.
Parish Index [also includes towns, villages, suburbs etc] - Ahipara-Pakington Town [BAJZ 23888 1143 R22764576].
Parish Index [also includes towns, villages, suburbs etc] - Pakington Suburbs-Woodside Town [At front of volume includes index to Old R plans] [BAJZ 23888 1144 R22764577].
Town, village, settlements etc Index [BAJZ 23888 1145 R22764578].
Index to Islands — Auckland District [BAJZ 238881095 R22764504].
Survey District Book [Index] [BAJZ 23888 1146 R22764579].
Other useful indexes
Old Land Claims Index
Many of the entries in this volume relate to land in the Bay of Islands. The Old Land Claims Index [BAJZ 23933 1102 R122764509] provides the:
Auckland claim number
name of claimant
location of land
acreage
deeds index reference, for example 1C.30 (deeds index 1C, page 30).
Deeds Plan Book
This volume [BAJZ 23932 1099 R122764506] lists some subdivisions, settlements, towns and a relevant deeds index reference or deeds plan number. For example, ‘Frankton village 1W.84’ (deeds index 1W, page 84).
You can search for the deeds index in Collections search and view the list of transactions for the property online. For more information on how to do this, see the ‘Search for a Deeds Index’ section of this guide.
Application files
What’s in an application file
Application files contain a handwritten search copy of the deeds index records for a property. They often come with notes and an application form requesting the land be moved from the deeds system to certificate of title. Sometimes an application file may include correspondence and original Crown grants.
Application file numbers for a specific allotment, lot or section might appear at the end of a deeds index entry, or as a prior reference in a certificate/record of title.
How to find an application file
Start on the home page of Collections search.
From here, you can search for the application file number (for example ‘34137’) or the certificate of title reference (for example ‘765/237’).
Using the filter option, choose ‘Auckland repository’ as the location.
Next, scroll down to ‘Series’ and click ‘North and South Auckland Voluntary Applications’ or ‘North and South Auckland Compulsory Applications’. This should narrow your search to 1 file. A compulsory application file usually ends with C — for example 34137C.
You can also search for the legal description of the land for example 'Allotment 51, Pakuranga Parish' and then filter your search by series (as above).
Most application files are not available online and need to be viewed in our Auckland reading room.
Requesting access
Many application files are open access and can be viewed by anyone. Access to some application files is restricted for 50 years from the last date on file. The record in Collections search will state if a record is restricted.
To request access to a restricted application file you need to contact:
Team Manager
Centre Support, Hamilton Office
Email: info@linz.govt.nz.
Find out more about what to include with your access request
Warrants
Warrants convey land ownership from the Crown to an individual. These were issued under provisions of the Land Transfer Act instructing the Registrar of Lands to issue a Certificate of Title for the specific land. Each warrant includes:
the legislation under which the warrant was issued
land description (including acreage)
name and occupation of person purchasing the land
payment and fees
nature of interest, for example freehold
date from which entitled
cross-reference to a volume and folio number (certificate/record of title number).
Note: There are some gaps in the sequence of land warrants for the Auckland Land District.
See a list of warrant books
To see a list of warrant books for Auckland or South Auckland, use the links below then click on ‘Record hierarchy’ and scroll through the list of volumes.
Warrant books for Auckland Land District [BAJZ 1170].
Warrant books for South Auckland Land District [BAPP 24122 warrants 5101 to 5200].
From 1950, some groups of numbers were separated out and used for the South Auckland Land District [BAPP 25431].
Provisional registers
From 1871, before an official certificate of title was issued, all dealings, memorials and entries on that land were provisionally registered. Provisionally registered documents included (but are not limited to):
Director-General of Lands certificates showing that purchase money had been paid for land previously under Crown lease, or
an Order of the Māori Land Court declaring that the land should be held in freehold general title.
Provisional titles include the name of the provisional title holder, amount paid, area of land in acres, legal description of the land. Sometimes there is a reference to the Crown lease or licence number under which the land was held prior to being freehold.
Provisional register references are sometimes provided on certificates of titles or other land records. These references give a volume and page number. For example, PR 175/30 refers to provisional register PR 175, page 30. Some references might have a prefix, for example SA means South Auckland Land District.
To find a provisional entry register in Collections search, type in the land district and provisional register volume number (for example, ‘North Auckland PR 175’).
You can also open the relevant series link below. To do this click on ‘Record hierarchy’ and scroll through the list of registers for each land district.
North Auckland provisional registers — series 27173 — digitised and available online.
South Auckland provisional registers — series 27174 — some digitised and available online.
If the provisional register you need is not available online, you’ll need to view and photograph this in our Auckland reading room.
Searching for land with a person’s name
Use this section if you don’t have the legal description for the land but do have the name of the person granted the land, or the name of the first owner in the certificate of title system.
Alphabetical Indexes to Crown grants
There are alphabetical indexes to the names of people granted land, and these are in volumes for each land district.
View Crown grants alphabetical registers [ABWN 8092] on Collections Search
Open the series link and click on ‘Record hierarchy’.
You’ll see a list of the volumes and their archives code, including several that relate to Auckland.
Click on the relevant link to open the database record. Then click ‘View online: IE….’ to view the digital images.
The Crown grants alphabetical registers provide the person’s name, date, land area and legal description i.e. Locality or Parish, Allotment and Section number.
Once you have the legal description of the land, you can use this to search the Parish Indexes and Deeds Indexes following the steps outlined. See the ‘Search the Parish indexes’ section of this guide for more information.
Alternately you can view a copy of the Crown grant at our Wellington reading room [ABWN 8090].
Auckland District – nominal index to deeds and crown grants
You can view Nominal indexes for the Auckland district online [BAJZ 23666].
The indexes only provide the surname and a deed number. Sometimes the surname recorded may be the lawyer — rather than the purchaser or seller.
If you find an entry in the nominal indexes, you can then search the 'Auckland Land District primary numerical indexes to deeds' online [BAJZ 23654].
The primary numerical indexes run in numerical order and list the:
deed number
record (deeds book and page number)
index (deeds index book and page number).
Once you have the reference for the deeds book or deeds index, you can use Collections search to find the volume.
Crawford’s index to the Land Transfer Index (certificate of title system)
Use the Crawford’s index to search for names if the person may have purchased land in the Auckland Land District between 1871 and 1924. The index lists surnames and first names and can be searched online.
Nominal Index to Land Transfer Index — Crawford's Index [BAJZ 23800 1109 R22764510]
Open the link ‘View online: IE47125847’.
On the first page is a table which indexes the first and third letter of the surname. For example, for the surname BREWER go to B and move across to E. This provides a page number, for example 31.
Once you’ve identified the page you need, scroll to the page in the digitised volume.
Pages have a list of surnames and first names, followed by 2 numbers. For example, ‘BREWER, Arthur 6/852’. This refers to Land Transfer Index Volume 6, page 852.
The Land Transfer index volumes for the Auckland Land District are all available online in Collections search.
Follow the below steps to find the reference 6/852 for Arthur BREWER.
Go to Collections search.
In the Search box, type ‘Land transfer index volume 6’.
Open the database record for the volume held in Auckland. Then click on the link ‘View online: IE53912900’ to view the digitised volume.
Scroll to page 852.
The entry will provide the person’s name, date, type of instrument (for example transfer, lease, conveyance), legal description of the land and volume/folio.
The volume and folio numbers shown give the reference for the certificate/record of title issued. You can request a copy of this from LINZ using Land Record Search. For example, 2/104 refers to North Auckland record of title 2/104 or NA 2/104.
Get help researching land
We're here to help if you have questions about land or aren't sure what resources to use. Use our Ask an archivist form to send us a question or visit us in the Auckland reading room.