The deeds system was the main way property ownership was recorded in New Zealand before the land titles system. There is a very small area of land remaining in the deeds system.
A copy of the deed was held by the landowner as their evidence of ownership, while the original was lodged and registered. Toitu Te Whenua still holds a partial set of these documents.
Note, however, that the significant record of land transactions is the entry in the Deeds Register.
All deed registers and indexes are now held by Archives New Zealand:
Archives New Zealand – Collections search
How to find deeds, deed registers and deed indexes
For the deeds indexes and registers held by Archives New Zealand you need to know the relevant land district.
You need to have 1 of:
- the legal description or appellation or title reference for the parcel of land at the time
- the surname of the owners of the land until around 1900
- the Deeds index reference – you can find this from the current Record of title for the property by searching through the prior references on the title documents.
Deeds may need to be viewed in person
Deeds indexes have been digitised and are viewable online.
Deeds registers however can be only digitally copied, because of the size and fragility of the volumes. You may need to view these in person, or pay for a digital copy of a specific page.
How to view an original land record
