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Ordering films in the new FamilySearch

12 July 2012 by

FamilySearch, or what we used to know as the Family History Library, has an enormous number of resources for family historians in their library in Salt Lake City. They have travelled the world collecting original material by microfilming it, and these microfilms can be ‘borrowed’. If you have a FamilSearch Center nearby, or a society library designated for lending films, you can borrow the films and research them without having to travel to Salt Lake City. In most cases the microfilms were also donated back to the archive or repository, protecting the original records from wear and tear.

Go to FamilySearch and click on the word Catalog under the main heading.

The new catalog search looks like this:

FamilySearch catalog

When I’ve typed in ‘Fiji’ I get a long list of possible places. I think it’s best to just use ‘Fiji’ to start with, without getting too specific.

FamilySearch results for Fiji

Birth, marriage and death records are held under Civil registration. If you click on any of these entries you will see what records they hold. For example, if I click on Land and property – indexes I can see:

Fiji land and property indexes

If I click on the last of these I can see the individual film entries. The film numbers are what I need to order the film:

Fiji land records card index

To order a film, you can click on the film number, which takes you to another page: https://familysearch.org/films/. You need to be signed in to do this; signing up is easy and free. You can order a film on short-term loan for 90 days or long-term loan for extended periods.

Just enter the film number:Film ordering

My most convenient library is the Society of Australian Genealogists and the website remembers that setting for me. You can change it at any time.

You can then go on to find more films, or checkout and pay by credit card or PayPal.

Once you’ve placed your order and paid for it you can track the status of your order at any time. You’ll get an email when the film has been received by your library, and you can go there and look at the film. Some libraries charge an extra fee for handling the film on top of what FamilySearch charges.

Bear in mind that the 90 days starts on the day the film is sent, not the day it arrives in your library. So get in and look at it as soon as you can.

Filed Under: Family History Library, Fiji, Government Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Births, Marriages and Deaths

26 April 2010 by

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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.

Filed Under: Family History Library, Fiji, Getting Started Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Land and Property

26 April 2010 by

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.

Filed Under: Family History Library Tagged With: ,

Probate

8 November 2009 by

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.

Filed Under: Archives, Family History Library Tagged With: , ,

Native Land Records 1890-1980

8 November 2009 by

Native Land  Records 1890-1980

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.

Filed Under: Archives, Family History Library, Fiji Tagged With: , ,