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Onslow Borough Council Rate books
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Archives Identifier00328Date Range1890-1919DescriptionNOTE: There are 41 items listed for this series but only 40 actual volumes, as item 4 is physically written into the later part of the Kaiwarra [Kaiwharawhara] Town Board Rate Book 00098-1. This series records the official rate accounts collected by the Borough Council under the provisions of various Rating Acts from 1876 onwards and their amendments. The Acts allowed local bodies to charge a tax on property owners in their district according to an official valuation. The money was then used to provide for works and services in the Borough. The tax was set at a 'rate' in the pound on the rateable value - in 1890 only one half-penny in the pound. Each rating year is arranged alphabetically by the surname of property owners. Searching by property owners name is often the easiest way to use the rate books. This may be obtained from sources such as a Certificate of Title, or Council drainage or building records. It is possible to search by legal description, however, there is a lack of consistency between years, and early rate books provide limited information to accurately identify a property. For example 'Lot 44 DP 2256' may be recorded in an earlier volume as 'Pt Sec 3 Kaiwarra'. It may also be difficult to trace legal description information given the extent of subdivision and property amalgamation occurring in the period these records cover. For the first three volumes, each double page is headed with a statement giving: the rate in the pound and the Act under which it was payable, the date struck (e.g. 11 June 1890), the period it covered (e.g. 1 April 1890 to 31 March 1891), and details about instalments and payment (e.g. payable in one instalment on 30th June 1890). All volumes have headed columns for entries.
At first, they included: No. on [burgess] roll, Occupier (or person primarily liable for the rate), Owner, Description [by section and block numbers] and Situation [Wadestown, Nicolson Kaiwarra [Kaiwharawhara], etc.], Rateable value, Rate at ... in the pound, By whom rate paid, and Date of payment (which also often records total paid]. Later books have additional columns for the land area and divided the property value into 'Capital' and 'Unimproved', under the provisions of The Rating and Unimproved Values Act 1896.
The rate information was subdivided into: General, Charitable Aid, Lighting, Special Loan, Works Loan, Hutt Road Loan, Catchment Area Loan, etc. ... with a column for the total. In the early volumes at the bottom of each page is a declaration to be signed and dated by two Councillors, but it is only filled in for the first and third volumes. The changing boundaries of the Borough and its wards resulted in varying contents in the rate books over the 1906-1910 period. After 1906, the volume covering 1905-1908 (Item 00328:0:3) does not include information on the South Ward. South Ward information from 1906/7 to 1909/10 was entered in the unused part of the Kaiwarra [Kaiwharawhara] Town Board Rate book (Series 00098:0:1). After March 1909 when the rest of the South Ward joined Wellington City, rates were payable only on Special Loans for Works and the Hutt Road. For the final year before amalgamation, 1918-1919, only two volumes have been located, for the wards Ngaio and Late South Ward.Quantity (Linear Metres)5.25MediumBound VolumeSystem of ArrangementChronological by rating period (1 April to 31 March). After 1908/09 separate volumes for wards,Collection TypeWellington City Council
At first, they included: No. on [burgess] roll, Occupier (or person primarily liable for the rate), Owner, Description [by section and block numbers] and Situation [Wadestown, Nicolson Kaiwarra [Kaiwharawhara], etc.], Rateable value, Rate at ... in the pound, By whom rate paid, and Date of payment (which also often records total paid]. Later books have additional columns for the land area and divided the property value into 'Capital' and 'Unimproved', under the provisions of The Rating and Unimproved Values Act 1896.
The rate information was subdivided into: General, Charitable Aid, Lighting, Special Loan, Works Loan, Hutt Road Loan, Catchment Area Loan, etc. ... with a column for the total. In the early volumes at the bottom of each page is a declaration to be signed and dated by two Councillors, but it is only filled in for the first and third volumes. The changing boundaries of the Borough and its wards resulted in varying contents in the rate books over the 1906-1910 period. After 1906, the volume covering 1905-1908 (Item 00328:0:3) does not include information on the South Ward. South Ward information from 1906/7 to 1909/10 was entered in the unused part of the Kaiwarra [Kaiwharawhara] Town Board Rate book (Series 00098:0:1). After March 1909 when the rest of the South Ward joined Wellington City, rates were payable only on Special Loans for Works and the Hutt Road. For the final year before amalgamation, 1918-1919, only two volumes have been located, for the wards Ngaio and Late South Ward.Quantity (Linear Metres)5.25MediumBound VolumeSystem of ArrangementChronological by rating period (1 April to 31 March). After 1908/09 separate volumes for wards,Collection TypeWellington City Council
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Related Agencies
Controlling or Creating AgencyOnslow Borough CouncilRelationship Date Range1890-1919
Related Series
Related SeriesOnslow Borough Council District Electors ListsPredecessor SeriesKaiwarra Town Board, Rate book
Onslow Borough Council Rate books. Archives Online, accessed 18/08/2026, https://archivesonline.wcc.govt.nz/nodes/view/1821