June 24, 2005

New online cemetery search tool

A new tool on North Shore City Council's website allows people to search cemetery records and find information about their family and friends.

By entering the details they know, people can get more specific information such as the full name, age, date of death, type of burial and funeral director.

North Shore City's community liaison manager, Lisa Tocker, says there has been increasing public demand for an online cemetery search, particularly from genealogists.

"It's an excellent tool for those who want to find out more about their loved ones, but don't have a lot of details. For example, they may only have a last name and an initial," she says.

The cemetery search database contains all records from council-operated cemeteries in the city, including burial records from the 1850s and cremation records from 1974.

"Because the details in the database have been provided to us - at what is often an emotional and stressful time - there may be a few inconsistencies," says Lisa Tocker.

"We've made sure that people can contact us easily by phone or email to address those."

The cemetery search pages also include information about where cemeteries are and when they are open to the public. In future, maps will also be available online.

Improvements have also been made to North Shore Memorial Park and Crematorium, including a new reception lounge and the Kowhai (viewing) room.

Please visit www.northshorecity.govt.nz to use cemetery search.

ENDS

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