Hi Kae: The Wellington office of Archives NZ has records from Lands & Survey Wellington & LINZ, largely in the LINZ Register Room. There is a Research Guide 10, "Land Wellington", though (unlike the first 8 guides) it is not online on the Archives website. The Guide has a map of the Taranaki and Wellington Land Districts on the back, covering the Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Wanganui & Taranaki areas; however the guide just mentions Wellington Land District records, so Taranaki Land District records may not be at Wellington. I have not done any searches myself For searching the Deeds Registration Systen, one of the following is needed: Certificate of Title record that refers to a Deeds Index entry, Legal Description or Section Number (Appelation) of the land, or the name of a historical registered owner. Some records (original deposited deeds) may still be held by LINZ, and Archives has a duplicate set of some records held by LINZ (Section 116 certificates, from 1952). The Deeds System was gradually replaced from 1870 by the Land Transfer System (compulsory from 1924), though some land is still in the Deeds System. Archives has access to Quickmap for digitised plans. Quickmap can be used to go from the later "Lot x DP y" description to the original legal description. Yours, John Wilson >I have been following these discussions of old LINZ records avidly. Thanks >to all those who have contributed. I am interested in Otaki records from >the 1880s and 1890s. My great grandfather Robert Staveley was a solicitor >there from late 1880s onwards and worked in the Maori Land Court, mostly >representing Maoris. This was how he was able to obtain land in Otaki, >directly from the Maori Land Courts. He had extensive holdings, mostly town >plots and beachfront at Otaki. He still had most of it when he died in >1931. As you can imagine there were no streets in those days, just a few >cart tracks through the sand hills. But I have been told that in order to >see my great grandfather's deeds I must know the street address AND house >number. These I don't have. So I was wondering if anyone can tell me if >it's possible for me to search a property deed as early as the 1880s when I >only know the name of the owner: Staveley. Also does anyone know what has >become of Otaki deeds, are they at Archives NZ in Wellington too? Thanks >everyone. Kae Lewis >