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.

Birth death and marriage Indexes and registrations (‘certificates’) to the 1980s are available to borrow on microfilm from the Family History Library outside of Fiji. The Family History Libraries within Fiji already has the films, as does the National Archives of Fiji.

You can learn which microfilms to borrow here and how to borrow them here.