Resources for Fijian family history research
The National Archives in England has records of the Royal Navy. The Registers of Seamen’s Services (ADM 188) includes 7 men were stated they were born in Fiji.
The names are:
Oliver Rupert Griffiths, 1900
Nikola Qumivutia, 1900
Frank Clay, 1889
William Hamilton Matthews, 1888
James Lele, 1857
Joseph Hicks, 1856
William Thompson, 1841
Copies of the records can be downloaded for £3.50 each.
Indian immigration passes from 1879 to 1919 held by the National Archives of Fiji have been microfilmed on 42 reels.
The passes contain the migrant’s depot number, gender, name, caste, father’s name, age, district of origin, registration, and certification of authorities in India about mental and physical fitness etc. The passes are organised by ship of departure in chronological order. No personal name indexes are available.
See the catalogue listing in the National Library of Australia.
I cannot at present find anywhere else in Australia that has these microfilms.
Robert Sherson Swanston was a “trader, arrived in Fiji, 1857, and settled there with the intention of introducing sheep and cattle. He became Secretary for Native Affairs under the Cakobau Government, 1872-3, and was influential in the development of constitutional government. He was also Stipendiary Magistrate at Kadavu, 1875-7.” [entry in Trove].
Six volumes of his journals from 1853 to 1885 are held by the Central Archives of Fiji. They have been microfilmed and a copy is held by the State Library of New South Wales. Follow this link to see the SLNSW entry or search for Robert Sherson Swanston in the catalogue.
The Autobiography and Reminiscence of Robert Sherson Swanston, 1901, is a typed and bound manuscript “created as an institutional record for the Society of California Pioneers. This brief reminiscence lists the mines R.S. Swanston worked and the companies he belonged to. It is followed by a typed transcript of a letter, dated November 21st, 1881, addressed to Robert Sherson Swanston regarding the condition of the people of Fiji. The context of this letter is unclear.” It has been digitised and made available at the University of California website Calisphere.
Title page and frontispiece of 'Voyages to the South Seas', Edmund Fanning, 1838
Edmund Fanning (1769-1841) was an American explorer and sea-captain who made a number of voyages to the Pacific Ocean.
This book describes a number of voyages to the South Seas, the Pacific Ocean and China, including two to the Feejee Islands in 1806-1809 in search of sandalwood on the Sandalwood Coast. He describes the method of collecting and processing the sandalwood and his relations with the Fijian people at this early period in the history of European contact.
The book also contains letters to and from Fanning about the ‘National Discovery and Exploring Expedition’ to the Pacific and Southern Oceans that he believed was essential to the continuing properity of the United States. The expedition was eventually led by Commodore Wilkes, whose narrative was published on his return.
As with all Google Books the text can be searched when you view the book online but not if you download the PDF. The names of people and places are spelled very imaginatively.
Sources
Church records
In Fiji, as in other countries, baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded by the various churches. The first missionaries, of the Wesleyan Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches, were concerned with the conversion of souls and kept good records of baptisms and marriages.
Early Wesleyan Methodist registers have been lodged with the National Archives of Fiji, and bound copies are available for inspection at their reading room in Suva.
Roman Catholic registers are mostly held by the local parishes.
Civil registration
Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began with the British Government in 1874, although not all of these events were registered in the early years of the British Government. They were separated into Fijian, Indian and General registers. Eventually the Indian registrations were included in the General registers.
Indexes and registrations to the 1980s are available on LDS microfilm from the Family History Library.
The Family History Library has a good selection of documents available for land and property in Fiji. Not all are available at Family History Centers in Fiji. Here is a selection of the documents relevant to historical research.
Certificates of title for land Fiji. Registrar-General’s Office. 36 microfilm reels. Original registers to 1970, 400 titles per reel in title number order.
Crown grants of land Fiji. Registrar General’s office. 4 microfilm reels. Original registers to 1970, 300-450 grants per reel in grant number order.
Crown lease records for Fiji 1889-1989. Land Titles Office. 16 microfilm reels. Original documents ordered chronologically, although some years filmed out of sequence. Films 1817426-1814741 inclusive.
Fiji, minutes of the Executive Council sitting for the rehearing of claims to land … 1879-1880. Fiji Executive Council. Filmed by the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau in 1973 (PMB Manuscript No. 206). 1 microfilm reel. Film 1341264.
Land deed books for Fiji 1879-1990. Land Titles Office. 8 microfilm reels. Original documents ordered chronologically, although some filmed out of sequence. Films 1817418-1817424.
Native land records 1890-1980. Native Lands Commission. 107 microfilm reels. Original records at the Ministry of Fijian Affairs. See separate post.
A collection of resources and ideas for tracing your family tree and researching your family’s history in Fiji. Whether your ancestor was a temporary visitor who married or died in Fiji, or whether you are descended from a long line of settlers or native Fijians, you will find something here to help you.
My name is Carole Riley, and I am collecting websites, books, and repositories of records and microfilmed records to help you find what you are looking for, collected whilst researching my own family. I add to the website whenever I can, so please come back often. You can also subscribe to updates as they are added.
Probate is the process of proving that the will of a deceased person is valid. Probate files often contain copies of wills, affidavits and other documents of interest. In Fiji probate is controlled by the Land Titles Office, Government Building, Suva.
Indexes and Will Books have been microfilmed to 1990 by the Family History Library.
Fijian Probate Records Index 1880 – 1991 (3 microfilms)
Abbas to Jaswant Singh – Film 1715330
Jaswant Singh to Sundar – Film 1715342
Sundar to Zimmer – Film 1715342
Note – these records are arranged roughly alphabetically by first name.
Probate Records for Fiji 1879-1990 (17 microfilms)
Jun. 1879-Apr. 1934 - Film [ 1817389 ]
Jan. 1934-Aug. 1947 - Film [ 1817399 ]
Aug. 1947-Jul. 1953 - Film [ 1817404 ]
Jan. 1953-OCt. 1958 - Film [ 1817405 ]
1958-1961 - Film 1817409
1961-1965 - Film 1817400
1965-1969 - Film 1817401
1969-1972 - Film 1817402
1972-1975 - Film 1817403
1975-1977 - Film 1817411
1977-1979 - Film 1817412
1979-1981 - Film 1817413
1981-1983 - Film 1817414
1983-1986 - Film 1817415
1985-1988 - Film 1817416
1987-1988 - Film 1817417
1988-1990 - Film 1817410
Note – some records have been filmed out of chronological sequence.
The Family History Library has microfilmed 117 reels of records from the Native Lands Commission at the Ministry of Fijian Affairs in 1981-1982.
Includes evidence books, clan genealogies, and registers of native land owners. The evidence books consist of sworn testimony on the extent of the communal land holdings of Fijian clans. Clan genealogies consist of sworn statements and pedigree charts. The land owner registers list the members of each clan along with their birthyear or birthdate, references to parentage and death date if known. In most cases there is an original set of land owner registers that was updated with a supplement; and a second set of registers that were continuously updated with new children born into the clan. Also includes evidence books for reserve lands and fishing rights.
The set of registers listed under each province as “Land owner registers (new)” is indexed by a card file that was also filmed. The index cards include information on birthdate and family relation- ships. The index number on each card consists of a: clan no., line no., and province abbreviation. For example: (7-676)Tl refers to clan no. 7, individual on line no. 676, in Tailevu Province
Land records were generated by the Native Lands Commission to provide legal title for clans to their traditional land holdings. A land commissioner was sent to each province to obtain oral testimony on holdings and clan genealogy. Information was then compiled into registers (Vola ni Kawa) of clan members that shared in the communal ownership of the clan. Vital information goes back to early 1800′s.
They are not available for loan within Fiji. See Film Notes for details of each reel.
A collection of resources and ideas for tracing your family tree and researching your family’s history in Fiji. Whether your ancestor was a temporary visitor who married or died in Fiji, or whether you are descended from a long line of settlers or native Fijians, you will find something here to help you. My name [...]