🔍 Archway-style Collections Search

cURL request stats

Raw data from Axiell backend

Array
(
    [entityType] => ITEM
    [entity] => Array
        (
            [contextId] => aims
            [description] => Array
                (
                    [0] => This series comprises the national authoritative set of Crown Grants which were signed by the Governor General. Crown Grants are legal instruments vesting land title in private ownership. They were first issued under the 1840 Royal Instructions to Governor Hobson. Crown Grants include details such as name of grantee; name of block; legal description of land and plans.
                )

            [id] => 8090
            [idSort] => 8090
            [name] => Crown Grants
            [custom] => Array
                (
                    [custom5] => Mostly bound volumes, with some loose papers.
                )

            [identifier] => Array
                (
                    [priref] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => 17140
                        )

                )

            [authenticityNote] => Relevant legislation not in Statutes:

The New Settlements Amendment Act 1864
Royal Instructions to Governor Hobson  1840
            [conditionsOfAccess] => Open
            [digitalRecordInArchive] => 
            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                (
                    [normalizedValue] => 1841-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => approximate
                            [1] => yearOnly
                        )

                )

            [hasEndDate] => Array
                (
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => current
                        )

                )

            [history] => 
This series comprises the national authoritative set of Crown Grants which were signed by the Governor General. Crown Grants are legal instruments vesting land title in private ownership. They were first issued under the 1840 Royal Instructions to Governor Hobson. Crown Grants include details such as name of grantee; name of block; legal description of land and plans. 


Administration of Crown Grants was handled by the Colonial Secretary's Office until 1858 when the function was transferred to the Crown Lands Office. 



Prior to April, 1856, the original Crown Grant was given to the grantee or his agent and signed for in the Head Office Register. More than one copy of each grant was issued, with copies being retained by the owner, the District Lands Registrar, and the central office (i.e. Colonial Secretary's Office, Crown Lands Head office, or Department of Lands and Survey Head Office). After April 1856, Grants were forwarded to the Registrar of Deeds by the General Crown Lands Office and after they had been recorded and fees paid, were issued by the Registrar to the grantees. After the Land Transfer Act of 1871, Crown Grants became subject to the Act and were handed to the District Land Registrar for incorporation into his registers. [SOURCE: A User-Friendly Guide to the Archives of the Department of Survey and Land Information. c.1990. A copy of this document is in the 'Help Binder' held at the Reference Desk of the Archives New Zealand Wellington Reading Room.] 


More than one copy of each grant was issued, with copies being retained by the owner, the District Lands Registrar, and the central office (i.e. Colonial Secretary's Office, Crown Lands Head office, or Department of Lands and Survey Head Office). 
Arrangement

Volumes are arranged largely according to land district, or by province during the 'Provincial Period' e.g. New Munster. A small number of volumes exist for grants made under specific legislation, such the Ormond Military Grants, or the Grants of the Old Land Claims Commission. 



The numbering system for the volumes changed slightly over time, or if a volume was rebound. The record number may include an 'R' for register, a volume number, and a letter code which indicates the Land District. At other times, the Land District may be written in full. For example, the 8th Register of Crown Grants for the Wellington District could be labelled "R 8 W", "8W", or "Wellington 8" 



Successor Series

With the passing of the Land Transfer Act Amendment Act 1880, the system of land administration changed. A system of Warrants was introduced to authorise the issue of a Certificate of Title [Series 591]. This system essentially replaced Crown Grants and became the means of vesting land ownership from the Crown to individual. The Warrants were in turn replaced by Section 116 Certificates [Series 592] when the Land Transfer Act 1952 was introduced. However, Crown Grants continued to be issued in special circumstances and all three instruments can still be issued today. 



Controlling Series

Two series of indexes provide access to the Crown Grants by name of owner, or by name of the land block but these indexes do not cover the full date range of the Crown Grants. Refer to Series 8092 and 8096 for details. 



One volume known as Mackay's Book provides details of grants issued for Maori Reserves. Refer to Series 8093 for further details. 



Related Series
Duplicate sets of Crown Grants are also held by District Offices of Land Information New Zealand.  Some records for North Auckland have been transferred to our Auckland Regional Office.  Refer to Series 1147and 1175 for further details.  In Taranaki, the Crown Grants issued to Maori under the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act 1881 were maintained in a separate register.  Please refer to the documentation for Series 8597 for further details.
As well as indexes to the Crown Grants, the Crown Lands Office, Lands and Survey Department etc also maintained records of the draft grants, and the approval process.  The records transferred cover a short period only, but it is likely that other records were created and have not survived.  See Series 8091, 8095, and 8097 for further details.
Some loose Crown Grants were housed in the Muniments Room, in a ‘Black Tin Trunk’.  This trunk was well-known to many researchers so its contents have been listed as one series (Series 8120).  This means that some Crown Grants are listed as both Grants (Series 8090) and as part of the Black Tin Trunk (Series 8120).  To request these items use the series number 8090 which is given in the Archive Reference column of the list.
Hawkes Bay Register No.7
In 1983 a Register of Crown Grants labelled ‘HB7’ was transferred to National Archives by the Wellington Public Library.  It was not known how the volume came to be in the Public Library, nor where the volume was from.  This volume was added to series 605.
With the transfer of Crown Grants from the Muniments Room, it now seems most likely that HB7 is part of the national sequence of Crown Grants.  The survey of Muniments Room records conducted in the 1980s noted that volume 7 of the Hawkes Bay Crown Grants was missing.  The date range of the volume also fits neatly into the main sequence.
Hawkes Bay volume 7 has therefore been included in this series (Archives reference: AADZ 8090 W2864/1), the national set of Crown Grants.  
Ormond Military Grants
These items often include correspondence as well as the Crown Grant itself.
 Old Land Claims
The Old Land Claims Commission issued new Crown Grants when a claim was approved.  A separate set of registers (LINZ Series 117) was maintained which includes details of the hearing dates and the previous Crown Grants affected by the claim.
Loose Crown Grants
The majority of Crown Grants were maintained in bound volumes, however a few loose grants were housed separately.  It is not clear if these loose grants are Head Office or District Office copies but it is unlikely that they are included in the indexes.  They have been listed individually and include the name of the grantee.
These records were housed in the Muniments Room of Land Information New Zealand's Head Office in Wellington until December 2001. In c.1989 a survey was conducted of the key historical records held by the Head Office of DOSLI [Department of Survey and Land Information]. During this process records were listed and allocated the Series numbers 100-102 but these numbers have not been included on the list. 



There were 13 Registers of Crown Grants listed during the survey which were missing at the time of transfer to Archives New Zealand. These items have been removed from the list, resulting in a gap between items 91 and 105. The missing volumes are: 



Item 92 100.7 Crown Grants Register [2/1-345] 1851-1851 

Item 93 100.8 Crown Grants Register [2/346/526] 1851-1852 

Item 94 100.9 Crown Grants Register [2/527-584] 1853-1853 

Item 95 100.10 Crown Grants Register [3/1-55] 1851-1851 

Item 96 100.11 Crown Grants register [3/56-65] 1851-1852 

Item 97 100.12 Crown Grants Register [3/66-148] 1853-1853 

Item 98 100.13 Crown Grants Register [4/1-32,34] 1853-1853 

Item 99 100.14 Crown Grants Register [4/36,39,42,47,49-50,53-54,56,59,60] 1853-1853 

Item 100 100.15 Crown Grants Register [5/353-355,357-613] 1853-1853 

Item 101 100.16 Crown Grants Register [5/353-355,357-613] 1853-1853 

Item 102 100.17 Crown Grants Register [5/614-875] 1853-1853 

Item 103 101.1 Crown Grants Register [Section - Grants in fee] 1885-1885 

Item 104 101.2 Crown Grants Register [Fee Simple Grants (A-B) (Duplicate of N o.1)] 1885-1885 



Archives New Zealand also holds New Plymouth Crown Grants. Please refer to the Record Group list LS-NP Series 17 and GAIMS Series 7799 for further details. 


            [isAssociatedWithDate] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [type] => HoldingsYears
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [type] => YearStartHoldings
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1842-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => exact
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [type] => YearEndHoldings
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1967-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => exact
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                        )

                )

            [isAssociatedWithPlace] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Wellington repository
                        )

                )

            [itemType] => Series
            [rdfType] => recordSet
            [recordIsMissing] => 
            [ricClassificationDescription] => Volumes are arranged by province, land district, or the type of grant being issued.  Within each volume, the grants are arranged numerically by number (which is assigned in the order received). See 'Detailed Description' for more information.
            [seriesAccessContacts] => Not applicable.
            [seriesRestrictionReason] => No restrictions on access.
            [setSpec] => series
        )

)