Tonga has had registration of vital events since the 1860s, but they are only available from the Registrar in Nuku'alofa.
The Pacific Manuscript Bureau at ANU in Canberra
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/pambu/has filmed the registration books, but viewing certain films is subject to restriction
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, TONGA, TONGATAPU REGISTRY
Title: Births and deaths registers
Dates: 1867-1973 (gaps - mainly 19th century registers).
Reels & Format: 2 reels, 35mm microfilm
Holding: Justice Archives, Nuku'alofa
Restricted access. No access without the written permission of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice, P.O.Box 130, Nuku'alofa
Under the 1926 Marriage and Registration Act the Chief Justice is also the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and the Registrar of the Supreme Court is the sub-registrar for the districts of Tongatapu and 'Eua. In other districts the local magistrate is the sub-registrar. A centralized registry combined with a sub-registry for the islands of Tongatapu and 'Eua has been created in the one office in Nuku'alofa under the Registrar of the Supreme Court. He is assisted by an executive officer (vital statistics).
Tongatapu Births & deaths registers,1867-1888
Births registers, 1888-1907
Deaths registers, 1888-1906
Births by villages, 1892-1900
Deaths by villages, 1906-1931
Vava'u Births registers, 1872-1915
Births registers, 1888-1918
Niuafo'ou, Births registers, 1885-1973
Niua'topu Tapu, Births registers, 1895-1926
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, TONGA
Title: Tongatapu Registry: marriage certificates
Dates: 1892-1899, 1903-1909
Reels & Format: 4 reels, 35mm microfilm
Holding: Justice Archives, Nuku
Available for reference
Under the 1926 Marriage and Registration Act the Chief Justice is also the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and the Registrar of the Supreme Court is the sub-registrar for the districts of Tongatapu and 'Eua. In other districts the local magistrate is the sub-registrar. A centralized registry combined with a sub-registry for the islands of Tongatapu and 'Eua has been created in the one office in Nuku'alofa under the Registrar of the Supreme Court. He is assisted by an executive officer (vital statistics).
Marriage certificates, 1892-1899, 1902-1909.
...............................................
However, for persons who were British subjects, alternatives exist.
1)A few registrations in Tonga were included in the British Consular records of Fiji, from 1858-1873
2) The Western Pacific Archive, which is the British Govt records of the Western Pacific Colonies, is now held at Auckland University Library. There is a Tongan section, although Tonga was never a British colony.
Within the archive are quite a few files of genealogical value, relating mainly to British citizens, which includes Niueans, and some Samoans, and people who were part- British in ancestry.
Some of these files are;
register of British subjects 1887-1903, 1915;
register of half-castes 1908-1912;
register of persons equiv in status to Europeans 1916-1924;
passports and certs of identity 1916 - 1964;
( I have indexed this file from 1916-1922)
aliens resident in Tonga-1916
registers of Polynesian labourers ie non-Tongan Polynesians1869-1871
registrations of births and deaths 1938-41
1946-47
1951-54
1960s
land cases
probates& Estates
court cases
I am a registered researcher of the Archive, and am happy to do lookups.
Christine Liava'a