What’s in Papers Past

Papers Past contains millions of pages of digitised full-text New Zealand and Pacific material from the 19th and 20th centuries. We've organised the material into five collections:

• newspapers
• magazines and journals
• letters and diaries
• parliamentary papers, and
• books.

Why use Papers Past

Using Papers Past lets you search historic content from New Zealand and the Pacific to explore local history, trace family genealogy, and delve into historical events

The material in Papers Past provides a unique view of history and can help us understand and connect with the people, events, and perspectives from the past. If you’re researching family history, whakapapa, or genealogy, you’ll find the shipping news, birth, death, marriage, and divorce records particularly useful.

Our digital images let you see the historical papers in their original form and we provide a text transcript that you can print, save and share.

Who should use Papers Past

Papers Past is an invaluable tool for:

• historians
• iwi/hapu
• genealogists
• family historians
• researchers
• teachers
• students

Navigating Papers Past
Searching Papers Past

Newspapers

The Newspaper section contains digitised NZ and Pacific newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Each newspaper has its own page containing information about the publication, including the date range available online. You can find links to all the newspapers on the explore all newspapers page.

The newspapers on Papers Past are only a small proportion of all New Zealand newspapers. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on Papers Past, try searching the National Library website to see if the newspaper is available in paper or microfilm format.

Explore all Newspapers
Browsing Newspapers, and Magazines and Journals
Newspaper search on the National Library website
Newspapers of New Zealand — A website with a catalogue of all newspapers published in New Zealand since 1839.

Māori niūpepa

In 2015, the National Library added a collection of historic newspapers published primarily for a Māori audience between 1842 and 1935. This is based on the digital Niupepa Collection developed and made available in 2000 by the New Zealand Digital Library Project, at the Department of Computer Science, University of Waikato.

These newspaper titles are currently available:

• Anglo-Maori Warder (1848)
• Aotearoa : he Nupepa ma nga Tangata Maori (1892)
• Haeata (1859-1862)
• Hiiringa i te Whitu (1896)
• Hokioi o Nui-Tireni, e rere atuna (1862-1863)
• Huia Tangata Kotahi (1893-1895)
• Jubilee : Te Tiupiri (1898-1900)
• Karere o Poneke (1857-1858)
• Ko te Kahiti Tuturu mo Aotearoa, me te Waipounamu (1894-1896)
• Korimako (1882-1890)
• Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori (1842-1863)
• Mareikura (1911-1913)
• Matariki (1881)
• Matuhi (1903-1906)
• Paki o Matariki (1892-1935)
• Pihoihoi Mokemoke i Runga i te Tuanui (1863)
• Puke ki Hikurangi (1897-1913)
• Takitimu (1883)
• Waka Maori (1863-1884)
• Wananga (1874-1878)
• Whetu o te Tau (1857-1858)

There are also some Māori periodicals available in the Magazines and Journals section. See the list below:

• Aotearoa, or the Maori Recorder (1861-1862)
• Hoa Maori (1885-1897)
• Kaea (1979-1981)
• Ko te Kahiti o Niu Tireni (1865-1900)
• Kopara (1913-1921)
• Mahi a te Hui o te Hahi Maori o te Takiwa o Heretaunga i te Pihopatanga o Waiapu (1872-1912)
• Mahi a te Hui o te Hahi Maori o te Takiwa o Rotorua tae noa ki Whangaparoa I te Pihopatanga o Waiapu (1899)
• Mahi a te Hui o te Hahi Maori o te Takiwa o Tauranga i te Pihopatanga o Waiapu (1906-1912)
• Mahi a te Hui o te Hahi Maori o te Takiwa o Turanga i te Pihopatanga o Waiapu (1870-1913)
• Mahi a te Hui Topu o te Hahi Maori o te Pihopatanga o Waiapu (1890-1914)
• Maori Record : a journal devoted to the advancement of the Maori people (1904-1907)
• Muka (1988-2015)
• Pipiwharauroa (1898-1913)
• Reo ote Hokowhitu-a-Tu (1919-1920)
• Te Ao Hou (1952-1975)
• Toa Takitini (1921-1932)
• Tu Tangata (1981-1987)

Further information about the newspapers can be found in Rere Atu Taku Manu! Discovering History, Language and Politics in the Māori Language Newspapers edited by Jennifer Curnow, Ngapare Hopa, and Jane McRae (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002).

Magazines and Journals

The Magazines and Journals collection includes magazines and journals published in New Zealand and the Pacific. The collection has material from the 1860s to 2017. These publications cover a wide range of topics including building, sports, arts, science, music and religion. The collection also includes some of New Zealand’s police gazettes, and World War II camp publications.

Each magazine or journal has its own page containing information about the publication, including the date range that is available online. You can explore this collection by Title or Date by selecting these options on the Magazines and Journals page.

Explore all Magazines and Journals
Browsing Newspapers, and Magazines and Journals

Letters and Diaries

The Letters and Diaries section contains the papers of Sir Donald McLean as digitised full-text manuscripts. Sir Donald McLean (1820-1877) played a central role in relations between Māori and the Government during this period. You can find links to all the letters and diaries on the explore all letters and diaries page.

Explore all Letters and Diaries
Browsing Letters and Diaries

Parliamentary Papers

The Parliamentary Papers section contains digitised reports from volumes of the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHRs) and the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives.

Find out more about the Parliamentary Papers
Explore the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives
Explore the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives

Statement from the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 2012

The Votes and Proceedings from 1854 to 1856, the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives from 1858 to 2002, and from 2003, the Parliamentary Papers series, are all published by order or under the authority of the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House controls and directs the printing of parliamentary documents.

As Clerk of the House of Representatives, I fully endorse this project to digitise the Votes and Proceedings and the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives as it is important to have these vital records available to the public in an easily accessible and searchable form.

Volumes from 1854 to 1930 have now been digitised and the collection is complete in that all volumes from that period have been accounted for but they should not be relied upon as the authoritative source.

The Office of the Clerk will continue to hold the authoritative copy of record in bound volumes. Copies are available for viewing either at my Office or at the Parliamentary Library. Hard copy sets are also held at the National Library, university libraries and some large public libraries.

Mary Harris
Clerk of the House of Representatives (2007-2015)

Books

The Books section contains a range of New Zealand books that were digitised as part of two pilots in 2012 and 2015.

It also contains nineteenth-century te reo Māori material listed in the bibliography Books in Māori, 1815-1900: An Annotated Bibliography = Ngā Tānga Reo Māori : ngā kohikohinga me ōna whakamārama (BIM) compiled by Phil Parkinson and Penny Griffith in 2004. We call the titles from the bibliography Ngā Tānga Reo Māori.

Explore all Books
Browse Books
Browse Ngā Tānga Reo Māori

Currently, only a small portion of New Zealand publications are available in the Books section.

If you are looking for historic New Zealand books the New Zealand Electronic Text Collection may be of interest.

New Zealand Electronic Text Collection

Ngā Tānga Reo Māori

Books in Māori, 1815-1900: An Annotated Bibliography = Ngā Tānga Reo Māori : ngā kohikohinga me ōna whakamārama (BIM) was compiled by Phil Parkinson and Penny Griffith in 2004. It is a bibliography (a list of books, articles, and documents) and was published by the Alexander Turnbull Library in partnership with Reed Publishing in 2004.

Over 1,600 publications printed in te reo Māori between 1815-1900 are listed in Ngā Tānga Reo Māori including posters, bibles, dictionaries, newspapers, Acts and Bills, and invitations.

Ngā Tānga Reo Māori titles are available in the Newspapers, Magazines and Journals, Books and the Parliamentary Papers sections.

The Library has begun digitising all these items and making them available on the Papers Past website.

What is Ngā Tānga reo Māori?
Browse Ngā Tānga Reo Māori
Search Ngā Tānga Reo Māori