👶
Births
KwaZulu-Natal vital records from 1868; earlier coverage is uneven.
- Name
- Date
- Place
- Parents
- Registration detail
- Archive reference
08 — Living AmaZulu
Family & Life Records
Beyond kings: the ordinary people of the historical Natal and Zululand world. This is a discovery layer — it routes a researcher to the archives that hold the records rather than copying their holdings.
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Six record categories
💍
Marriages
Natal civil marriages indexed from 1845; marriage declarations 1847–1888.
- Bride
- Groom
- Date
- Place
- Ages
- Previous status
- Parents where recorded
⚰️
Deaths
Natal civil deaths indexed from 1863.
- Name
- Date
- Place
- Age
- Birthplace
- Occupation
- Marital status
🏠
Residence
Derived from civil, magistrate and church records.
- District
- Period
- Source
📜
Estates
Estate files such as Pietermaritzburg 1846–1950 connect whole families.
- Deceased
- Spouse
- Children
- Property
- Executor
🪦
Graves
Cemetery photography projects and community submissions.
- Cemetery
- Inscription
- Photograph
- Coordinates
Birth → marriage → residence → death
Mapping a life
When records place events in different districts, those points join into a movement line — turning scattered index entries into a visible history of family migration.
👶 Birth→💍 Marriage→🏠 Residence→⚰️ Death→📜 Estate→🪦 Grave
Where these records live
National Archives of South Africa — NAAIRS catalogue
DSAC / National Archives
Archival descriptions relating to Cetshwayo, Dinuzulu, Zulu trials and royal speeches.
Killie Campbell Africana Library
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Manuscripts, photographs and recorded oral histories.
FamilySearch — KwaZulu-Natal Vital Records, 1868–1976
FamilySearch / KZN Archives
Births, marriages and deaths; roughly 610,000 records and 2.9 million named people.
FamilySearch — Natal civil deaths 1863–1955 & marriages 1845–1955
FamilySearch
Civil registration indexes for colonial Natal.
eGGSA — Natal source guides
Genealogical Society of South Africa
Marriage declarations 1847–1888, civil registration 1851–1915 and related finding aids.
Note: birth, marriage and death certificates themselves are held by the Department of Home Affairs rather than the National Archives Repository.