Left Column Navigation

Online Poll Tax Records

Background

In 1881 New Zealand imposed an entry tax, or poll tax, on all Chinese immigrants. Every Chinese immigrant to New Zealand had to pay a £10 fee (raised in 1896 to £100) to enter the country. On arrival in New Zealand each immigrant was issued with a certificate as proof of payment of the tax.

The certificate listed name, date of arrival, age, place of birth and former residence and ship and port of arrival. The same details were listed on the butt of the certificates which were retained by the Customs Department for future reference. These were bound into volumes, comprising 100, 50 and 25 leaves, and are commonly known as poll tax books. Each port of entry was required to collect and maintain its own poll-tax records.

The main ports of entry were Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Wellington and Auckland. Due to changing shipping routes the majority of Chinese, whatever their ultimate destination in New Zealand, arrived through the ports of Wellington and Auckland.

Following the abolition of the tax in 1944 all poll-tax books were sent to Wellington for storage. Unfortunately all the records except those from the Port of Wellington, which were stored separately, were destroyed in a fire in 1952.

Certificate of Entry (poll tax) books for Chinese arrivals to Wellington from 1888 to 1930

Archives New Zealand holds a number of Certificate of Entry (poll tax) books which contain the butts from certificates of entry issued to Chinese people entering New Zealand at Wellington. Certificates were prescribed under Section 7 of the Chinese Immigrants Act 1881 and subsequent Acts.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs has received permission to publish poll tax entries from 1888 to 1930 in an online searchable database format.

To search a database of poll tax entries click on the following link:

Using the poll tax records

Researchers should be aware of a number of problems with the original listing of the names of the poll tax payers.

Transcription

As with all transcriptions from original sources one should not rely on the transcription. Although every care has been taken with copying the details, unintentional errors will always occur. In all cases researchers should think laterally when using these lists. If there is any doubt one should always consult the original source.

Chinese names

The name recorded on the poll tax record may not be the name the person is commonly known by. Chinese people often used several different names during their lifetime, having a formal name, an informal name, a literary name, or even others, and each would be used depending on the circumstances. Chinese often used a different name when dealing with Europeans than the one they used with Chinese people. In many of the earlier records the person’s family name is omitted altogether. Women’s names were often not recorded in official records at all, being referred to merely by their husband’s name, or even as ‘Ah Nui’ (woman).

Spelling

As there is no standard way of writing Cantonese in English, Customs officials recorded the names in whichever way they felt was closest to the sounds they heard. This resulted in great variation in the transcription and spelling of names. For example ‘Chow’ and ‘Joe’, ‘Lee’ and ‘Lay’, and ‘Yang’ ‘Young’ and Yeung’.

Legibility

The majority of the records were written in longhand by Customs Department officials whose care in recording the details varied greatly. Because of this many of the records are very difficult to read and in some cases the writing is completely illegible. Certain letters are difficult to distinguish from each other, for example ‘u’ ‘n’ and ‘w’, and ‘L’ and ‘S’. In some cases this has meant that it is difficult to determine if a name is ‘Lan’ ‘Lau’ or ‘Law’, or if another is ‘Lim’ or ‘Sim’.

Because of these difficulties care should always be taken by researchers when using the records in this list.

How do you know if you are descended from someone who paid the poll tax?

In general, if you have a direct ancestor who arrived in New Zealand before 1950, you are probably a descendant of someone who paid the poll tax. If your ancestor came as a student, a refugee or on a temporary permit before 1950, you are also counted as a descendant because those migrants were sponsored by poll tax payers.

Archives New Zealand Records

Other records held by Archives New Zealand but unavailable in online format follow. The easiest and most effective way to access records held at Archives New Zealand is by visiting the appropriate regional office. Archives New Zealand has offices in Auckland, Wellington (Head Office), Christchurch, and Dunedin. See Archives New Zealand: Contact Us and Doing Research. Please note that as archives are unique documents, a particular document can only be held in one office of Archives New Zealand and they do not interloan archives between offices.

If you are unable to visit, then you can use Archives New Zealand's Written Reference Service. This allows you to contact Archives New Zealand by post, fax or e-mail, and then they can undertake a limited amount of research on your behalf.

Permanent Entry Record Books 1921 -

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 25.
These volumes are arranged by nationality and details shown generally include name of applicant, date of permit to enter, port and mode of arrival and arrival details.

Temporary Entry Permit Registers and Records Books 1921 - 1960

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 26.
The registers contains details on date and number of permit, name and nationality of permit holder, ship of arrival, reason for visit, date of expiry of permit and ship and date of departure.

Overseas Student Registers 1939 - 1962

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 27.
These registers contain details relating to overseas students living in the Wellington area. Information for each student includes name, arrival details, school or university attended, address in New Zealand and permit details.

Alien Re-entry Certificates 1906 - 1930, 1932 - 1934, 1939

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 28.
The Immigration Restrictions Act 1908 and the Immigration Restriction Acts of 1908, 1920 and 1931 set out details of requirements to be met by aliens entering New Zealand. Permits were generally needed and for this reason, aliens living in this country and departing overseas temporarily, completed certificates of registration to ensure that they would be permitted to re-enter New Zealand.

The certificates generally show details about port and date of issue of certificate, name of alien and place of residence, identification particulars eg. place and date of birth, physical features, arrival details, etc and a photograph.

Alien Re-entry Certificate Registers 1900 - 1955

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 29.

These registers relate to series 28.

Alien Re-entry Certificate Index Books 1911 - 1956

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 30.
These registers relate to series 28.

Alien Entry Record Books 1917 - 1961

Archives New Zealand: Department of Labour Series 31.

Details shown include name, nationality, date and port of issue of certificate and ship and date of return.