Before you start to search you need to gather 3 important pieces of information:
- the owner or owners if there are shares in the land or block
- the block name
- Māori Land Court District the land is located in.
Finding the owner’s name and shareholders
You may find an owner’s name or the names of shareholders in a block from:
- historic records like deeds, Crown grants and provisional registers
- Māori Land Court and Toitū Te Whenua land records.
Some things to be aware of with owner’s names:
- Many Māori in the past were known by aliases.
- Many Māori were given an English version of their name.
- Some tamariki took the family name of their māmā.
- Some tamariki took the first name of their pāpā as a surname.
For example, Māori Land Court may record an owner’s name as: John Brown or Hone Brown or Hone Paraone or John Paraone.
Finding the block name
Often people refer to having a ‘share in a block’.
A block is defined in Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 as a whole parcel of land comprised and described in an instrument of title. An instrument is a legal document.
The Block name will be the original block name, for example, Puketapu block, given by the Crown or the Māori Land Court when the whenua was originally granted.
The Block name is the single most used identifier when researching Māori land.
Search for Block names:
Pātaka Whenua - tā tātou tomokanga tuihono
Finding the Māori Land Court district
It’s important to know the Māori Land Court rohe, or district, the land is located in.
That’s because blocks in different districts may have the same or similar block names. For example, the block name Puketapu appears both in Taranaki and in Turangi.
Use our NZ Land District search to find the land registration district:
NZ Land Districts | LINZ Data Service
Finding information from historic records
Historic records can help you find Māori land records.
Crown purchase deeds
Crown purchase deeds are the Crown's record of land purchases that it made, including purchases of Māori land. In each case a deed was signed by the owners and the Crown.
Historically, the first Māori land purchase by the Crown was made in Auckland in 1840. After that the Crown continued to make purchases through its purchase officers.
South Island purchases
In the South Island purchases were of very large areas and except for specified Māori reserves the whole of this island was acquired from the Māori owners by the end of the 19th century.
South Island purchases have been reproduced in "A Compendium of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs in the South Island" in 2 volumes by Alexander Mackay 1873.
North Island purchases
In the North Island purchases were of small discrete blocks.
Some North Island purchases have been reproduced in "Māori Deeds of Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand" in 2 volumes by H Hanson Turton 1877. These are commonly called Turton's Deeds.
Visit our office to view records
Some deeds are microfilmed and indexed by Māori block name, held in our office.
Copies of the deeds are available for viewing at Toitū Te Whenua regional offices.
Crown grants
Once the Crown obtained its interest in Māori land whether by way of acquisition or raupatu (confiscation), it recorded sales of the land in Crown Grants. These grants provided the purchaser with documentary evidence of ownership.
Crown Grants were first issued under Royal Instructions of 1840 to Governor Hobson and later by legislation. They were granted from 1840 to 1880 although there were some Crown Grants granted as late as the 1890s.
Crown Grants were replaced by the issue of Certificates of title from the 1870s. Owners of Crown Grants were encouraged to surrender their grants for the more secure Certificates of title.
Visit Archives Wellington to view Crown grants
Not many Crown grants can be copied so you will need to view them in person at Archives Wellington.
Provisional registers
Provisional Registers were set up in 1871.
Freehold, Partition or other title orders of the Māori Land Court are first registered with Toitū Te Whenua into Provisional Registers under the Land Transfer Act.
Each title order is given reference numbers, volume and folio, starting with PR. For example, PR 12345. You can use these reference numbers to search for records.
Any Provisional Registration contain memorials, or documents, containing information affecting the land or its ownership. You can find information in these documents to help you find other land records.
Usually, where the land is surveyed and the fees paid, a full title, previously known as a Certificate of title or computer register, is issued for the land.
The title will show the prior PR reference on it. The PR will also be noted in a memorial of any new title references arising from it.
These records are available through Toitū Te Whenua.
Almost all of these title orders are first generated by the Māori Land Court. Often copies of these are still held in the Māori Land Court where you can access them.
Against any Provisional Registration are entered memorials referring to documents containing information affecting the land or its ownership. These documents will lead researchers to other material and can be accessed through LINZ.
Understanding what was done to the whenua
Sometimes processes have happened to change the original size, block names and ownership of land originally granted to Māori.
Those processes might be:
- shares
- partitions
- consolidations
- Europeanisation of titles.
Understanding what may have happened to the land may help with your search for land records. You may find this information from whanau, hapu or iwi sources, or historic records held by the Māori Land Court or Toitū Te Whenua.
Order for searching for Māori land records
The order you search for information improves the chances of finding land records.
Does the description of the land you are searching for contain a Māori Block name?
Search Pātaka Whenua first:
Pātaka Whenua - tā tātou tomokanga tuihono
Does the description of the land not contain a Māori Block name?
Search our Toitū Te Whenua land register first:
Sometimes the Māori Land Court may refer you to Toitū Te Whenua for help.
Please have as much information as possible when you contact us so we can awhi you.
Step-by-step approach
This step-by-step approach may help you find records:
Steps to find Māori land records
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