genealogist ˜e new˚zealand · 2019. 8. 6. · ˛˝˙ sarah hewitt photos telling stories ......

�e New ZealandGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New Zealand

August 2019 Vol 50 No 378

Access to Land Deed images from home! Go to NZSG Website > Resources> NZ Land Research

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Access to Land Deed images from home! Go to NZSG Website > Resources > Old Auckland Province Deeds

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https://www.facebook.com/NZSGFRC/ The New Zealand Genealogist August 2019 137

�e New ZealandGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogistGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New ZealandGenealogist�e New Zealand

August 2019 Vol 50 No 378

JOURNAL OF THE NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS INC TE RANGAPU KAIHIKOHIKO O AOTEAROA

This month’s theme Family History Month

Upcoming themesOctober 2019: Marriages

December 2019: The Americas

February 2020: Memorials: How are your ancestors remembered? Headstones, rolls of honour, parks, seats?

April 2020: Nelson/Marlborough

June 2020: Cemeteries

August 2020: Family History Month

October 2020: ‘Black sheep’

December 2020: Eureka moments

February 2021: Australia

April 2021: Favourite resources

June 2021: Family businesses

August 2021: Family History Month

General: Articles of any subject relevant to this magazine which meet the submission criteria will be considered. We especially seek how-to articles based around a source or subject which explains relevance, access and use.

See next page for submission information. [email protected]

Journal distribution Change of address and general enquiries: Membership Administrator, PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741.E: [email protected]

ContentsFeatures 142 Sarah Hewitt Photos telling stories 144 Introducing our latest resource. �e New Zealand

Herald Death Notice Index 1990–2015 145 Anne Picketts Elizabeth Agnes James Petrie 149 �e Gladstone Settlers 149 Raetihi memorial 152 Robin Mainprize A volunteer in the war to end all wars 154 Jeanette Grant Errors of fact? 158 Spotlight on NZSG Research Service 159 Beth Conrad Tuttle tittle-tattle 159 Christine Clement Private Edward Angove 160 Selby Whittingham From Lincolnshire to South Island:

�e Troloves and Dr John Shaw 163 Barbara Marriott Road trip to Cape Palliser –

a family story 165 Keeping up with manorial documents 174 Jennifer Miller Researching my Danish immigrant

ancestors

Regulars 139 Chair’s Report 140 Services and bene�ts

for NZSG members 148 Projects 150 Record collections 156 Library 166 News from Archives

New Zealand 168 Genealogy on the

Internet

170 Branches 172 Interest Groups 175 Members’ enquiries

and notices 176 LettersInside back cover

Branch and Interest Group services

cover: Daniel cousins, children of three brothers: Barbara, Anne, Geo� and Pauline at

David’s 21st in 1947. Private collection..

ISSN 0110–4012© COPYRIGHT New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. and Authors. Researchers and teachers may reproduce articles for private use provided that the source is acknowledged.DISCLAIMER: �e views expressed in this publication do not necessarily re�ect the views of NZSG Board or sta�. NZSG Board reserves the right to remove or amend any advertisement or article but is under no obligation to exercise editorial control. No content may be reproduced, published or transmitted in any manner without prior written consent of NZSG Board or copyright holder. �e availability of information through this magazine does not constitute a recommendation by NZSG to enter into any transaction or follow any course of action. Any decision that you make must be based solely on your own evaluation of your circumstances and objectives. NZSG recommends that you independently verify the accuracy, currency or reliability of any information made available in advertisements and articles and upon which you intend to rely.

Membership entitles you to• All issues of �e New Zealand Genealogist per year.• Have your research interests and queries published in the magazine at no cost.• Borrow from the society’s library (NZ residents only).• Have queries answered from the reference material held by the society.• Access to the NZSG Record Collections and Research Services.• Access to online services via the society website.

How to become a memberApplications to become a member can be made online at www.genealogy.org.nz or may be made in writing. Application forms can be downloaded from the website or are available from NZSG Membership Department, PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741.Membership Category Subscription

Ordinary Open to any one individual (one magazine, one vote) $91.00

Joint Open to any two persons living in the same household (one magazine, two votes) $113.00

A�liate (NB: formerly called Institutional)

Open to libraries, similar reference or educational institutions. $149.00

Youth Open to people 12–21 years. $30.00

Members living overseas also pay additional for airmail postage on six magazines.Australia and Paci�c $15.00 or Rest of the World $18.00.

Subscriptions are for 12 months from the �rst day of the month in which payment is received.

Submission of copyArticles of any subject relevant to this magazine and that meet the submission criteria will be considered for publication. We especially seek how-to articles based around a source or subject that explain relevance, access and use. We prefer submissions in electronic format by email in.doc,.txt or.rtf �le format emailed to [email protected]. Hard copy submissions should be typed, with adequate margins and double spacing, on one side of A4 paper and posted to the Editor, NZSG, P O Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741. Include your name, contact details and membership number.ImagesPhotographs or other supporting illustrations should be provided as.jpg or.ti� �les at 300dpi. Do not reduce the size of the image captured by the camera, scanner or screenshot. Images embedded in Microso� Word documents cannot be accepted. Provide descriptive captions for each image, including name of photographer if known, owner, institutional reference if applicable. �e submitter is responsible for obtaining permission to use all images submitted and will be asked to con�rm this in writing.Editing�e Editorial Team reserves the right to edit articles to meet standards and for readability, but if substantial changes are required the Editor will consult with the author.Criteria1. Relevance: related to people and their

society; genealogy, family history, whakapapa, research, documentary sources, application, biography, genealogical technology etc.

2. Length: Feature articles: 1,800 to 2,700 words (2–3 pages) plus images; Short articles: 5–900 words plus images.

Copy deadlinesFeature articles submitted for consideration must be received by the Editor by the following dates:Issue Last date for considerationFebruary 3 NovemberApril 10 JanuaryJune 3 MarchAugust 3 MayOctober 3 JulyDecember 3 September�e deadline for regular contributions from NZSG, Branches and Interest Groups, Members’ Area is the 17th of the same month.AdvertisingApply to the NZSG O�ce for a rate card that includes rates, speci�cations and conditions. Copy must be received by the �rst day of even months.Members’ AreaIncludes: Contact Sought, Information Wanted, Information O�ered, Trader and Reunion notices. Members may submit queries of no more than 50 words (excluding submitter’s name, address and membership number). �ese can be emailed, or if in hard copy, they must be neatly written or typed, with each entry on a separate sheet of paper. Please do not abbreviate your enquiry. All surnames should be in capitals. �ere is no limit to the number of entries you may submit, but your full name, address and membership number must be included with each entry.

Objectives of the NZSG• To promote the study of family histories, whakapapa, genealogies and kindred

subjects to the members of the Society and the New Zealand public.• To advance the education of the members of the Society and the New Zealand

public in the study of family histories, whakapapa, genealogies and kindred subjects.

• To provide assistance for the members of the Society and people wishing to compile family histories from sources in New Zealand and overseas.

• To set up, operate and maintain a library of genealogies and related books, documents and digital records and to encourage the preservation of records having a genealogical or historical value.

• To encourage accurate and scholarly research into the histories of New Zealand families and from time to time publish the results.

• To accept copies of family histories and whakapapa for the purposes of research.

• To foster awareness of family links and knowledge of heritage.• To do all such other lawful acts and things as are incidental or conducive to

the attainment of all or any of the above objects.

138 The New Zealand Genealogist August 2019 www.genealogy.org.nz


Family History Month continues to be an e�ective way for branches, interest groups and members to spread the word and celebrate their enjoyment of family history and genealogy. �ese are some of the events taking place which indicate the Society’s strength and depth in di�erent parts of the country.

Southland Branch celebrate their 50th anniversary during their local Family History Week 2019, when the branch runs a series of lunch-hour genealogy seminars in conjunction with the Invercargill Public Library, 5–9 August. �e week concludes with a celebratory dinner on Friday, 9 August.

�e always popular Auckland Family History Expo, organised by Auckland Libraries and NZSG’s Genealogical Computing Group, takes place the weekend of 9–11 August at the Fickling Centre, Mt Roskill with an interesting array of speakers in a packed-full programme. At lunchtime on Sunday I shall be introducing a presentation by DigitalNZ on a new feature on their website of interest to family historians. If you’re not familiar with their website have a look at https://digitalnz.org.

DigitalNZ will also be present at the Wellington Combined Branches Open Day at the Hutt Bowling Club on Saturday, 24 August. Hutt Branch is the organiser and speakers include Sarah Hewitt on Getting it Right.

Two more branches are celebrating 50th anniversaries this year. Dunedin’s dates are 20–21 September with a dinner on Friday night and an a�ernoon tea on Saturday with Sean Brosnahan from Toitū Otago Settlers Museum speaking.

New Plymouth is celebrating on Saturday, 23 November,

with a daytime programme featuring Jan Gow, and an evening dinner.

I have the privilege and pleasure of attending some of these events and look forward to meeting other NZSG members at them.

As we all know, we can’t anticipate where our family research will take us, and the good surprises are a bonus. On a personal note, I was invited to the June launch of Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Māori in the First World War by Monty Soutar at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, hosted by the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister and Minister for Heritage and Culture. I had contributed information about three Māori soldiers who were part of my extended families, whose stories I’ll write up for a later issue of the magazine. �e event was welcoming, colourful and impressive, and featured eloquent speeches and superb musical performance by the Navy kapa hāka group. �e book contains information on more than 2,000 Māori who fought in WW1 and will be available in the NZSG Library. But the real surprise and pleasure for me lay in meeting up with descendants of Captain Harry Delamere Dansey MC,1 who had married my grandmother’s sister in 1906 and who died in childbirth in 1908. I had dinner with them a�erwards, and discovered one is a fellow NZSG member. We’ve already swapped family history notes!

Mary Shadbolt, NZSG Board Chair

Note1 https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3d2/dansey-harry-

delamere

Chair’s Report

See the Getting it Right promotion on the back cover.

Board of DirectorsMary Shadbolt (Chairperson

and Executive)Peter Gibson (Finance and Executive)Bruce Holm (Vice Chairperson and Executive)David JackGill KnoxTony MortJillian WilliamsRobyn WilliamsChristine YoungNZSG ManagerBarbara HaugheyT: 09 570 4248 Ext 5E: [email protected] Co-ordinatorJohn MitchellT: 09 570 4248 Ext 1E: [email protected]

Membership AdministratorBrent GiblinT: 09 570 4248 Ext 2E: [email protected]

Accounts AdministratorHetti GamageT: 09 570 4248 Ext 3E: [email protected]

Projects Co-ordinatorCarole DevereuxT: 09 570 4248 Ext 4E: [email protected]

WebmasterJan WattsE: [email protected]

Hon SolicitorHarold Kidd

AuditorWilliam Buck Audit (NZ) Limited

EditorBruce Ralston E: [email protected]

LayoutWordsAlive Ltd www.wordsalive.co.nz

Printed byShenzhen Jinhaoyi Color Printing Co. Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Published by�e New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc.PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741159 Queens Road, Panmure, Auckland 1072General enquiries T: 09 570 4248 Ext 1

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3d2/dansey-harry-delamere

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3d2/dansey-harry-delamere

These pages explain services and other benefits available through individual or joint membership of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists.

Supporting genealogy and family history in New ZealandAll NZSG members support the Society to make resources more accessible through projects and liaison with national organisations. Major achievements include access to birth, death and marriage registrations, improved content access to government records, creation of nation-wide transcriptions, such as cemetery and school records.

The New Zealand GenealogistYou receive six issues per year of our award-winning journal, published since 1970. You can also access it online, including some back issues to 2009.

Members can publish research queries and notices for free.The Editor welcomes articles for publication. See the

Contents page for a list of themes. However, general and how-to articles are always welcome and encouraged.

NewsletterThe e-newsletter, eKIT (electronic Keep In Touch), is dispatched regularly by email for up-to-date Society and genealogical news. Along with The BIG picture (news for branches and interest groups), eKIT is also available on the website.

Social mediaMembers can join the NZSG Facebook and Google memlist to keep in touch with current events, information and assistance.

The NZSG Facebook feed is also accessible freely on the NZSG website home page.

WebsiteThe NZSG website is the hub for information about the NZSG, both for the public and for members. Here you will find background, events and contact details.

Members can login for a range of online resources and services:

• Access to the NZSG Library Catalogue

• Access to information on NZSG Record Collections – Pedigree Registration, Certificates, First Families, Pre 1856 New Zealand Marriages

• Access to historical newspaper databases for Great Britain and other countries

• Free access to digital records on ‘Discovery’ at The National Archives (London)

• Submit entries to the online Register of Members’ Interests

• Receive free assistance through the NZSG Research Service to search Library collections and to access more than 1,600 CDROMs

• Receive assistance to search New Zealand land records (charges apply)

• Access the remote microfilm reader to read films held at FRC

• Purchase products and services from the NZSG Shop

NZSG LibraryThe Library is open Monday, Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, with late nights on Wednesday and the first Friday of the month. Check the website for opening hours around holidays.

The Library is based at the Family Research Centre (FRC) in Panmure, Auckland. The FRC is open to the public, but members receive a substantial discount on entry fees.

This is New Zealand’s premier collection of worldwide genealogical and family history resources with over 50,000 volumes. Here you will find transcriptions and indexes of birth, death and marriage records and census returns, family histories, guidebooks, directories, name lists, databases and magazines.

Most of the Library holdings are also available to borrow by mail (New Zealand residents only), up to four books and booklets at any one time, for up to three weeks. In addition members can request lookup assistance from the FRC volunteers.

There are 12 computers connected to the Internet for you to use for research. Some of the websites and databases available are: Ancestry, British Library Newspapers, Cornwall FHS Research Database, Family Relatives, FamilySearch, Findmypast, New Zealand illegitimacies database (see Projects page), Quick Map – New Zealand Land Information, ScotlandsPeople, The Genealogist.

There is a team of volunteers rostered for each morning, afternoon and evening the Library is open. These volunteers have an accumulated wealth of knowledge and experience that they use to guide every visitor with their research. See also FRC/ Library lookup service below.

Remote film readerThe remote film reader at the FRC enables you to read microfilm kept permanently at the FRC from your own computer.

The titles available can be found in the Online Library catalogue.Staff or volunteers load your film at the time you have

reserved and provide you with instructions on how to access from your computer.

Booking times are in two-hourly slots.Book the remote film reader and film by sending an email to

the FRC. E: [email protected] T: 09 570 4248 x 9.

Register of Members InterestsAn online database, accessed on the NZSG website. You can enter your research interests, including surnames, individuals, places, etc., along with date, country, county and city/town/village subdivisions. Members contribute through ‘My details’ button on the home page. The Register is accessible to the public, but contact is managed through an online form.

Research services and adviceMembers receive free assistance through the NZSG Research Service to search Library collections and research advice.

FRC Research ServiceWe provide research guidance to members if you are unsure where to search next for that elusive fact about your ancestor or family member.PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741. E: [email protected]

FRC/Library lookup serviceTo assist members who cannot visit the Library a team of volunteers will look up Library resources that are not available for borrowing, e.g. CDs, New Zealand Government Gazettes, and books that are ‘Reference only’ and marked ‘not available’ in the Library Catalogue.

Services and benefits for NZSG members


Consult the online Library Catalogue to find out what is available for your area of interest. If you find a reference of interest in one of the NZSG CD indexes, e.g. Kiwi Collection, New Zealand Burial Locator, we can scan and email or post a copy of the original record, or direct you to where it might be found. There is also a large collection of over 1,600 worldwide CDROMs the volunteers can investigate.

NZSG CD School lookupAssistance for members tracking pupils in school registers submitted for inclusion in the Kiwi Collection.Joan Bray, 201 Holborn Drive, Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt 5019. E: [email protected]

Scottish BDM indexesA five-year search for a registration. Supply as much information as possible, e.g. place, name of parents, spouse, occupation, age etc. Contact the Scottish Certificate Officer.Pam Hamlyn, 3a Brett Avenue, Takapuna, Auckland 0622. E: [email protected]

See the Records Collection page for details of other lookup services available to members.

Land researchNZSG Land Research Service assists members who have research that requires assistance about land ownership. There is a charge for this service and for the provision of documents. The cost is $15.00 per document and can be paid through the NZSG Shop web page. See details about this service in the April 2017 issue, page 57.

Nancy Buckman. E: [email protected]

North American Research OfficerMrs Harriet Taylor, 7 Smith Street, Waihi 3610

Huguenot Research OfficerMrs Marion Heap. E: [email protected]

Overseas certificatesMembers can purchase overseas certificates and other documents in New Zealand currency.

Order forms are available on the Society’s website under Members’ Area, or on application with a stamped addressed envelope (SAE) to the appropriate officer (see below). The payment for the certificate and an SAE must be included with your order.

1. GRO (England and Wales) certificates

Mr and Mrs R Siebert, PO Box 66, Helensville, Auckland 0840. E: [email protected]

Births, Marriages and Deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25.50 PDF copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$18.00 Not found fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$8.00

2. Scottish records

Pam Hamlyn, 3a Brett Avenue, Takapuna, Auckland 0622. E: [email protected]

Scottish certificatesBirths 1855–1918, Marriages 1855–1943, Deaths 1855–1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . digital copies $4.00Births 1919–2018, Marriages 1944–2018, Deaths 1969–2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . transcripts $6.00Parish Register entries to 1855. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4.00Testaments (wills) 1500–1925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6.00

Register of corrected entries transcripts and index searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . no charge

Cheque serviceMembers can use the NZSG British sterling (GBP) and Australian dollar (AUD) accounts for purchases, for genealogical purposes. Contact the NZSG Manager for details: NZSG Cheque Service, PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741. E: [email protected]

Membership discountsMembers receive a discount on access to the Family Research Centre (FRC) and for some NZSG sales products. Member discounts on other products and commercial genealogy sites will be listed in the member only section of the NZSG website and promoted in eKIT.

NZSG Kiwi Collection v2This major database of 9.7 million New Zealand sources is available on a USB stick and can be purchased and used by NZSG members only. See the online Shop for details.

Digital Archive for Family HistoryThe purpose of the Digital Archive is to create a repository that allows NZSG members to preserve the results of their unpublished family history research in a digital format. The Archive specifically aims to encourage members to create a literary piece of work, including documents and images, in a digital format that reflects their family history research.

This is a digital archive and as such is paperless—paper copies of documents, photographs and stories will not be accepted. Each narrative family history must be accompanied by an Index of Names from which a searchable index is generated. This is available to members to search.

The Digital Archive offers:

• Preservation

• Back-up and Retrieval

• Access and Sharing

• Compatibility

• Peace of Mind

There is no cost for NZSG members to submit files to the Digital Archive.

Members can access the Archive submissions of other members by contact with the Submitter or via the Archivist. See the NZSG website’s Resources page for further details about the Archive and access.

All queries should be directed to the Digital Archivist, DAFH at the NZSG or E: [email protected]

Reciprocal accessMembers can request a letter of introduction for reciprocal access to Australian genealogical libraries, including the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney and the Genealogical Society of Victoria. Contact the NZSG Manager with details of your visit and your membership number. E: [email protected]

Services and benefits for NZSG members


mailto:[email protected]




Photos telling storiesSarah Hewitt

O ne of the great things about making ‘Getting It Right’ was �nding the

images to illustrate the points we were trying to make. With a Kiwi focus, DigitalNZ was a great resource for �nding images from collections around the country. However, because we’re talking family history, there were lots of family photos which found their way in too! So, in celebration of Family History Month, here is the brief story of the people who pop up in the ‘Getting It Right’ opening sequence.Putting together the opening sequence I was looking for interesting photos that re�ected changes over time. I didn’t have any plan for a story – that happened accidentally. But in looking through the photos I have realised there is a story of my dad’s side of the family and then a few photos of my mum’s side (sorry Mum).

Photo 1 is a family group. I have no idea who they are. However, the story of how I got this photo leads to many of the others. In 2002 I �nally made it to Ireland with my now-husband Russell. One of the places we stayed was the old family pile Ballyvolane House1. Ballyvolane had belonged to my Pyne ancestors until the 1950s when it was sold to the Green family. It’s now in the third generation of their family and they run it as a hotel. Jeremy Green gave me the phone number of George Pyne Phipps, my third cousin twice removed, and we went to visit him for a�ernoon tea. George showed us two amazing old photo albums of the family – the old cardboard paged ones where you slide the photos into the page. And even more amazingly, he let us take them home with us to scan. I’ve never been so scared of losing something in my life. We later returned them to his son Jim in London.

George and my common ancestors were Captain Arthur Pyne (c1742–1839) and his wife Mary Masters (?–1847). Arthur had been in the British Army in India. He was captured by the Sultan Tippoo at Bedanore in 1783 and had only survived execution by being too wounded.2 Which was fortunate for George and I as Arthur and Mary didn’t marry until 1794. �ey had 11 children. Arthur died in his late 90s in 1839 (his exact age has yet to be con�rmed). His experiences in India had not a�ected his life expectancy!

Ballyvolane was inherited by Arthur and Mary’s oldest son Jasper Richard

Masters Pyne3 (1797–1860). Despite having three rich wives (according to family story), he only le� daughters so Ballyvolane went to his brother William Masters Pyne (1801–1869), rector at Oxted in Surrey. William’s �rst act was to attempt to evict his widowed sister-in-law and nieces from Ballyvolane.4 He only survived his brother by a few years and the house went to his son George Masters Pyne (1833–1909). While George owned the house it went from three storeys to two. �is gives new meaning to downsizing.5

So, �nally getting back to the point, it is possible that this photo is his family, but no one has been able to con�rm this. I’ve been told it’s probably the late 19th century, when older gentlemen wore beards and young men had moustaches.

Photo 2 of the sad children also came from the Pyne photo album. It always intrigued me because it was taken in Christchurch by Robert Meers’ studio Meers & Co6 and had been sent from here back to Ireland. At last count, eleven7 of Arthur and Mary’s grandchildren emigrated to New Zealand starting in 1861.8 I searched through the family tree to see which of these cousins had four children in the order boy-girl-boy-girl. I couldn’t �nd any. I even wondered if the youngest girl was really a boy. Still no match. Eventually I emailed a Pyne cousin to see if she knew. She came back with “Of course.”

Five of the cousins who came to New Zealand were the children of William Masters Pyne. His two sons William Baynham Pyne (1845–1894)

and Charles Frank Masters Pyne (1849–1885) married sisters Agnes Walker Smith (c1851–1891) and Caroline Chisholme Smith (c1855–1885). �e four children are theirs:

ABOVE: Photo 1. Pyne family, c1890s.RIGHT: Photo 2. �e Pyne cousins.

Photo 3. Nicholls-O’Callaghan family group, late 1920s/early 1930s.


• William and Agnes’ children Francis (1874–1930) and Fanny (1877–1941)

• Charles and Caroline’s children Arthur (1880–1943) and Ida (1882–1952).Charles and Caroline both died in

1885 and their children went to live with their aunt and uncle. And despite the photographic conventions of the day, they probably look sad because they were.

�e other six of Arthur and Mary’s grandchildren to come to New Zealand were the children of their daughter Sarah Pyne (1804–1881) and her husband Denis O’Callaghan (1787–1867). �e �rst to arrive was my great-great-grandfather Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan (1839–1895) and his brother �omas Robert O’Callaghan (1841–1874), who appear in the ‘Genealogical Proof Standard’. In 1872, Jasper married my �rst New Zealand-born ancestor Winifred Alice Baker (1853–1932). Which brings us to Photo 3. In the middle is Winifred in old age. �is was probably taken in the late 1920s/early 1930s.

With her, across the back, are her granddaughter (my Gran), Lorna May Nicholls (1904–1982), her son-in-law Alfred James Nicholls (1874–1949), her daughter Greta Marion O’Callaghan (1876–1949). In the front row are Winifred’s grandson Jock Swan (o�cially Jasper Collington Swan) (1906–1982) and her son Gerald Charles O’Callaghan (1882–1947).

Gerald and his brother Gordon Harcourt O’Callaghan (1884–1953) were known by their Baker cousins as “Winifred’s Bad Boys”. I’m continuing to research them, but have found they were “billiard saloon proprietors” at 51 Willis Street, Wellington in the 1930s.9 �ey came afoul of the law10 and the Council a number of times. �ey both never married, although DNA is suggesting that this doesn’t mean one of them didn’t have any children.

Photo 4 with the horses is a photo of Winifred’s daughter May O’Callaghan (1873–1931) and my great-uncle Gerry,

o�cially Gerald Alfred Nicholls (1902–1968), my Gran’s brother. May married late in life to James Haswell Wood (1874–1954). His father sold my maternal great-great-grandfather his house in Christchurch – a small world. Uncle Gerry taught Americans how to shoot straight in WWII – his artillery shells appear in ‘Where to Start’. He was a lawyer by profession and later a magistrate in Nelson. �ere are lots of intriguing looking items about him on Archway,11 which are �rmly restricted!

May, Gerry, Gran, Alfred, Greta and Gerald all appear in my favourite family photo which appears in ‘Where to Start’ (my Gran’s in the sunnies). I’m still trying to �gure out where it was taken.

My Gran Lorna is the one who initially inspired my love of family history with the family Bible and other notes she le� a�er her death. She appears in Photos 5 and 6. Photo 5 is on her wedding day in 1938 with her mother Greta and sister Eileen Nicholls, Lady Powles (1908–1998). Photo 6 was taken in the late 1970s. I was a child and vaguely remember it being taken. Someone was testing a new camera. It was taken inside her house in Eastbourne, Wellington. She’s wearing her favourite colour – green. My cousin now has the Singer sewing

machine in the background. I remember being fascinated by its pedal and the little drawers and knobs as a child, although I never saw it in action.

My mother’s side of the family is poorly represented in these photos. However, I have included two people who inspired and encouraged me with my research.

(Continues on page 144) →

Photo 4. May O’Callaghan and Gerald Nicholls, c1913.

Photo 8. Margaret Black.

Photo 5. Lorna’s wedding.

Photo 6. Lorna.

Photo 7. Grandad and ‘�e Fish’.


Introducing our latest resource. The New Zealand Herald Death Notice Index 1990–2015

I t is not really surprising to �nd that the practise of researching family

history is evolving with the times. �e pre-occupation with creating a family tree has been complemented by the addition of contemporary social history that gives context to our family stories and cultural in�uences.

More recently, we �nd ourselves wanting to locate living relatives who might be able to add to our knowledge of a particular family member, or to provide us with that elusive photograph. �is emerging behaviour is illustrated well by the rapid growth in the DNA industry and on-line forums.

�e NZSG is also moving with the times. We have traditionally focused on creating research aids from historical records, but with the advent of the Privacy Act 1993 and the restrictions placed on historical BDM records, we recognize that there is a growing demand for more recent information. Our �rst major response to this need is an index of recent death notices from New Zealand’s largest newspaper, the New Zealand Herald.

Our index covers 26 years from 1990 to 2015 and contains approximately 700,000 names. �ese include the name of the deceased as well as any other name the person may have been known

by. It has been produced in DVD format and will be available either in person at the FRC Library, or via our website Shop.

Most of our long-time members will be aware that the Society is only able to produce signi�cant resources such as this with the generous support of our volunteers. �is particular project began in about 1993 with the North Shore Branch of the NZSG. It got o� to a healthy start when the late Alice Loose gave that Branch her accumulated collection of New Zealand Herald newspapers. In the years since, that team has been supported by at least 12 regular volunteers collecting, collating, cutting, pasting, numbering and indexing.

Key players in this process were Sally Going, June Taylor, Jacki Walles, Janice Morris, Shirley McIntyre, Gwen Wells, and Dennise Cook.

In 1999, a new arrangement was forged with the FRC to take over the indexing work. Progress gathered in momentum in 2012 when Rob Dicks and his team took on this task – something they continue to do even to this day. His team members for the past 7 years have included Anne Bichan, Anne Kilgour, Barbara Anderson, Beverley Hamlin, Beth Graydon, Campbell Stanford, Carole Ansley, Caroline Cook, Carol

Skelton, Colleen Goninon, Donna Wallace, Dawn Howarth, Flora Rooks, Fiona McAllister, Gail Eraio, Gary Bannan, Jeanette Stephen, Judi Wigby, Judy McIvor, Jill Graeve, Jan McGill, Jennifer Wilson, John Lamb, Kenneth Ritchie, Kevin Hayes, Kay O’Brien, Kay Rule, Lois Francis, Lyn Dalley, Linda Withy, Lynne Hendry, Lorraine Lind, Leslie Bellamy, Liz Chandler, Marie Colling, Mary Pettet, Margaret Goldthorpe, Murray Lambert, Monika Hale, Margaret Wilson, Mavis Fowke, Nadene Vandermass, Pam Hamlin, Trevor Bramley, Richard Hazzle, Ron Curtis, Ranald McIntosh and Virginia Power, some of whom have worked on this project right from day one.

�is sort of project demonstrates the e�ectiveness of working collaboratively toward a common goal. North Shore Branch continues to collect, supply the newspaper cut-outs, and also to provide the Look Up Service for copies of the Death Notice, while Rob and his team process post 2015 notices. Once they reach the current year, they will go back to process the years pre- 1990. �e NZSG wishes to acknowledge the tireless e�ort on the part of both teams to bring you this exciting new resource.

Carole Devereux NZSG Project Co-ordinator

Photo 7 is Grandad and ‘�e Fish’. I call it �e Fish because �shing is not something I associate with my Grandad, Kinley Harold Black (1913–1995). �e Fish was caught on a holiday to Whitianga in 1961. I have the certi�cate to prove it! My mum remembers it as the most boring holiday ever. �e only other teenager there was her sister.

I’ve written previously about the notes my Grandad le� detailing his family’s history – to the best of his research (see �e New Zealand Genealogist February 2016).

And lastly, we come to Photo 8 – my aunty Margaret (1944–2001). It is one of a few more modern ones I have scanned – the rest are hiding in albums. She followed in her father’s footsteps and wrote some biographies of family members, and inadvertently illustrated the issue of being aware when reading a

biography of the relationship the writer had with the subject!

Of course I wouldn’t have these lovely pictures and their stories if I hadn’t started doing my family’s history. And more importantly, I found my family by ‘Getting It Right’.

Sarah Hewitt. E: [email protected]

Notes 1 www.ballyvolanehouse.ie/ 2 Saunders’s News-Letter and Daily

Advertiser, Friday September 16, 1893 – gives details of Arthur’s experiences

3 �e names Jasper and Masters came from his mother’s father Jasper Masters. �ere was an uncle Richard Pyne, but this name traces its origins to Sir Richard Pyne (1644–1709), Jasper R M Pyne’s 3x great-uncle. Sir Richard was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland 1695–1709 and brie�y owned Blarney Castle. He le� Ballyvolane to his niece Jane’s husband Robert Wakeham (c1686–1749) on the condition that he take the Pyne name, which he did.

4 �e Evening Freeman, May 9, 1861

5 www.ballyvolanehouse.ie/the-house/history

6 www.canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2008/08/meers-co-christchurch.html

7 I’m beginning to think there was a twel�h. �ere is a Henry-Davies O’Callaghan buried in Taita Cemetery, Lower Hutt. He might be the son of Arthur and Mary’s daughter Christina and her husband Henry-Davies O’Callaghan (brother of Denis who married Sarah Pyne). �e brother and nephew named in his will support this theory, but more Irish research is required to con�rm it.

8 Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan and �omas Robert O’Callaghan arrived on the Chrysolite on 27 July 1861. Jasper was the “Hon. Secretary” for the 21st anniversary celebrations in 1882. Lyttelton Times, July 28, 1882.

9 Wises Wellington Streets Directory, 1933 and 1938. �e ground �oor of the Windsor Hotel.

10 See the 1932 Police Gazette, available on Archway or Ancestry.com – both had blue eyes and a “medium” nose.

11 www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ – Archives New Zealand’s online catalogue.

→ (Continued from page 143)



Elizabeth Agnes James PetrieAnne Picketts

T his article submitted in 2013 was in a pool of longer submissions awaiting

publication. Active NZSG member and Waipū Museum volunteer Anne died in October 2016. See February 2017, page 41.

While checking through Waipū cemetery records we found an Elizabeth Simson buried in an unmarked grave. At that stage, she became one of the several individuals who seemed to be ‘dri�ers’ in the district, and so, was not really relevant to the Nova Scotian scene within the community. She died on 26 September 1884 in Waipū and was buried on 28 September in an un-marked grave. �e burial site remains unknown.

Towards the end of 2012, we began to check through the Waipū school records to make sure that they were correctly recorded on our Museum database. �is lead to some rather surprising discoveries – children we had never heard of and who seemed to have no connection to the Nova Scotian settlers. Revelations that followed seemed to throw a whole new surprising light on the early history of Waipū.

�e �rst group of children we came across were not on our genealogy database at all. �ey were the Simsons – Hector Norman, John Andrew, Horace Ian, Elizabeth Agnes, Lucy Mary, Donald Petrie, Rupert William and Norman McDonald. While recording these youngsters, we discovered that the Elizabeth buried in an unknown grave in the Waipū Cemetery was none other than the grandmother of the Simson children. �is set me up for a very surprising journey of discovery, probably brought about by a certain amount of empathy towards Elizabeth. Who was she, where did she come from, why an unmarked grave when she seemed to have family here, and more to the point, what was she actually doing in Waipū?

�e transcription of her death registration1 (work done during the 1980s, prior to the Museum having all records on a computer database) answered one of my questions, but raised a lot more. She was actually born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was natural to assume that she had family connections within the settlers.

I spent the next few weeks trawling

the Internet, and particularly the archives of Rootsweb mailing lists. �is not only lead me to (digitally) meet two very interesting people with like interests, for di�erent reasons,2 but also to �nd out more about Elizabeth’s parents and siblings. �e Nova Scotia mailing list was also a big help. �rough that list, I was introduced to Dr Allan Marble, Chair of the Medical History Society of Nova Scotia. Dr Marble was able to send me images of Elizabeth’s parents, and the names of her siblings. Elizabeth’s parents were Dr William Petrie, MD, RN, and Sarah Ann James. �ey were married at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia on 28 January 1810. Elizabeth’s siblings were �omas James Huyghe Petrie (1814–1828), Peter (1816 – ?), Agnes Anne Waugh Petrie (b 1818, Halifax), and Sarah Ann Petrie (b 1821). Dr Petrie had established a medical practice in Halifax in July 1815, but le� there in 1821 according to Halifax newspapers.3 He had had a distinguished medical career. He was a member of the Royal Colleges of St Andrews, Scotland and had served as Surgeon on the Alfred from July to December 1812 and was entered in the Navy List of Medical O�cers in 1814. He served on the convict vessel Woodford, which arrived in Van Diemen’s Land on 25 August 1828.

Dr Petrie died on 7 November 1831 at Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland at the age of 45. On re�ection, it seems that William had packed an awful lot into those few short years. He was born on 17 September 1786 to Peter Petrie and Agnes Waugh at Kinghorn, just south of Kircaldy on the Firth of Forth in Fife.4 He studied in Edinburgh in 1805 and 1806 and was awarded an MD from Marischal College in St. Andrew’s, Scotland. He later became a member of the Royal Colleges of Edinburgh and London. William was mentioned as an Assistant Surgeon in the English Naval List of 1806 and served at the Bombardment of Copenhagen in August and September 1807. By 1808 he was a Naval Surgeon, having served the requisite two years as an Assistant Surgeon, and was entered in the Naval List of Medical O�cers on 5 June, 1810.

Dr Petrie’s will5 states that he had three living daughters – Elizabeth Agnes James, Agnes Anne Waugh and Sarah Ann. Elizabeth would have been about 14 years of age when her father died.

What happened to the three girls and their mother a�er his death? Attempts to �nd them proved negative. However, William’s will did reveal some of the history surrounding Sarah Ann James. More of that later.

Over a period of several weeks I was able to piece together an outline of Elizabeth’s connection to the Simson family and how she came to be buried in the Waipū Cemetery.

Tony Anderson in Victoria was working on the history of Charlotte Plains in Victoria, Australia and the Simson family connection. �is tied in with the information that we had gleaned from the Waipū school admittance registers and the arrival of Ian Simson in Gore prior to 1877.

Our Simson family seemed to be


Dr William Petrie.

Sarah Ann Petrie (nee James).


travelling back and forth between Waipū and Gore in Southland at regular intervals. Why? What brought them from the bottom end of the country to the top? Strangely, we could not �nd anyone in Waipū who had heard the name or knew of the family.

�e more research we did through Papers Past, Archives New Zealand, Trove etc., the more revelations we found on the family. �ey were certainly newsmakers!

�e father of our Waipū Simson children was born at Chippendale, New South Wales, on 18 November 1843. His parents were John Simson and Elizabeth Agnes James Petrie, who married on 8 November 1842 at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Bathurst Street, Sydney.6 Elizabeth was John’s second wife, his �rst being Helen Smith MacDougal, who was born in 1819 at Port Glasgow, Scotland. Helen and John were married on 28 August 1836 in Argyllshire, Scotland.7 �ey had three children – Hector, Margaret Helen and Lucy Campbell. Hector was born in Scotland, but died on the St George en route to Australia. Margaret and Lucy were born in Sydney. Helen died shortly a�er the birth of their second daughter, Lucy, in 1841.

Witnesses at the marriage of John and Elizabeth were �omas Jeffrey, Agnes Anne Petrie, Flora M McDougall and a John McLean. Flora could have been a relative of John’s �rst wife; Agnes Anne was Elizabeth’s sister, but who was John McLean? It has been suggested he may have been a surgeon on a naval vessel and may have been a colleague of Elizabeth’s father, very di�cult �nding proof at this stage. Was this an arranged marriage? Did the families know each other in Scotland? �e

Australia Chronicle, 23 July 1842 records the arrival of the barque Amwell with passengers, including two Miss Petries.

Elizabeth and John had �ve children – Hector Norman, William Petrie, Donald Campbell, Ian Simson and John Simson. Hector Norman was the aforementioned father of our Waipū school children, William Petrie died of heart disease in New South Wales in 1876, Ian became a stock and station agent and eventually Mayor of Gore in 1888. Of John Simson we have no details. Hector Norman migrated to New Zealand in 1864. Records are a little hazy, but he could have been on the Aldinga in 1862,8 although ages and dates don’t quite tie in with that theory. He married Mary Douglas in Waikaia on 15 March 1869.9 Mary was born about 1843 in Glasgow and at the age of three went to Australia with her parents.10 I have been unable to �nd her arrival into New Zealand, nor can I �nd her parents or any siblings.

Mary and Hector had nine children, although in some accounts of the family, that �gure is ten. Hector Norman (jnr) and Horace Ian attended the Waipū Central School in 1882 and Waipū Upper School in 1887. John Andrew attended the Waipū Central School in

1882, previous school Gore. Donald Petrie attended the Waipū Central School in 1883, Rupert William in May 1887, and then Waipū Upper in 1889. Norman McDonald attended Waipū Central in 1888, and Waipū Upper in 1889. Daughter Elizabeth Agnes was also at Waipū Central in 1882 and Waipū Upper in 1889, as was Lucy Mary.

�e boys in the family distinguished themselves in the armed forces. Hector Norman served in South Africa in 1902. He married Bertha Agnes E Rivas in Cape Town on 23 Jun 1907. John Andrew became a licensed auctioneer, and ran the Auckland Parcel Delivery Company, which eventually became the New Zealand Express Company. He enlisted as an E Reservist in the First World War. Horace also became a stock agent and auctioneer and registered with the 2nd Reserves in 1917.

Elizabeth Agnes married Arthur Bullock, a journalist with the Auckland Star, in 1908. She died in 1914, possibly a�er childbirth. In 1916, Arthur married her sister Lucy.

Donald Petrie Simson is perhaps the most remarkable of the siblings. He was an accountant and a career soldier. He served in South Africa between 1899 and 1902. In 1902 he was appointed Sta�

ABOVE: Waipū Cemetery.RIGHT: Waipū Central School

(1957–1939).



O�cer to Colonel Thorneycroft, commander of the Australian and New Zealand Forces in South Africa. He served and was injured at Gallipoli and in 1934 was awarded an OBE. He was knighted (KBE) in 1939 for services to the British Empire Services League.11 He died on 20 January 1961 and is buried at Howick, Auckland. Sir Donald is credited with the formation and establishment of the New Zealand Returned Solders’ Association.12

Rupert William Simson, became a traveller prior to 1914. He served as a Corporal with the NZEF 20th Reinforcements New Zealand Field Artillery. He married Ruth Evans in London on 30 June 1919.13

Norman McDonald Simson married Janet Davidson in Auckland on 2 October 1914. He died in Australia in 1961.

Herbert Waipu Simson (aka Herbert Cyrus) served as a lieutenant with the Royal Flying Corps. He died at sea en route to New Zealand on 24 January 1918 and was buried with full military honours. He is remembered on the Hollybrook Memorial, Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton, England.14

So, that, basically, is the story of the Simson children who attended school in Waipū. �eir parents appeared to have lived rather interesting, if not colourful, lives while in Gore and Waipū. Hector had various occupations – �rewood merchant, club and accommodation manager, Vice President of the Waipū Jockey Club, parliamentary candidate for Marsden, miner, horse breeder, and manager of the Switzers Freehold Goldmining Company. A�er reading the many articles published in various newspapers, we were le� wondering why tales of their very existence in Waipū were not remembered by the older generation here today. On

19 January 1889, the Northern Advocate published a lengthy report on the complimentary supper and ball in honour of Mr Simson, vice-president of the Waipū Jockey Club, and on 16 March 1889, there is a report of a presentation of a “25 guinea gold watch to Mr Simson as a parting memorial”. However, in the Auckland Star 18 October 1887, there is a report of Hector Norman Simson charged with a breach of the Licensing Act in Waipū. It was also reported on 16 June 1888 that local people took up a collection to pay a �ne for Mrs Simson.

All of this is getting away from the subject of this story. Why was Elizabeth Simson buried in the Waipū Cemetery? Was there a connection to Elizabeth Petrie and the Waipū settlers? Or was it simply that Hector had an eye for a pro�t in a burgeoning mining and timber industry in Northland? Was it purely a coincidence that Elizabeth was born in Nova Scotia where many of our settlers had come from?

Dr William Petrie’s will mentions his three daughters and his “dear wife – Sarah Ann Petrie”, also his brother-in-law Peter ‘Pannier’ James – a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. So it looks as if Sarah Ann and her three daughters le� Halifax and went back to England with William. Elizabeth’s sister went on to marry Charles Campbell Sutherland in 1846, at Milverton, Warwickshire, England. It is not known what happened to the third sibling Sarah Ann, but there is a possible marriage for her on FreeBMD, but this could also be a second marriage for her mother.

�ere is a lot more of the Simson story to tell, particularly of the previous generation. But that is for someone with stronger interests in their Australian activities. As for Elizabeth Simson buried here in Waipū I wonder what sort of a life she had. What made her

travel so far from home, whether it be Gore in Southland, or Charlotte Plains in Victoria, Australia, where she had been le� considerable property and money when her husband John died in 1848? Perhaps her in-laws weren’t too happy about that. Will we ever know? Her step-daughter Margaret Helen, married Cyrus Hewitt in Victoria, and Lucy Campbell died in New Zealand in 1918, buried in the Hawera Cemetery. �e Simson children were descended from a long line of wealthy, well-educated families.

It is really sad to think that Elizabeth is buried in an unmarked grave here. I wonder if her descendants ever wonder about that? Perhaps we should have some sort of a memorial wall in the cemetery where plaques could be placed in memory of the people who we know are buried there, but have no known grave. �ere have been several throughout the history of Waipū – some have been gum diggers, labourers, or simply just dri�ers. We have their names, but very little information about them.

But now Elizabeth has some �esh on her bones, and an enormous amount of history to go with it. If we had not started checking through our local school registers this amazing, but mysterious lady would never have come to our attention.

Notes 1 Elizabeth’s probate documents give her

date of death as 25 September 1884. 2 Tony Anderson and Jenny from

Rootsweb. 3 Dr Allan Marble of Nova Scotia. 4 Copy of pages from the Petrie Family

Bible, provided by Robert Perrin. 5 National Archives Ref PROB 11/1793/211 6 NSW BDM V18421536 76/1842 7 http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Old

Parish Records: Banns & Marriages 1538–1854. Record 536/0030 0065

8 Victoria Outward to New Zealand. Available on CD and the Public Records O�ce of Victoria website.

9 Birth registration of Herbert Waipu Simson, although a registration for the marriage of the parents has not been found.

10 Papers Past. New Zealand Herald, 8 September 1921, page 6.

11 Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 May 1937, page 3095.

12 http://www.rsa.org.nz/review/art2006march/article_1.htm

13 FreeBMD and Papers Past – Dominion, 17 September 1919, page 4.

14 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Simson Death Transcription.

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

http://www.rsa.org.nz/review/art2006march/article_1.htm

http://www.rsa.org.nz/review/art2006march/article_1.htm

Cemetery recordsNew Zealand Cemetery Records is a collection of transcripts of headstones and burial registers commenced by volunteers in the 1960s. Over 1,400 cemeteries, urupa and other burial grounds and public memorials transcripts have been compiled, with a date range of 1812–2017.

Contribute

The majority of the initial transcriptions were completed in the 1970s and 1980s, so there is always scope for adding more recent burials and headstones. Contact the Project Co-ordinator, Carole Devereux, for guidance and assistance. E: [email protected]

Access

A full set of the collection is held at the NZSG Library in Panmure. For a full listing search the Library Catalogue on the NZSG website. NZSG branches, cemeteries, libraries, museums or historical societies may also hold copies of individual transcripts locally.

Cemetery records were first published on microfiche in 1985, with 11 supplements added up to 2009. These microfiche may still be available at NZSG branches and in local libraries and museums.

The major listing of transcribed headstone and burial records is available on the website under the Research tab. See New Zealand Cemetery Records: an index of microfiche holdings held at 2009.

Cemetery records received after 2007 have not been published.

Since 2014 the transcripts published on the microfiche have been searchable through the Ancestry.com website, accessible by private subscription and through many public libraries, plus the FRC in Panmure.

NZSG members can also ask for search assistance of the database of recent additions from the Research Service. E: [email protected]

See also the ‘Local Authorities Cemetery Information’ compiled by Tracy Little on the NZSG website. Many local authorities now have online searchable burial databases, also with headstone transcriptions included.

School recordsSince the early 1980s NZSG members and others have transcribed school records from New Zealand Primary and Secondary schools, notably the School Admission, Progress, Withdrawal Registers (APWs). This collection holds at least 1,800 schools nationwide. Generally there was only one copy of each school register made and not all registers have survived or yet been located. This is part of an on-going national project of the NZSG to preserve school registers due to their importance as a record of the family and social life in New Zealand.

Records with admission dates that are at least 95 years old are published on the Kiwi Collection and these are available for searching; the assumption being that a student will have at least attained the age of five years on admission. Records are being transcribed and submitted all the time, but anything earlier than 95 years is withheld due to the 1993 Privacy Act.

If we hold records within the restricted period, these may be accessed by members provided it can be proven that the person is deceased or that the record involved belongs to the person making the enquiry.

Records contain the following fields:

• School

• Name

• Register Number

• Former Number

• Admission Date

• Parent/Guardian

• Date of Birth

• Address

• Last School

• Last Day of Attendance

• Destination

• Comments

• Parent/Guardian field Indexes.

ContributeContact the Projects Co-ordinator, Carole Devereux, for guidance and assistance. E: [email protected]

AccessFor the most part transcribed and indexed school records are held by the NZSG School Records Officer or locally by the NZSG contributing branches. An index to the searchable records is published on the Kiwi Collection v2. These entries indicate where to enquire for further details.

Schools included in NZSG Kiwi Collection v2 are listed in the ‘Record source’ details in the the database. The table shows school name, year range of registers indexed, number of records and the years that are missing from within the year range. Note that for years post 1919 listed, only the entries that have persons born pre 1915 are included.

Assistance can also be obtained from the NZSG School Look Up Service. E: [email protected]

Funeral director recordsFuneral director records were added to the NZSG list of significant national projects in 2016. This particular type of record is in accord with the Society’s objective “to encourage the preservation of records having a genealogical or historical value”.

Funeral records are not only ‘at risk’ – there is no legislative requirement for their retention beyond seven years – but they contain details of the deceased’s immediate family and burial. The NZSG currently holds records of about 20 different funeral directors for Auckland and Hamilton at the NZSG Library in Panmure.

We are keen to increase our holdings across New Zealand over the coming years.

The index template in each publication includes: surname; given name; age at death; place of death; cemetery; mother’s name (maiden); father’s name; name of spouse.

ContributeContact the Project Co-ordinator, Carole Devereux, for guidance and assistance. E: [email protected]

AccessA list of what is held in the Collection can be found on the Library Catalogue via the website.

A hard copy record is held at the NZSG Library in Panmure. Remote enquiries can be made to the Research Service. E: [email protected]

Land informationSince the early 2000s several groups of volunteers have been working at LINZ in Hamilton on indexing a range of documents associated with land transfer. These include notices of death and marriage, applications, declarations, transmissions, birth, marriage and death certificates, deed polls, bankruptcy documents and wills.

This project does not transcribe or index land transfer records.

AccessA CDROM database New Zealand Land Transactions Index: North Auckland, South Auckland and Taranaki Land Districts, 1871–1991 was produced in 2016 with 210,000 individual records extracted from 150,000 documents. Details usually include surname, given name, dates, place of death or

Projects








Projectsresidence, occupations, event, repository and document number. The Land Title reference is recorded on the documents held at LINZ so obtaining a copy of the records can help identify the title identification.

See the New Zealand Land Research page on the website for fuller detail about researching land records, including the Gen-Guide for Land Research and Ronald Hermon’s in depth explanation of land records in Where did my ancestors live?

The website includes details of the Research Service provided for NZSG members. See also details of the NZSG Land Research Service described in The New Zealand Genealogist April 2017, page 57.

Funeral service sheetsSince 2015 we have been receiving donations of funeral service sheets. These are indexed for inclusion in a future Kiwi Collection and the originals are held at the FRC. Most include the date of birth and date of death, and many have photographs of the deceased and their family. In time this resource has the capacity to grow into a significant and useful research resource.

Contribute

Send funeral service sheets to the Projects Co-ordinator, NZSG, PO Box 14036, Panmure, Auckland 1741.

Access

Contact the Research Service. E: [email protected]

AdviceThe NZSG employs a Projects Co-ordinator, whose role is to manage national projects, provide guidance, assistance and information on transcription, indexing standards and the law in relation to privacy and copyright.

The Project Co-ordinator can help you establish a project with the appropriate indexing work sheets and supply you with the documentation for seeking permission for access to locations.

Contact the Project Co-ordinator, Carole Devereux, for advice and standards. E: [email protected]

Carole A Devereux, NZSG Project Co-ordinator [email protected]


The Gladstone SettlersNoticed at the Kaiapoi Museum, Kaiapoi, Canterbury

T he Gladstone settlers were a group of predominantly English immigrants who came to Kaiapoi under a scheme

conceived by Englishman, Sir �omas Tancred. �ey were named a�er the 19th century British prime minister and economic thinker William Gladstone, who was noted for his moralistic leadership and his emphasis on world peace, economical budgets and political reform. Tancred was a social reformer with aspirations of bringing the Anglican Church to a heathen land. �e ship Minerva, carrying the Gladstone settlers, arrived in Lyttelton in February 1853. Once in New Zealand they negotiated with the Canterbury Association, the original immigration company, to acquire land. Henry Sewell, Vice Chairman of the Canterbury Association, encouraged them to go to a new settlement that was starting to be developed on the north eastern tip of Kaiapoi Island. Sewell

insisted that the area must remain named Kaiapoi rather than Gladstone. Kaiapoi was declared a town in 1857.

For further information see New Zealand Bound – Minerva http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/minerva.htm

It was a good thing Kaiapoi was not named Gladstone as today there are at least six places of this name in New Zealand – one in the Wairarapa not far from Carterton, one in Horowhenua not far from Levin, one at Lake Hawea, Otago (though its original site disappeared under the Hawea Dam in 1956, it is shown on modern maps at John’s Creek), one is a suburb of Invercargill, another a locality in Awatere Valley, Marlborough and yet another near Greymouth on the West Coast. Possibly it is New Zealand’s most common European place name.

Christine Clement, Te Puke. E: [email protected]

Raetihi memorial

T hese photos are of the memorial gate at Raetihi Cemetery and the plaques on each side of it to recognise the

centenary and the loss of life in the great �re of 1918.

See two stories about the �re published in the April and December 2018 issues of the journal.



Information from the NZSG Record Collections is available to NZSG members without charge, a major benefit of membership, and for personal research only.

Members are welcome to contribute new or updated material.

CertificatesThis collection was set up as a repository for certificates that members had obtained, but found to be unrelated to their research. In recent years, members have been encouraged to submit certificates and miscellaneous documents of any kind whether they are related or unrelated to their research.

The sole purpose of the collection is to share certificate information amongst Society members. It does not have the facility to put contributors in touch with one another.

The majority of records are from New Zealand sources, but there are also many from the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries. Besides birth, death and marriage certificates (which include sightings and RGO microfilm printouts) there are many other documents of value in research:

Baptism, marriage and churchyard burial records from Old Parish Registers (OPRs) and other sources.

• Citizen memorials (naturalisation records), citizenship certificates

• Convict and shipping records

• Intention to Marry registrations

• War records

• Wills, probates, letters of administration, coroner’s reports and affidavits.

• Miscellaneous other certificates and documents (e.g. educational qualifications, apprenticeship, lodge, sporting achievement certificates etc.)

All names shown on the documents are cross-indexed into a database. These include parents, spouses, other relatives, informants and witnesses where they are likely to be of value. Women are indexed under both married and maiden names. This means there could be 6–10 entries for a particular birth, death or marriage all with the same reference number but only one will be the individual who is the subject of the event.

There are over one million entries in the index (as at 1 April 2018), cross-indexed from over 118,000 records and the collection continues to grow steadily by about 1,000 records a month.

See the August 2017 issue of The New Zealand Genealogist, page 160 for fuller details.

Access

Write to NZSG Certificates Research Enquiries Officer, Mrs Francie Smith, PO Box 311, Mangonui 0442, setting out your request clearly and concisely making sure the correct reference numbers and names are quoted. If you find several entries with the same reference number and date, it is necessary to list only one.

A. Individual search: You may request a search for an individual (either a particular event or all references to the individual). Include concise details such as likely location, time frame, parents’ names if known etc. If a search is successful you will be sent details of the document.

B: Surname printouts: You may request an up-to-date printout of entries in the index for up to eight surnames at a time. For more common surnames such as Anderson, Bell, Brown, Campbell, Clark, Hall, Harris, Hill, Jones, King, Martin, Robertson, Robinson, Ross, Scott, Smith, Stewart, Taylor, Thompson, Walker, Watson, White, Williams, Wilson Wright and Young to name just a few, also list the forenames and you will be provided with a printout of those names only. If you identify any certificates from the printouts that appear relevant to your research, you may then make a further request for copies of the documents. These requests must be limited to six certificates at a time.

Post your enquiry with a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SAE) (minimum size DLE – 22cm x 11cm). If surname printouts of the index are requested, include an A4 sized stamped, self-addressed envelope.

There is no charge for this service.Note: Part of the index is also included in the NZSG Kiwi

Collection v2 available for NZSG members.

Contribute

Send contributions of certificates and other documents to NZSG Certificates Collection Officer, Mrs June Stratford, 31 Mains Avenue, Whangarei 0112. Digital copies of documents can also be sent as email attachments to the NZSG Manager.

First FamiliesFirst Families is a collection of information about families where the family emigrated to New Zealand before and including 1901 and where partners were married in New Zealand before and including 1901.

It is an index, that has been compiled from family record sheets, contributed by both members of the NZSG and non-members. Each family record sheet includes the names of three generations and their spouses where known.

The record is based on the first couple of any family unit living in New Zealand before and including 1901 and it can include their children. It can also include their parents who may not have come to New Zealand, thus bridging the gap between New Zealand and the country of origin.

Access

Surnames in this collection can be searched by members in the database accessible on the First Families page on the website. Over 13,500 entries can also be searched in Kiwi Collection v2.

Contribute

See the ‘F6a NZSG First Families Collection’ sheet on the website.Send completed forms to First Families Collection Officer,

Joyce Mattson, 301 Tamaki Road, Whangamata 3620. E: [email protected]

Record collections



Record collections

Pre 1856 New Zealand Marriage RecordsThis is a collection of New Zealand marriages that took place before compulsory civil registration. The collection contains over 28,500 entries from sources including civil registration entries, church records, newspaper notices, family and social history publications, Maori Mission records, Bible entries, ministers’ diary and journal entries and submissions from NZSG members to name a few.

Access

The collection is computerised and stored in a database enabling powerful search and matching options.

Use the search request on the NZSG website, or contact the Research Service. E: [email protected]

Contribute

See the Pre 1856 New Zealand Marriage Records page on the website to download the Submission Form. Post the form along with a copy of the document or source to:

Pre 1856 Marriage Record Collection Officer, c/o Project Co-ordinator, PO Box 14-037, Panmure, Auckland 1741. E: [email protected]

Pedigree RegistrationThis is a collection of Pedigree Registration forms submitted by members. Every surname on the forms is entered into a computer index, which now contains more than 106,000 names. These names appear in the NZSG Kiwi Collections v2.

Access

See the Pedigree Registration page on the website to use the Search Request form.

Contribute

A Pedigree Registration form can be downloaded from the website. Members can submit a Pedigree Registration form relating to their direct family line. It is very important that page 2, with the consent information, is printed on the back of the form, NOT on a separate page.

Send the completed form to Pedigree Registration Officer, Mrs Judy Kirby, 25a Elliot Street, Johnsonville, Wellington 6037. E: [email protected]

Griffis IllegitimaciesThis collection is a name-searchable database involving illegitimate births in New Zealand between 1877 and 1950 that were available in public records, either at local court houses or National Archives. Virtually all of these records have now been transferred to Archives New Zealand.

The database includes details of the child (if named) the mother and the father, the location of the event, the record type and repository. Successful results are printed into a formatted report that can be saved or printed. Query results provide basic information only. Researchers are encouraged to go back to the original source record for more fulsome detail.

Illegitimate birth as a subject involves degrees of sensitivity. Because of this the Society has decided that this resource will only be held at our Family Research Centre (FRC) and that records less than 100 years old will be withheld.

For a full explanation on the Griffis Illegitimacies Collection read our Gen-Guide available online.

Access

The database is offered as a research look-up service, administered from the Family Research Centre, through which members can make enquiries and be provided with a standard output report. NZSG members may obtain details through our Research Services or in person (under supervision). E: [email protected]

Information from the NZSG Record Collections is available to NZSG members only, without charge. Access to the collections is a major benefit of your NZSG membership.

Members receive this information on the understanding that it is to be used for their personal research only. You should not pass it on to non-members, or make access to the collections available to non-members.

Branch-only members are not NZSG members.





A volunteer in the war to end all warsRobin Mainprize

T his story is about one young man who was the brother of

my grandfather, who enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and went through many experiences before he was killed in action in December 1917.

I �rst heard of �omas Lumsden Taylor about three decades ago. He was an uncle of my mother and was killed a decade before she was born, and was the never-mentioned brother of my grandfather, although Grandad visited Tom’s grave at the end of World War 2. �is is a story discovered through my interest in genealogy.

�e children’s mother, Emma died in 1902 shortly a�er the birth of Gwen.

�e story is typical of the thousands of volunteers who lost their lives during World War I. �e New Zealand Government had committed forces to the con�ict by 4 August 1914, by which time volunteers had besieged the recruiting o�ces. �e war was seen as a big adventure by many of the younger men, a way to see the world for a short time at the Government’s expense.

�omas Lumsden Taylor, was born on 9 December 1893 in Napier, the son of James and Emma Taylor. Tom was working as a ploughman when he signed up with the New Zealand Infantry on 17 August 1914 and given service number 10/83. His Attestation to join describes him as Presbyterian, 6� ¼˝, 150lb, dark complexion with brown eyes, black hair, and two decayed teeth.

Training commenced shortly a�er with the 17th (Ruahine) Company, part of the Wellington Regiment. All the volunteers were keen, and discipline was easy to maintain. �e soldiers were told that they would be excluded from the �nal selection if they mis-behaved.

Tom had not told his father that he had joined up. His father later found out and made rapid arrangements to travel from Napier to Wellington, managing to see his son for about 20 minutes before the troop ship was scheduled to leave Wellington for the Middle East. �is was a sad and emotional occasion, and the last time James would speak to or see Tom.

Suspected German cruisers in the area delayed the departure of three troopships carrying the 2nd Battalion, Wellington Regiment until the 16 October 1914. �e ships joined

up with a larger convoy carrying the Australian Imperial Force at Albany in Western Australia. �ey arrived at Alexandria in Egypt on 3 December.

�e Ruahine Company is described in �e Wellington Regiment (NZEF) 1914–1919 1 and includes details of Tom’s army life, with the incident that led to his death.

A�er a train trip from the outskirts of Cairo, the men then had to march with kit on their shoulders until 11pm when they arrived at their camp. �eir bivouacs gave little protection from the cold desert night.

�e Battalion duties in Egypt involved protecting the Suez Canal from the Turkish forces until 26 February. Hard training re-started in the dusty desert conditions, and continued until early April. �e soldiers were very aware that they were being trained for an operation against Turkey.

�e Ruahine Company departed on the Itonus on 12 April 1915 and was sent ashore at Gallipoli (Kaba Tepe) during the a�ernoon of 25 April. Cunningham et al describe the conditions and what Tom probably experienced: “�e morning of the 27th April dawned bright and warm. Breakfast over, the battalion received orders to assemble in Howitzer dolly. A�er resting there for about an hour, at 9.45 a.m. orders were for the battalion to proceed to the le� �ank, where a strong Turkish counter attack had developed against the Walker’s Ridge position held by

the Australian Brigade. �e move to Walker’s Ridge was made in single �le, West Coast Company leading, followed by Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki and Ruahine, in that order. Whilst proceeding along the beach, the battalion was subjected to a considerable amount of shrapnel �re. �e shells passed just overhead, bursting at the edge of the water, and very little damage was done.

�e track up Walker’s Ridge was extremely precipitous: the sun poured down with its midday heat, and, a�er dumping their packs half-way, the two companies in single �le made their way, hot and breathless, to the summit of the Ridge. As they arrived near the top, sections were hurried into the �ring line by Australian o�cers, eager to thicken up their own part of the line. �e bulk of West Coast Company made its way round to the right into the position subsequently known as Russell’s Top, while Hawkes Bay Company took up position on West Coast’s le�, nearer the position subsequently known as the Neck. West Coast and Hawke’s Bay Companies soon found themselves in the middle of heavy and severe �ghting. Bullets whipped through the scrub from an invisible enemy”.

Tom was next attached to New Zealand machine gun unit in the Dardanelles on 23 May. Conditions were harsh and dirty, and the daily water ration was 1 quart (about 1 litre), which could be drunk or used to wash. Personal hygiene declined, and

�e Taylor family about 1908: Back row: William, Helen, Frank, Emma, Herbert, James. Front: �omas, Dorothy (Gwen sitting), James Taylor snr, Hector (kneeling), Evelyn.


beards were common in the harsh conditions, with diarrhea and dysentery being commonplace in the unsanitary conditions.

Tom su�ered ‘debility’ and was transferred to the United Kingdom on the hospital ship Caledonia on 20 August a�er 143 days of service in Gallipoli. He was transferred to the 15th Canadian Field hospital (Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital) at Taplow (Maidenhead, Berkshire) on 1 September 1915. Tom was one of 82 Kiwis who were admitted that day.

Tom was discharged from Taplow on 1 October 1915, and back to the Army Depot on 14 October. His condition must have �ared again, as he was back in hospital again on 24 November, this time admitted to Barnwell Military Hospital, and then attached the NZEF Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch until 1 March 1916.

Active service resumed, and he le� England bound for Wellington Infantry Battalion in Egypt on 4 March 1916. A few weeks later he departed Egypt on 9 April on board the Llandovery Castle bound for France.

Tom’s military record shows that he arrived at the New Zealand Infantry and General Base Depot at Etaples, France on 26 September 1916. He then rejoined the 17th Ruahine Company in the Ypres (Ieper), Belgium area as part of the 2nd Battalion.

His service record shows the path of his Army career:• 19 April 1917 he was promoted to

Corporal (In the Field);• 6 August he went on leave and

travelled to the UK, but failed to show up for duty at midnight on 16 August. He reported in to the Military Police in London at 11:20am the following morning explaining “his Uncle had visited him at 7.30pm the previous evening and they had gone to the theatre together”. A Court Martial was held on 5 September and Tom’s rank was reduced to Private and �ned a day’s pay; 17 Sept 1917 Tom was absent from the 9:15am parade, and given 14 days of Field Punishment No 2.2

Regardless of Tom’s misdemeanours, the 2nd Battalion swung into laying telephone cable with a will, and the weather was �ne and frosty during December.

Cunningham et al then describe the incident that killed Tom Taylor: “�e work was now along the Ypres-Zonnebeke Railway, and near Chateau Wood, and 400 or 500 yards were completed every day. �e 2nd Battalion had been singularly free from casualties. �e work was being done only a mile or so from the front line, and many shells came over. We had all quite made up our minds that cable burying was a “cushy” job and would “do us for the duration” when we received a severe set back. On the 14th December, the battalion supplied the usual party of four hundred. In the �rst place, the trains which took us to the work were two hours late in starting. �en at Stirling Castle, the engine of one train was derailed, necessitating a long march to the task. We, therefore, arrived at the work very much later than usual. Two companies including Ruahine, had actually started work while the other two companies were just �ling on to their tasks, when the enemy sent over one or two shells. �e �rst fell dangerously close, to be followed immediately by another of heavy calibre which, bursting amongst the men of Ruahine Company, caused no less than 33 casualties (ten killed, six missing, and seventeen wounded). It was hard to believe that one chance shell could do such damage. It was a great blow to everyone. We had been so fortunate up till now while on this work, that we had begun to think the work hardly dangerous at all, and yet now, more than ten were killed before our very eyes, some of them blown to fragments.”

Tom had spent a total of 614 days in

the battle�elds of Belgium. His service record describes his death: “Killed instantaneously by shell in ridge just above the Dressing Station at Dead Mule Gully on the Ypres front 14–12–17. Buried in cemetery close to Dead Mule Gully, Ypres. Information given by 10/3912 A J Huggett Chch Eng. Bureau”

A letter from the o�cer in charge of the Ruahine Company was sent to his father, and his death was reported in several newspapers.

I visited Flanders in 2010 which is now a quiet, peaceful farming country-side, but with many reminders of the terrible times of the Great War. It is so hard to now understand the total destruction of the countryside that occurred between 1914 and 1918, and the conditions that the New Zealand soldiers lived in.

�e remains of Tom Taylor are buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery, near Ieper. My visit was a pilgrimage to remember a relative who went on a big adventure, never to return to his native New Zealand. �e scale of destruction and of the many, many deaths on both sides of the �ghting was an extremely sobering reminder of the waste of war.

�ere are so many military cemeteries, many thousands of names, and so, so many gravestones.

Robin Mainprize, Blenheim. E: [email protected]

Notes1 �e Wellington Regiment (NZEF) 1914–1919

by W H Cunningham et al. Available on www.nzetc.victoria.ac.nz

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_punishment “In Field Punishment Number Two, the prisoner was placed in fetters and handcu�s but was not attached to a �xed object and was still able to march with his unit. �is was a relatively tolerable punishment.”

�omas Lumsden Taylor.Visiting Flanders.

Troopship pass.


http://www.nzetc.victoria.ac.nz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_punishment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_punishment


Errors of fact?Jeanette Grant

I n an ideal world, researchers would be able to rely on the accuracy of

their sources and the only challenge would be to track them down. In reality it is very di�erent – and can be very frustrating. How and why do these errors occur and what if anything can be done about them?

Firstly, we need to recognise that there are many possible reasons for errors and they can be grouped roughly into three categories:1. Original errors,2. Physical damage,3. Transcription errors.

Original errors may be:• Errors of omission:

• Households or individuals never recorded, or

• Information e.g. ages not known to the informant,

• Or errors of fact such as:• Information deliberately falsi�ed,• Information based on guesswork

only,• Information misunderstood by

the recorder,• Information wrongly recorded.

Physical damage can occur at any time and take many forms:• Fading of ink,• Ink bleeding through to the other

side of a page,• Foxing of paper,• Insect or rodent damage,• Damp,• Fire,• Scratches and dust on micro�lms.

Finally, if the documents being transcribed, with or without errors, have survived in readable condition, the element of human error exists again.

�e writing may be illegible. Even

if the original was clearly written, a transcriber working from a digital scan made from a monochrome micro�lm has a di�cult job, even if the �lm was unscratched.

�e style of writing over a couple of centuries has changed – o�en out of all recognition. �e ‘ss’ that looks like ‘fs’ without a cross bar is probably the most well-known.

Latin terminology may not be recognised as such and many ordinary words have changed their spellings and their meanings over time e.g. ‘son-in-law’ may also refer to a ‘stepson’.

Even if the records are typewritten, errors creep in. �ey may have been digitised using an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program that has problems even reading modern typefaces e.g. ‘er’ for ‘’m’ and ‘�’ for ‘ll’. When reading old-fashioned typefaces on thin paper, the scope for error is immense.

Non-English transcribers may lack the cultural background to read unfamiliar terms.

�e transcriber sees what he expects to see, not what is actually there, and makes an erroneous assumption.

In large scale programmes human tiredness and inattention leads to errors. With the number of documents involved, even a 0.01% error rate a�ects thousands of references.Q Are any digitised records 100%

reliable?A No. Modern ones, which were

created digitally and have never had to go through a transcription process, have a much lower error rate, but the same original errors may occur. Moreover, a computer which “auto-completes” a word, is a menace to accurate record keeping.

Q What kind of records are the most reliable?

A In England civil registration records have been electronic since 1985, so the on-line index should be as accurate as the records themselves. Also, modern cemetery records are usually taken from the local authorities’ electronic databases.

Q What can be done about existing errors?

A Data services need to be more �exible in their Indexing and allow ‘fuzzy’ searches. Provision should be made for recording alternative transcriptions made by individual researchers – who normally have more time and interest in �nding such errors. �is can already be done to some extent on Ancestry.com and on Trove.

Q Is it still worthwhile using these sources if there are errors?

A Very certainly yes. It would be a physical impossibility to do the quantity of detailed research we now take for granted in any other way.

Q What is the biggest mistake a researcher can make?

A To assume that information which does not agree with your own research is in error. It is essential to keep an open mind and try to verify material from more than one source. An error copied 50 times is still an error, if it has been copied unquestioningly from one unauthenticated statement! Just because a fact does not �t your preconceived ideas does not necessarily mean it is wrong. An unbiased researcher must be prepared to abandon a theory when the facts no longer �t it.

Jeanette Grant. E: [email protected]

Have you ever thought about adding a bit of colour to your old photos? I used a free automatic option on demos.algorithmia.com/colorize-photos/. Or if you want to do the colouring yourself, look at www.colorizephoto.com/converter.

Editor �e New Zealand Genealogist



Book Review

Roll of New Zealand’s Second World War Dead Edited by Peter Cooke

(Wellington: Defence of New Zealand Study Group, 2018).

In compiling Roll of New Zealand’s Second World War Dead Peter Cooke has performed a great service to all those interested in our country’s role in the great con�ict that raged across the globe between 1939 and 1945. �is book contains information brought together from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and various other published and unpublished sources to create a comprehensive list of New Zealanders who lost their lives in the war and of non-New Zealanders who died as result of the war in New Zealand. �e book includes New Zealanders who died while serving with the armed forces of other nations and the editor admits that because of the limitations of the available sources he has not been able to compile a complete list and asks for suggestions about possible additions to this category.

�is book does not simply set out basic information about the individuals listed, but also includes much useful related information in its lengthy introduction. For each military service it provides an analysis of the rank of those who died and shows the number of New Zealanders killed with each unit. It also includes much else including a most interesting analysis of deaths by year during the war, where New Zealanders died and where they are buried or commemorated. �e introduction does not only include useful statistics. It notes, for instance, that the two youngest New Zealanders to appear on the roll are 15-year-old merchant navy deck boys. Without doubt the book’s wide-ranging introduction greatly increases its value to historians.

�e bulk of the book consists of an alphabetical listing of the war dead, from Pilot O�cer Alexander Richard Abbott to Sergeant Amyas Constantine Zohrab. It includes

some civilians who would generally not be included as war dead because of the circumstances of their deaths. In general the editor has adopted an inclusive policy, which he sets out in his introduction. For all those listed the following information (when applicable) is provided: full name, military rank and service number, where they were living before enlisting or chosen place of allegiance, honours or decorations held, service and unit, cause of death, place of death, date of death and where buried or commemorated.

Never before has so much information about New Zealand’s Second World War dead been so readily available. A book of this kind should have been produced by the New Zealand government many years ago, and we are fortunate that Peter Cooke has undertaken the hard work necessary to put Roll of New Zealand’s Second World War Dead together.

Roll of New Zealand’s Second World War Dead will become an indispensable and well-thumbed reference work for all New Zealanders with a serious interest in the history of the Second World War.

John Crawford, January 2019

Available for $25.00 incl of GST and postage within New Zealandfrom Peter Cooke Defence of NZ Study Group PO Box 9724, Wellington 6141, NZ (04) 934 6817 or 0274 512 312 [email protected] www.donz.org.nz

Book Review

Peter Burke, True to Ireland: Éire’s ‘conscientious objectors’ in New Zealand in World War II (�e Cuba Press, Wellington, 2019)

�is is a very readable book, splendidly illustrated, and written in an engaging, conversational style. It’s the story of Matt Burke and around 500 of his fellow Irish immigrants and their unsettling experiences during World War II. It reveals a subtle game of diplomatic chess being played behind the scenes, a fascinating and hitherto unknown episode where the histories of Ireland and New Zealand collide. �e author makes explicit the link between the Irish Revolution, that turbulent period from 1912–23 when most of Ireland achieved a painful measure of freedom from British rule, and the plight of the supporters of Irish self-determination in this most far-�ung of British dominions, clinging to the very edge of Empire and trying desperately not to fall o�.

�e book helps to explode the myth, peddled by one of our former Chief Historians, that World War I ‘served

�rmly to incorporate … [the] Irish into the New Zealand nation’. In fact, the stresses of the world con�ict not only ruined the chances of a peaceful resolution to the Anglo-Irish problem, but also le� those who sympathised with Irish national aspirations in Britain’s colonies feeling alienated and deeply aggrieved.

True to Ireland reveals a journey in understanding: from 1917 when not only Irish leader Eamon de Valera, but also his very image was banned from touching New Zealand’s shores, to the mid-1930s when our �rst Labour Government began to appreciate the geo-political perspective of the Irish Free State. A friendship was then forged between Peter Fraser and de Valera, which had such happy implications for those Irishmen in this country who refused to �ght for Britain in World War II.

Rory Sweetman

they were living before enlisting or chosen

Irish into the New Zealand nation’.


http://www.donz.org.nz


Book ReviewsFor King and other countries covers about 12,000 New Zealanders who fought in other services in the First World War. A Roll of Honour lists 1,400 war deaths with their date and place of burial. Many fought for Australia (AIF), Canada (CEF), India (Indian Army) and South Africa, or transferred to the British Army as o�cers. Some fought for America or France, and two or perhaps three served in the German army. Pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon Harold Gillies began war service in the French Red Cross, then pioneered facial repairs to British soldiers, and post-war was a Harley Street plastic surgeon with fellow New Zealanders Archibald McIndoe and Rainsford Mowlem. More than a hundred New Zealand nurses served with British or French nursing organisations, including at places like Serbia, Salonika and Italy (Suzanne Aubert).

Bernard Freyberg fought with the Royal Naval Division on land, as did his brother Oscar (killed at Gallipoli) and the tennis star Anthony Wilding (killed

near Arras). New Zealand did not then have a navy or an air force; so New Zealanders served in the New Zealand Naval forces, a division of the Royal Navy. Or they joined the Royal Flying Corps or Royal Air Force, like Sir Keith PARK, the WWII ‘defender of London’, who �rst fought at Gallipoli.

New Zealanders resident in Britain or Australia joined up there, like James Glover, son of Auckland MP Albert Glover who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) from NSW, Victoria or Queensland eight times. Discharged for military o�ences, he still quali�ed for two medals, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

By Glyn Harper with Christine Clement and Rebecca Johns (2019, Massey University Press; ISBN 978-0–9951029–9–6)

Library

Bulk Borrowing from the NZSG LibraryDid you know that NZSG branches can bulk borrow up to 50 books and resources from the FRC library? In April, Waihi Branch availed themselves of this service to coincide with one of their regular meetings.

Branch Convenor Harriet Taylor contacted us with some speci�c requests from the catalogue, and some more general topics of interest. One of the FRC volunteer teams found the speci�ed items and spent a happy morning choosing good resources that �tted the requested topics,

and they were duly shipped o� to Waihi in time for the meeting.

Branch members felt the items were chosen well, with something for everyone. Harriet kindly sent this photograph of a few of the Branch members engrossed in the books.

�is is a service available to all NZSG branches, in addition of course to the postal borrowing service available to all NZSG members. We’re always happy to help!

John Mitchell, Library Co-ordinator.


The hidden rewards ... of publishing in The New Zealand GenealogistResearching is the fun part. We get caught up in the detective work, enthused by new information about our ancestors, led from one interesting �nd to the next. We don’t ever want to stop.

But when it comes to writing up our family stories, sometimes we don’t ever want to start!

Writing can be quite a di�cult and challenging experience. Because it’s not the easiest task, doing it and �nishing it brings a real sense of achievement and completeness. However because we are not usually writing just for ourselves but also for our families and other interested readers, our next step is to publish our work.

Where better than in the Society’s own journal?It’s very satisfying to see our story published so

professionally, laid out invitingly on the page with the illustrations we have provided. We know it will be read by so many of our members, some of whom will notice familiar names, places and events and even get in touch to tell us about their connections to them. Even people who don’t belong to the Society will read our stories, in libraries all around the world and in waiting rooms around New Zealand.

How rewarding that is. But there are also hidden rewards in publishing in �e New Zealand Genealogist. Although most writers submitting work for publication do not realise it at the time, their published article may be eligible for the Ted Gilberd Family History Award, a certi�cate with a cheque for $100, given for the best family history article published in the magazine in any one year.

�e aim of the Award is to encourage both the writing of family history derived from research into a particular family or person, to a good standard of work and presentation, and also its subsequent publication in �e New Zealand Genealogist.

Named in honour of the �rst Patron of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG), Ted Gilberd, the award was instituted in 2003 and is administered by the Ted Gilberd Literary Trust (TGLT), of which he was the founder and chief benefactor. �e Trust recently reviewed and updated the selection and judging criteria. Previously open only to members of the NZSG, the award is now open

to all whose family history stories are published in the magazine.

To be selected for judging, the article should:• be original and previously unpublished• show a clear relationship between the research evidence

and the written result, • be well referenced, and • preferably include relevant illustrations.

�e Trustees evaluate each essay for:• the e�ort to provide a broader context for the story

rather than just a description of a family or person, • clarity of structure and style, • organisation and evaluation of the evidence, • evidence of sources and references (including citing the

sources of illustrations).Obviously articles by TGLT Trustees are not eligible for

selection, and as the Award may not be made to the same author two years running, the work of the previous year’s winner is also excluded.

While aiming to reward excellence the Trustees keep in mind that the overarching aim is to encourage the writing of family history and its publication in the magazine. To this end the Trust also encourages budding writers by supporting the activities of the Writers’ Network around the country. In the near future the Trust will also be working with the editor of the magazine to provide some simple guidelines and templates for citing sources, an important area of writing and publishing family history that most authors who are not academics – and many who are - �nd challenging.

No better time than now to begin writing up your family history stories for next year’s issues.

Barbara Wyley, for the TGLT Trustees

Winner of 2018 Ted Gilberd Literary Trust Family History Award�e Ted Gilberd Literary Trust exists to encourage and foster the writing of family history. In addition to supporting educational presentations about the topic and partnering with the NZSG in the Digital Archive for Family History, the Trust also administers the Ted Gilberd Family History Award.

�e Award, which is for the best family history article published in �e New Zealand Genealogist in any one calendar year, seeks to promote the writing of family history to a good standard of work and presentation. �e Trustees work to established criteria for both selection and judging.

�e winner of the 2018 Ted Gilberd Family History

Award $100 cheque and certi�cate is: John Catley (NZSG #4325), for his article ‘Class A, B and C Midwives’, published on pages 60–61 of the April 2018 issue of �e New Zealand Genealogist.

�e judges commented that: “�e article tells the story of three related women working as midwives in the early days of their registration. It is concise, detailed and particularly well structured. �e author integrates the relevant social, legislative and family context into the women’s story, and clearly references the wide range of research material used in preparing this very interesting read.”

�e Trustees congratulate John Catley, and encourage family historians to continue contributing their family stories for publication in the Society’s magazine.


Spotlight on NZSG Research ServiceRetiring Board member Julie MacDonald investigates an important service for members

E very �ursday morning �nds Elaine Bell on duty at the Family Research Centre (FRC) in Panmure as a volunteer.

Elaine is also the Research Service O�cer. Yesterday I spent a morning following Elaine around the NZSG Library as she was busy answering a variety of queries sent to the Research Service by members. She quickly and e�ciently deals with a diverse range of queries, using a wide range of resources from the Seton Kellaway Collection of Death Notices1 to post o�ce directories, Scottish monumental inscription transcripts to �ndmypast.

Members usually give Elaine details such as a name, a location and a time-frame. �at helps her decide what records to check. She tells me she �nds the Government Gazette useful for records of barmaids, doctors, teachers and Justices of the Peace.

One of the queries leads her to the Auckland funeral directors’ records. Another requires a search of the New Zealand birth, death and marriage indexes on micro�che. �ey provide access to birth and marriage events up to 1990, much later than what is online, but how long they will survive is debatable, as they fade and wear and cannot be replaced.

Another query requires Elaine to search Derek Gri�s’ Illegitimacy Database (see Resources/Genealogy Guides/Gen-Guide GI document on the website). �e same privacy rules apply to this resource as to any birth record, i.e. birth must have occurred at least 100 years ago.

Elaine provides details of alternative sources members can use in their research. For example, she reminds one member that Papers Past includes the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives 1854–1950 where numerous references can be found, for example: Education, Immigration and Public Works, Postal and Telegraphic, Finance and Native A�airs, Crown Lands and Public Works. Waste lands, the Colonial Bank, the Marine Department and Annual Sheep Returns are also listed, it is just a matter of entering your person’s name and a date range for any reference to come up, and best of all you can search these records for free.

Before anyone jumps into use the Research Service at the Family Research Centre it is well worthwhile to have a good look through the NZSG Library Catalogue to identify likely resources you would like to be checked. And also look at the website for background sources and explanations such as the Gen Guides.

To contact the Research Service. E: [email protected]

Julie MacDonald. E: [email protected]

Notes1 Seton Kellaway Collection of Death Notices is mentioned on the

Burial Locator CD which some members own and is no longer available. �e Collection of death notices was compiled by Seton Kellaway and is in the FRC.

Dear Ancestor Your tombstone stands among the rest Neglected and alone �e name and date are chiselled out On polished marble stone It reaches out to all who care It is too late to mourn You did not know that I exist You died and I was born Yet each of us are cells of you In �esh and blood and bone Our blood contracts and beats a pulse Entirely not our own Dear Ancestor, the place you �lled One hundred years ago Spreads out among the ones you le� Who would have loved you so I wonder how you lived and loved I wonder if you knew �at someday I would �nd this spot And come to visit you.

Walter Butler Palmer (1868–1932)

Walter Butler Palmer wrote this poem in 1906 a�er visiting the grave of his great-grandfather, Ephraim Palmer (1760-1852), at Rockford, Illinois. He was born and lived most of his life in LaSalle County, Illinois, and killed in a horse accident at Ottawa, Illinois. He was a family historian, breeder of trotting and show horses, and an accomplished poet.

Much of Palmer’s poetry was written about horses, but some about genealogy and his interest in family history. Most of his poems are preserved today in a small book of his poetry Heart �robs and Hoof Beats. He had also completed an extensive family history of his long line of Butlers going back to Nicholas, and to Martha’s Vineyard, and his Palmer ancestors going back to our own Lieutenant William Palmer and Judith Feake of Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Poem found and supplied by Yvonne Milbank



Tuttle tittle-tattleBeth Conrad

F amily history research is mostly very satisfying, especially when our

ancestors leave a trail behind. But then there are others who almost seem to have landed from another planet – evidence of their existence is impossible to �nd. Women seem to �t into this category more so than men and Clara Tuttle was one such woman.

Clara Tuttle arrived in New Zealand aboard the Howrah which le� England at the end of July 1876. She arrived in Nelson some �ve months later and married Charles Matthews at the Westport Registry O�ce on 15 September 1877. Charlie, as he was known, was a di�cult character. He was used to bush law and had his fair share of troubles over the years, but he was a hard worker and determined to make a success of his new Karamea property.

Vogel’s immigration scheme had brought the pair together. Clara was one of the thousands of new immigrants entering the country under Julius Vogel’s ambitious scheme, while New Zealand-born Charlie took advantage of the scheme to acquire land of his own in the remote Karamea area.

From the Howrah’s passenger list Clara is described as a 22-year-old servant from Middlesex. Her passage of 13 pounds and 11 shillings was fully paid for by the New Zealand Government.

Clara and Charlie did not have children of their own and Clara died at the Westport District Hospital on 28 November 1894 of Bright’s disease. What life did Clara leave behind in England? Why did she leave?

From searching the English 1871 census two possibilities give tantalising clues, but no concrete evidence. Was she Clara Tuttle aged 25 who was lodging at 174 Southwark Bridge Road?

Unfortunately, no occupation is listed. Or was she Clara Tuthill aged 21, the unmarried under housemaid to author William Gilbert? Or is there another possibility yet to be discovered?

Arguments could be made for both women. William Gilbert, an author, was the father of William Schwenck Gilbert – half of the famous theatrical partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan. William Gilbert senior was a notoriously di�cult man. He once stormed into a local shop selling one of his novels and proceeded to tear them to pieces in a violent rage, not even stopping to explain it was because the proofs had not been corrected.

Mr and Mrs William Gilbert had been married for 40 years before they separated. Son William was of the opinion that a quarrel was the reason for the ri�, but his mother insisted that the separation “was the result of weeks of calm deliberation …”. Not entirely devoid of all feeling, William senior le� his family well provided for, assigning the house and separate allowances for his wife and two daughters and hoped to earn enough for himself by writing. Unfortunately, he su�ered a physical breakdown and was near death for some time. By the end of May 1876 William Gilbert was at his daughter’s house in Salisbury convalescing.

Nearly seven weeks later the emigrants sailing on the Howrah had to be at the depot by the 25 July 1876. Were the Gilbert marital issues the impetus that Clara needed to emigrate? As an under housemaid in a small household her position would have been most at risk of termination.

�e other candidate for Charlie’s wife seems equally plausible. Clara Tuttle, an unmarried lodger, aged 25, tantalisingly with no occupation listed, living with three others – �eodore Weston, a 28-year-old commission agent, Eliza

Shirley, a 22-year-old married visitor and James �omas, an accountant, aged 55. No further details could be located for either �eodore or Eliza.

Despite extensive searching no trace can be found of either Clara Tuthill or Tuttle in earlier censuses. �ere are a myriad of ways to spell Tuttle as well as adding on potential errors with transcriptions. With a name like Clara either woman could have been German, or from another European country. Clara could be short for Clarissa, or even Caroline, but any possible matches have either been too young, married o�, or their disappearance explained by matching with a death index or burial.

I would be pleased to hear from anyone with any suggestions on where else to search. Usual records (marriage, death, burial, hospital) have not yielded any clues about her origins/parents. Even her age is a mystery, but she is likely to have been born sometime between the late 1840s to the mid 1850s – sources vary widely. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with more information on the other passengers aboard the Howrah’s 1876 voyage as this may provide a vital clue.

Beth Conrad, 14 Rutland Street, Stoke, Nelson, 7011. E: [email protected]

BibliographyW S Gilbert, his life and letters by Sidney

Dark and Rowland Grey (1923). Accessed at https://archive.org/details/wsgilberthislife002560mbp on 25 Feb 2015.

Gilbert and Sullivan – a dual biography by Michael Ainger (2002).

�e Psychoanalytic Quarterly p.112 (accessed at https://books.google.co.nz on 25 Feb 2015).

Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan: his life and character by Andrew Crowther (2011).

Private Edward AngoveChristine Clement

“P rivate Angove, of the 3rd Auckland, Regiment (killed in

action), was a son of Mrs M. Angove, Crummer Road, Grey Lynn, and had nearly completed his 28th year. He was a native of Auckland, and received his education at the Newton East school. He was employed as a driver for Messrs.

Winstone Ltd. and he went away with the main body of the Expeditionary Force. Two of his brothers also went to the front with the main body, and one of these, Private Charles Angove was wounded at the Dardanelles on May 19, he being now in the hospital at Alexandria. �e other brother at the war is Colin Angove, of the Ambulance Brigade. Yet another brother has o�ered his services, and will go into

camp at Trentham shortly. It is worthy of note that about 30 cousins of the late Private Angove and his brothers are now serving their country either in the navy, the Imperial army, or the new Expeditionary Force, and that the majority of them are New Zealanders.”

New Zealand Herald, 16 June 1915Noted by Christine Clement, Te Puke.

E: [email protected]


https://archive.org/details/wsgilberthislife002560mbp

https://archive.org/details/wsgilberthislife002560mbp

https://books.google.co.nz


From Lincolnshire to South Island: The Troloves and Dr John ShawSelby Whittingham

O n 5 February 1850 Frederick William Trolove (1830–1890)

with his �rst cousin Robert Robinson (1830–1910) sailed from London on the Poictiers and arrived at Nelson on 11 July. Frederick wrote “My reason for coming to New Zealand will never cross my lips”. �ey were followed two or three years later by Frederick’s brother Edwin (1832–1886), who, on arrival, wrote “I would have given all I possessed never to have seen New Zealand.” A�er a false start Frederick and Edwin settled just to the north of the Clarence River, sheep farmers at the Woodbank Run. Today the Troloves are still in the South Island, well known locally. An 150th anniversary family reunion was organised in Nelson in 2000 by Paul Trolove, a descendant of Frederick.

Photographs survive of Frederick and Edwin, as well as of their eldest brother. “Frederick and Edwin were not alike in appearance,” the daughter of the �rst, Fredrika, recalled in 1953. “Frederick more the type of Norman breed, dark haired, dark eyed, not very tall. Edwin, and English [sic] more Saxon fairness with deep violet coloured eyes, a big beard, inclined to stoutness, not tall. Musical, he used to play his violin.”

While later Troloves both in New Zealand and England are quite well recorded, their antecedents have been less clear. �ey were a family of Lincolnshire farmers going back at least to John Trolove I (1701–1749), “gentleman of Saxilby”. �is was to the north of Lincoln. His sons John and William moved to villages among the wolds to the south of Louth in the centre of Tennyson country.

�e eldest sons were therea�er regularly called John. John IV (1795–1851) of Ketsby and then of the adjacent Walmsgate, was the father of Frederick William and Edwin, besides other children who continued the farming tradition in the East Midlands. In 1829 he married as his second wife Mary Shaw (1803–1880).

Mary’s brother, Dr John Shaw (1810–1888) arrived in New Zealand in 1850, soon a�er Frederick. It is related that he told his brother-in-law, John Trolove IV, that he would �nance his

eldest son to take up sheep farming in New Zealand, but the son refused as he did not want to be “eaten by cannibals”. �at was John Shaw Trolove, maybe his godson, who had been staying with Dr Shaw at Boston in 1841. �is and other anecdotes suggest that Dr Shaw had visited New Zealand �rst in the 1840s, but Dr Shaw said that he made only two trips to New Zealand, in 1850 and 1857.

Mary and John Shaw’s father, John Shaw II, was a Nottinghamshire grazier. His brother William (1744–80), bequeathed to John II “all my Estate at Carlton, Malton and Caythorpe”. �ey were the children of Elizabeth and John Shaw I of Gonalston, who bequeathed to John II properties at Lanceley, Blidworth, Calverton and Westhorpe.

John Shaw II married in 1802 his second wife, Elizabeth Wilson (1777–1859). She was the daughter of John and Sarah Wilson of Shelford Manor, near Nottingham, where Sarah’s father Jonathan Stiles (1716/17–1766) succeeded his father William as, it seems, the baili� of the Earl of Chester�eld. Stiles in 1747 married Sarah Marshall, half-sister of the maternal grandfather of the artist J M W Turner. �e Marshalls had come from Nottingham and became part of the livestock industry in London, and so had backgrounds not so dissimilar from those of the Shaws and Troloves. �eir common ancestor, John Marshall (1674–1740), became moderately prosperous as did some descendants such as the founder of the Alfred Dunhill business. J M W Turner’s aunt Ann Marshall, who died unmarried in 1762, is buried with a �ne headstone at Burton Joyce, across the river Trent from Shelford.

If Dr Shaw is remembered at all in England, it is through his appearance in the 1862 biography of Turner by Walter �ornbury. Shaw (misprinted Shand) told �ornbury how he had called on Turner in the 1840s. �e meeting got o� to a sticky start. “May I ask if you are the Mr Turner who visited Shelford Manor … in your youth?” Turner, who was in constant fear of indigent relatives, replied “with the look of a fury”, and only smiled “like the rays of the sun suddenly breaking through dark and stormy clouds”, when Shaw assured him, “I am independent, Sir, both in spirit and pocket, and be assured that my

whole and sole object in calling upon you was to connect myself with the distinguished name of Turner”.

In 1839 Shaw had received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Edinburgh University with a dissertation “on animals furnishing substances used in medicine.” A portrait of him in academic gown descended to a son of John Shaw Trolove and is now untraced. He became a member of London clubs and learned societies.

His great-niece Fredrika (1867–1956), daughter of Frederick Trolove, recalled some anecdotes that she had from �omas Beverley, who was one of Dr Shaw’s executors and had married one of his nieces in 1868. His son Joshua (1869–1947), Fredrika’s �rst cousin, emigrated to New Zealand with his family in 1913. She relates: “As a young man once visiting Paris, the Doctor was noticed skating on a frozen lake by Napoleon III, who there and then sent his courtier to ask who the distinguished young foreigner was, desiring to be introduced to Dr John Shaw …”. He was in Paris in 1833 and 1856. His travels around Europe at this time he partly recalled in Travel and Recollections of Travel with a Chat Upon Various Subjects (1857). If he was still a young man, the occasion must have been in the former year and the monarch whom he met Louis Philippe, a friend of J M W Turner.

Dr Shaw was baptised at Boston, Lincolnshire in 1810, his father dying there later that year. His mother’s father, John Wilson, died staying with her at Hophouse, Boston, in July 1816.1 �e same paper states that she married Edmund Frearson (1782?–1830?), grazier of Nottingham, on 12 November 1818. However, she had reverted to the name Shaw when she joined her married daughter and the Troloves at Walmsgate sometime before 1842. In 1824 and 1827 Edmund and Elizabeth were defendants in a suit brought by her three surviving children, Mary, Sarah and John Shaw.2 �e case continued until at least 1829 and may have been resolved by the death of Edmund.

On 20 December 1849 John Shaw MD of Hop-House, Boston, sold through Mr Weir’s auction at Horncastle a collection of books. �eir topics included medicine,


science, travel, topography, English and French literature, religion. �e sale was preliminary to his departure for New Zealand. Did he need to raise some ready cash? Did it signify his abandonment of medicine as a profession? In the 1861 census he appears as “John Shaw MD, physician not practising”.

On 18 July 1862 the Lincolnshire Chronicle reporting about “a house and premises known as the Hop House” said that “a neat and commodious dwelling-house are being erected for Dr John Shaw, under W. Stainton, architect.” Mr J H Baker was the contractor and some 50 workmen sat down to an excellent repast. �is was evidently Viatoris Villa. It seems likely it is the present �e Grange on Fenside Road, which has four main bedrooms, sitting room, dining room, study, kitchen.

Viatoris Villa is marked on a 20th century Ordnance Survey map of Boston on Fenside Road and between that and the River Witham. �e triangular plot so formed comprised Dr Shaw’s 44 acres, recorded in the 1873 Return of Owners of Land. It has been partly built over with a housing state, one of the streets named Shaw Road. In 1961 in the road there were reported sightings of a ghost wearing a sort of trilby hat, which locals thought might be Dr Shaw, who was “notoriously awkward over a right-of-way that ran through the �eld from the Witham Bank to Boston West”.3

Dr Shaw, in his 1886 will, le� most of his property to the Troloves, including the children of Frederick William and Edwin. �e nephews and nieces in England were farmers, each

of about 600 acres. �e personal estate amounted to £3,565. �e real estate comprised Viatoris Villa and land, 30 acres at Goxhill at the northern end of the county, land at �e Snout, in the province of Nelson, town property at Picton and Woodbank Run, both in Marlborough province. Property at the Snout in Marlborough Sounds (presumably so named because of its shape) and Picton had been acquired by Shaw on his �rst trip.

He was in Europe 1833–4 and 1841. He went to America in 1845, a trip recalled in A Ramble �rough the United States, Canada and the West Indies (1856). His �rst trip to Australia and New Zealand (1850–1) was written up in A Tramp to the Diggings: Being Notes of a Ramble in Australia and New Zealand (1852). His second, in 1857, appeared as A Gallop to the Antipodes: Returning Overland �rough India (1858). �ese have all been reprinted in recent years and electronic copies can be found online. �erea�er he does not seem to have ventured far and in 1861 he had published Travels in England: A Ramble With the City and Town Missionaries. An inscribed copy he presented to Queen Victoria can be found in the Royal Library.

He was “a great walker – an explorer,” Mrs J W Trolove wrote in 1953, “would walk with a Knapsack on his shoulders containing his �ute, a change of garments, a �ask of whiskey & his umbrella. In the South Island, Marlborough, the Dr called in at Valley Field the home of Dr Munro [sic], both Doctors being musicians one with his �ute the other a violin they would be able to harmonise until all hours.” �is was David Monro (1813–1877), who had also trained at Edinburgh and had settled in the Nelson area in 1842.

Relations with his nephews were less harmonious. �e terms of the contract between Frederick and Dr Shaw, signed in 1851, were that the �rst would send to his uncle a set amount of wool per year, and his uncle would supply start-up funds and cover up to half of any potential loss of income. In 1867 Frederick William Trolove unsuccessfully o�ered him £21/22,000 for his half of Woodbank. Instead the partnership was dissolved in 1869 and it was arranged to divide the land in half and that he should watch over half (‘�e Shades’) for Shaw, which was leased at £411 p.a. However, that did not settle matters. Frederick took advice from a landowner, Joseph Dresser Tetley, who absconded with

over £40,000. Frederick lost £1,800 and 1,900 sheep. On news of this in early 1870, Dr Shaw accused Frederick of “subterfuge … wicked evasion of the terms of the agreement”. He did not believe the news of Tetley’s con and still wanted 9,000 lbs of wool that he was owed for that year. Frederick refused and wrote back “for more than 20 years I have been trying to do my duty by you, and never before have I received any token of your appreciation”.

On a trip back to England Frederick William wrote on 22 May 1865 from Walmsgate to Edwin “Our mother [Mary Shaw/Trolove] is very poorly but nothing more than common to her poor thing.4 She is a true Christian & a genuine Mother & her prayer is that her children if not jewels in the Kingdom of our Saviour may at least be admitted as members of His fold. Walmsgate looks very pretty now & the farm on the whole well. �ey have had bad luck with sheep & lambs. �ere is no money to get here …”

A photograph shows in a doorway at Walmsgate the mother, Mary, seated with, standing behind her Frances Elizabeth Trolove (married in 1868), Frederick William, Lionel Henry Mocatta Levin (1849–1886) and Mary Georgina Trolove. Levin was the son of Nathaniel William Levin (1818–1903), whose company, Levin & Co, dealt with the Troloves’ �nancial a�airs. Lionel perhaps became the godfather of John Shaw Trolove’s third son, Francis Lionel Arthur, born in 1882, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1913 at the same time as his youngest brother, (Roger) Bryan, who however returned next year to �ght with the British Army.

�e family sailed on the Wild Duck from London on 9 August 1866, reaching Plymouth on 20 August and Wellington on 8 December. He wrote, “I hope never to put my foot on board an emigrant ship again, the miseries of the past 5 months have been unexampled”.

Frederick William and his wife Mary Georgina are buried in Picton churchyard. Later in life he had bought land at Picton, which he gave to the Anglican church there. What became of this the church has been unable to say. An organ given to the church in memory of Mary Georgina was lost in a �re. So o�en donors �nd their generosity ill-repaid!

�eir son Peter (1864–1937) remained at Woodbank until 1900, when it was


Mr P Trolove.


sold. Edwin’s descendants have inherited �e Shades down to the present. �is property was divided in its turn a�er 1989 between two Troloves. �e Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Nelson, Marlborough and Westland Provincial Districts (1906), had photographs of the Woodbank Homestead, Peter Trolove and an elderly Dr Shaw. �e dates, if seemingly accurate in the case of Peter, were not for Dr Shaw. Memories were already getting confused.

John William Trolove (1863–1949) was born to Edwin and Sarah at Blairich. He started a celebrated stud with three rams which he bought in 1920. He became a member of the Royal Show in Canterbury. He was “a staunch churchman and a member of the Nelson synod for many years.” He was also a JP and member of Marlborough Provincial

Council. A�er a funeral at St Peter’s church he was buried in the Kaikoura cemetery.

Dr Shaw’s death was recorded in the London Evening Standard on 29 February 1888 as well as in local papers, but no proper obituary seems to have been published. �at was perhaps because he was an amateur and dilettante and spread his interests over di�erent continents. �at he was such a dauntless traveller was remarkable in someone who, as he described himself, was of a weak constitution.

AcknowledgementsI am grateful for help from members of the Trolove family in England and Zealand. Dr Tim Marshall of Oxford Brookes University unravelled for the �rst time Dr Shaw’s relationship to Turner. I have had help from libraries at

Lincoln, Nottingham and the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington (which has Trolove papers and photographs) and have used online sources such as the British Newspaper Archive. Aspects of the story appear in Selby Whittingham, Of Geese, Mallards and Drakes: Some Notes on Turner’s Family, IV, �e Marshalls & Harpurs, J M W Turner, RA, Publications, London, 1999.

Dr Selby Whittingham, London, UK. E: [email protected]. W: http://turnerwordpress.jmwturner.org

Notes1 Stamford Mercury, 19 July 1816.2 National Archives, Kew, C13/1763/25,

C13/1792/32, C1010/1608 and 6472.3 Billy �orn in his Old Boston Blog,

10 September 2012.4 �e census had in 1861 recorded that she

was deaf, albeit not from birth.


FAMILYSEARCH 2018 GENEALOGY HIGHLIGHTSThe following announcement was written by the folks at FamilySearch:

Salt Lake City, Utah (4 January 2019), FamilySearch International, global leader in helping individuals discover their family history, published its annual at-a-glance summary of its efforts in 2018. A key FamilySearch initiative is to simplify family history and increase discovery experiences for beginners.

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Road trip to Cape Palliser – a family storyBarbara Marriott

O ne of my mother’s favourite childhood memories was the

Christmas she spent at Cape Palliser Lighthouse.

It was 1934 and Lorna Joy Sycamore was seven years old. Lorna lived on a 40 acre farm on the Great South Road at Te Kauwhata in the Waikato with her parents John (Jack) William Sycamore and Jessie Perry (nee Cooper), and her ten-year-old sister, Elva. Jack and Jessie had pigs, 20 or so cows and they grew grapes. Jack had a bacon-curing shed and he made wine from the grapes which they sold on the side of the road. �ey also had chickens which Lorna looked a�er. She loved collecting the eggs.

Most summers the family went camping at Clarks Beach on the Manukau Harbour for a couple of weeks. However, in the summer of 1934/35 they made the long road trip to Cape Palliser to spend Christmas with Jessie’s older half-brother and family.

Cape Palliser Lighthouse is located in the south-eastern corner of the North Island of New Zealand. �e light was �rst lit on 27 October 1897.1 �e lens today is still the original Fresnel lens �tted in 1897. �e lighthouse is 78 metres above sea level and has a range of 26 nautical miles. Lighthouse keepers were required to live on site until 1986 when the lighthouse was automated.2

Robert Barnett Brunner Cooper (Uncle Bob) was the older son of the �rst marriage of Frederick Felix Paul Cooper to Annie Ewart (nee Barnett). Uncle Bob was married to Myrtle (nee McKay) and they had two daughters, Joyce and Jean. Uncle Bob was First Assistant Lighthouse Keeper at Cape Palliser for about 18 months in 1934/35.3 �e arrival of the family from Uncle Bob’s previous posting at Stephens Island Lighthouse is recorded in the Daily Journal on 10 January 1934, “Matai [government steamer which serviced the lighthouse station by sea] called & landed Keeper Copper [sic], Wife, Family & personal e�ects”.4

Cape Palliser Lighthouse, like most lighthouses, was isolated and conditions were challenging due to terrain, weather and di�culty of access. Keepers’ duties involved keeping the light going, keeping the lens and lantern panes

clean, painting, gardening, other general maintenance activities and fetching stores and mail from White Rock.5 �e keepers’ wives had supportive roles in the upkeep and management of the lighthouse and were generally responsible for domestic duties and the education of their children.6 �e environment and physical lifestyle took a toll on the health of the keepers and their families. At Cape Palliser during Uncle Bob’s tenure, both the Principal Keeper and Uncle Bob had a number of instances of sick leave or leave for medical treatment.7 It appears that it was Uncle Bob’s ill-health that led to the recording on 19 July 1935 that Keeper Cooper was transferring to Customs and, on 24 July 1935, that the Matai took on board Keeper Cooper, family and e�ects and departed for Wellington.8

Back in the Waikato, however, in mid-December 1934, much preparation was being made for the trip south. Jessie’s parents, Frederick Felix Paul Cooper (Grandad) and his second wife, Alice Matilda (nee Oliver) (Grandma), arrived from Tatuanui to take care of the farm. �e half-ton Ford truck was packed with mattresses for Elva and Lorna who would sleep in the back of the truck, tent and mattress for Jack and Jessie, a primus for cooking and a lot of food. �e family all travelled in the cab, Jack driving, Elva in the middle and Lorna sitting on Jessie’s knee.

�e �rst leg of the journey was to Ohura near Taumarunui, where a family friend, Stan Evans, had a hill country farm. Stan was originally from Taumarunui and he had lived and worked on the Sycamore farm a few years earlier when Jack was very ill. Lorna remembered arriving late in the a�ernoon and driving up among trees with a river far below. Stan rode to meet them on his horse with three or four dogs. He showed them how his dogs worked, whistling to them and they took o� up the hills which surrounded his house.

�e next day, the family set o� again. Lorna recalled mostly metal roads. In 1934, as sealing was expensive, only about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres) of roads, chie�y in and around the cities, were sealed and 48,000 miles (80,000 kilometres) were metal, gravel or not surfaced at all.9 Roads could be winding and narrow, and it was necessary to

ford many rivers and streams.10 �e topography through the central North Island would have been particularly challenging and expensive for road-building with hills, ravines and rivers to negotiate. In these conditions, it is likely the second day was a long driving day for the family.

In the a�ernoon Jack and Jessie considered stopping at a camp ground just north of Taihape, but decided to drive on a bit further. �ey eventually camped for the night beside the Makohine Stream, with a perfect view of the Makohine Viaduct. During the night, they were woken by a train Lorna described as the ‘Limited’.11 Lorna remembered all the carriages lit up as a great sight.

�e third night was spent at Foxton Beach. It was not such a long drive that day. Lorna remembered her togs being full of black sand a�er having a swim at the beach.

�e next day it was on to Cape Palliser and this turned out to be a long and arduous day. �e arrangement was that the family would meet up with a friend of Uncle Bob’s in Lambton Quay in Wellington who would escort them to the lighthouse. �e family dressed

Cape Palliser Lighthouse, January 1935.

→ (Continues on page 164)


smartly as they were going into the city. It was a Sunday though and Lambton Quay was completely deserted. When the man arrived they set o� on the last leg of the journey.

Lorna could not recall the trip over the Remutaka Hill.12 She did remember eventually arriving at a place “away out in the sandhills” where they had to leave the truck and go by horseback the rest of the way. Lorna did not know where this place was. A study of contemporary maps and later correspondence reveal two possibilities. �ey could have travelled from the west along Cape Palliser Road. �is went as far as the Otakaha River which was seven miles (11 kilometres) from the lighthouse.13 �e alternative was to travel via Martinborough down to White Rock which was eight miles (13 kilometres) east of the lighthouse.14 Either way, there was no road as far as the lighthouse and the only modes of transport were walking or horseback.

A further possibility, ‘the sand hill’, is mentioned in correspondence in 1945.15 �e Principal Keeper wrote that this was two miles north-west of the lighthouse and accessible by car. It has not so far been established where this is and whether it was a possible access point 11 years earlier in 1934. If it was, it seems this would have been the most likely place to leave the truck.

When they got to the sandhills, Uncle Bob was waiting with horses. Jessie had a horse, Elva and Lorna shared a horse and Jack walked. Seven-year-old Lorna felt sorry for Jack as he was worn out when they �nally arrived at their destination, a long way and many days’ driving from Te Kauwhata.

�e family stayed in the biggest house, which is still there and is now in private ownership. Uncle Bob’s daughter, Joyce, seems to have taken the younger girls in hand. She and Jean took Elva and Lorna exploring, including up into the lighthouse. Jessie wrote on the photo of the lighthouse “… 152 steps up & 75 steps inside Tower”. In fact, there are 258 steps up to the lighthouse,16 the number of steps inside the tower is not con�rmed. Joyce took the girls up to the light, showed them how it was lit and pointed out the South Island.

Jack and Jessie went �shing with the other keepers and their wives. �e men also went hunting. Lorna recalled Jessie telling the story in later years about being so hungry when they arrived at the lighthouse and tucking

into a stew. She was not so keen when she discovered it was rabbit stew. Obviously, on the Waikato farm there were plentiful supplies of beef and pork,

so no need for rabbit on the menu. �e remoteness of the lighthouse, however, and the unreliability of getting stores, always subject to weather and the ship


Ohura. Stan Evans, Jack, Elva and Lorna, December 1934.

Paekakariki Hill. Elva, Lorna and Jessie in their best clothes for going into Wellington, December 1934.

On the road near Ōpōtiki, January 1935.


being able to land them, most likely necessitated the keepers supplementing their dinner tables with �shing and hunting.

Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve were celebrated with big dinners. Lorna remembered Joyce giving her cray�sh legs to eat. No doubt the cray�sh were caught locally too.

Lorna could not remember how long they stayed, but as with most holidays it was not long before they were on their way home. �ey mounted up and headed back to the truck on horseback. �e route home took them up the eastern side of the North Island. In contrast to the trip down to Cape Palliser, Lorna had little memory of the trip back. Photos show they stopped in Ōpōtiki, Mt Maunganui and Waihi Beach, camping and catching up with various friends and relatives.

Finally, it was back home to the farm to relieve Grandma and Grandad Cooper of their caretaking duties. On a rough estimate, this 1930s road trip would have covered somewhere close to 2,000 kilometres over a time period of perhaps three to four weeks. Considering the type of vehicle, the cramped seating arrangements and the road conditions, it was quite a feat.

PostscriptIt was a feat never forgotten by Lorna. Over the years, we talked on and o� about this trip until one day I asked her to write down as much as she could remember about it. She took the opportunity to add in little details about the farm that gave me a lasting record of what her life was like in her early years. She was embarrassed and thought her e�ort was very amateurish. To me, it was pure gold.

Barbara Marriott. E: [email protected]

SourcesLawrence, Lorna – handwritten notes

of her memories of the trip to Cape Palliser

Department of Internal A�airs – New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages

Archives New Zealand, WellingtonNational Library of New Zealand –

maps, lighthouse papers and articles

Notes 1 Papers Past, Evening Post, Volume LIV,

Issue 92, 15 October 1897. 2 https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/

history/lighthouses/Cape-Palliser/default.asp

3 Daily Journal 27 November 1933 – 27 November 1934, ML – Cape Palliser 1/11 and Daily Journal 4 December 1934 – 4 December 1935, ML – Cape Palliser 1/12, Archives New Zealand.

4 Daily Journal 1933 – 1934 5 �ese actvities were recorded in the Daily

Journals 1933 – 1934 and 1934 – 1935. 6 For example, see “From the �rst light”,

New Zealand Memories, Aug/Sep.2003, n.43, p.10.

7 Recorded in the Daily Journals 1933 – 1934 and 1934 – 1935.

8 Daily Journal 1934 – 1935 9 New Zealand O�cial Year-Book 1934,

p.281. 10 https://teara.govt.nz/en/roads 11 �is was most likely the Night Limited,

an express rail service between Wellington and Auckland, which ran overnight.

12 Spelt Rimutaka until 2017. 13 Lighthouses – Cape Palliser Lighthouse –

Access 1914 – 1964, M1 9 8/19/1, Archives New Zealand. Letter from the Engineer-in-Chief, Public Works Department to the Secretary, Marine Department, dated 7 February 1940, regarding funding for extending Cape Palliser Road from 6 miles to 13 miles (i.e. to the lighthouse).

14 Lighthouses – Cape Palliser Lighthouse – Access 1914 – 1964, M1 9 8/19/1, Archives New Zealand. Letter from Principal Keeper Conway to the Marine Department, dated 20 July 1945, in which he describes the 8 mile journey by horseback from the lighthouse to White Rock. In this 1945 letter, the Principal Keeper also mentions “the sand hill” which is accessible by car and is only 2 miles from the lighthouse.

15 Lighthouses – Cape Palliser Lighthouse – Access 1914 – 1964, M1 9 8/19/1, Archives New Zealand. Further letter from the Principal Keeper to the Marine Department, dated 8 September 1945, in which he says the sand hill is 2 miles north-west of the lighthouse.

16 https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/history/lighthouses/Cape-Palliser/default.asp

Cape Palliser Lighthouse, 1987. Lorna back at the lighthouse half a century later with daughter, Barbara, and grand-daughters, Susan and Angela.

Keeping up with manorial documents M anorial documents are a valuable

resource for those interested in family and local history.

�e National Archives is setting up a Manorial Documents Research mailing list for everyone who would like to receive updates about:

• Research projects dealing with manorial documents

• Events related to manorial documents

• Progress in revising the Manorial Documents Register To join the mailing list, please email

[email protected]

Now is a particularly exciting time to subscribe, as the Manorial Documents Register revisions for the whole of England & Wales will be completed in the next few years. Alongside other events, a conference in 2022 will celebrate this progress and showcase a wide range of manorial research.


https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/history/lighthouses/Cape-Palliser/default.asp



https://teara.govt.nz/en/roads





Gold in the records: piecing together the genealogical jigsawTracking the life of the administrative record of the Otago and Southland gold�elds can lead you down numerous rabbit holes and stretch your research skills to the max. Particularly as many of the records are low on detail and answering that million-dollar question “Do I have the right person?” can prove di�cult if not impossible. Coming to grips with the complexities of the Warden’s Courts records is one of the keys to research success with this, and the completion of a project to provide more detailed access to those held in the Dunedin O�ce of Archives New Zealand now provides a key to unlock this information.

�e Warden’s Court was responsible not only for the administration of mining law and the resolution of disputes, but also the allocation of residence and business sites, water rights, administration of agricultural and other leases, and the hearing of mining related disputes within the district. �e Wardens also acted as Resident Magistrates, hearing civil and criminal suits.

A quick entry to this is our Facebook Note published in March 2018 when the project was part way through: ‘Mud, blood and beer: court records of early Queenstown’ https://www.facebook.com/notes/archives-new-zealand/mud-blood-and-beer-court-records-of-early-queenstown/1748904758506133/

Figure 1�ere have also been two articles published about the scope

of the Wardens’ Courts records held in the Dunedin o�ce, so this article examines how these records interconnect with others held here, to help you build a more complete picture of life in the gold�elds.

An early article, Leanne Williams et al ‘A�er the Gold Rush: �e Archives of the Lawrence Warden’s Court 1867–1949’ in Archifacts: Journal of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand October 1998, pp.18–42, is available online: https://www.aranz.org.nz/assets/publication-pdfs/Archifacts/dd03f149a2/Archifacts-1998-October.pdf. Amy Coleman’s ‘Glimpses of gold in the Archives’ in �e New Zealand Genealogist, December 2015, pp.267–269, looked in greater detail at the complexities of the Warden’s Court system. Read together, these give a solid background to searching the records and what to expect from them.

By 2015 a project to complete the detailed arrangement and description of these records was underway, and while this project proved rather more complex than expected, it is now completed and bearing fruit as people discover the Wardens’ Courts records and engage with them.

When you are looking for your ancestors at Archives New Zealand, your �rst port of call is Archway, which contains descriptions of records that have been transferred from government agencies to our four o�ces in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/. �ere are various ways to access the records through Archway, and the Coleman article gives some good pointers to understanding the process.

Generally, they are arranged in series, and to get a sense of the range in those associated with the Wardens’ Courts, an

Archway ‘Series Advanced’ search for ‘warden’, held at Dunedin (Dun), will give you a list of 146 records. Follow the search strategy in Figure 2 to get this result:

Figure 2Be cautious though, this is a keyword title search and not

all records will have ‘warden’ in their title. Once you are more familiar with the types of series represented in the Wardens Court records, use this knowledge to explore other search terms.

An enormous amount of work has happened around listing names in some series. While the 19th century Warden’s Court Applications have been listed by the Dunedin Branch of NZSG, unfortunately the majority of records aren’t indexed. So �nding names is more of a creative process – deciding which series could be useful, looking for registers or record books, and trawling through them for that piece of genealogical gold.

Understanding the geography of the southern �elds and knowing the names of the areas, is important. Many names have fallen out of use and wouldn’t be recognised by modern researchers. With this in mind, the map published in the Coleman article is a very useful tool and worth reproducing here in Figure 3.

Figure 3It is easy to assume that mining activity was primarily

centred in Central Otago, and in the 19th century, but it is clear that this was not the case. Riverton, for example, operated from the 1880s through to 1953, and has nearly 4,000 application �les. We also hold �les for Orepuki, Wyndham and Gore, so Southland is well represented.

Following a case study approach may be helpful for those unsure where to start. �e Wardens’ Courts records are one part of the genealogical jigsaw, telling just a part of a life story. Intersecting these with other historical records held by Archives New Zealand – maps, land, etc., and using the historic newspapers site Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers to verify and detail the story, will give you more of the �esh and bones of a person’s life.

Some may have followed the #Gold�eldsGoldstories hashtag on the Archives New Zealand Facebook page a couple of years ago, where we tracked a William Jenkins through

NEWS FROM ARCHIVES NEW ZEALAND

https://www.facebook.com/notes/archives-new-zealand/mud-blood-and-beer-court-records-of-early-queenstown/1748904758506133/



https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/

https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers


NEWS FROM ARCHIVES NEW ZEALAND

our records and started building a story around his life in the gold�elds.

An Archway search (limited to the Dunedin o�ce) discovered a range of records, and potentially several men with this name. �e two we were particularly interested in came from Ireland around the same time, and worked in the gold �elds, but this is where their histories separated. One found himself in Seacli� Mental Hospital in 1863, his wife going on to have various business interests in the gold �elds area. �is William Jenkins never really made much of a success of himself. �e other one was mining in the area, possibly well into the 1890s, owned businesses, held a variety of public o�ces and earned himself a �ne obituary in the Lake County Press, 13 November 1902 when he died.

While there was some di�culty separating two men with the same name, one less successful, the other a pillar of Otago gold �elds society, the records show quite a picture could be drawn up around both, although unravelling the two can be a challenge and it is not always clear which William Jenkins it is.

�e less successful William Jenkins pops up in a variety of places, sometimes with a court case involved. Using the detail of these provided by Papers Past we can generally con�rm we have the right person. However, genealogical research is full of �shhooks and traps. Both were mining, and both had businesses in the same area for at least some of the time, and it is not always clear which William Jenkins is the correct one.

�e various series the two appear in include:• Seacli� Mental Hospital Statutory Admission Papers (series

19850)• Queenstown Criminal Court Files (series 20967)• Queenstown Plaint Files (series 20968)• Arrowtown Warden’s Plaint �les (series 21789)• Arrowtown Application �les (series 21790) – these include

applications for gold mining leases, water races, even a tunnel (see Figure 4).�is snapshot from Archway shows the variety of

Arrowtown applications referring to a William Jenkins:

Figure 4�ese records are generally very brief, and it is unlikely

there is any further biographical information in these �les. Fleshing out the reference may be possible through the newspapers, but it is unlikely to prove anything conclusively.

Another case study, this time for Bendix Hallenstein, has a wider result. �is time we are sure of the record as it is such an unusual name.

Bendix Hallenstein moved to New Zealand in 1863, �rst to Invercargill, then to Queenstown, where he sold groceries, wines and spirits, drapery and ironmongery. Hallenstein subsequently opened stores in Cromwell, Arrowtown and Lawrence. Other activities included opening a �our mill at Kawarau Falls, and farming at Speargrass Flat.1 His name appears in:• Queenstown Plaint Files (series 20968)• District Court of the Otago Gold Fields, Queenstown –

Plaint Files (series 21034)• District Court of Otago Gold Fields, Clyde – Plaint �les

(series 21688)

• Queenstown Warden’s Plaint Files (series 22085)

• Applications, correspondence and reports relating to alcohol licensing in the Queenstown area (series 26011)

• Queenstown Applications for Purchase of Waste Lands (series 25425)

• Queenstown Applications for Exchange of Leases (series 25514)�e last two in the list pull us into the land records, one of

the mainstays of the Dunedin O�ce (Figure 5).

Figure 5In Figure 5 we see that Bendix Hallenstein applied to

purchase land in the Shotover Survey District, Block XX, and Block IV. �is map, an Otago Crown Grant Index Record map, is held by the Dunedin O�ce. It is part of the Land Information New Zealand records, many of which have been digitised and are available online through Archway. �e �gure below is a closeup of the land in Block XX pointing to the land owned by Bendix Hallenstein (sections 39, 40, 41).

�e full digitised map can be seen on Archway at this link http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE39365642

Figure 6Land transactions have more information associated with

them, o�en linking to business interests and other family names. �ere can be references in the newspapers.

Business applications are similar. Bendix Hallenstein appears in four records in series 26011 (Applications, correspondence and reports relating to alcohol licensing in the Queenstown area).

Figure 7Falling foul of the law usually brings a relative wealth of

information. �e very good and very bad leave behind much more of a trail than any honest citizen. Plaint �les can be fascinating. An Archway keyword search for ‘plaint AND Hallenstein’ will delve into the Queenstown Court records and record the business transactions that appear to have gone wrong.

It will not all be plain sailing, but piecing the jigsaw together is half the fun. Record any transaction that could be relevant since it is o�en much later that its relevance can be established. Most of all, enjoy the research.

Contact the Dunedin O�ce at [email protected] if you have any queries, and we will do our best to help your research be successful.

Anne Jackman, Regional Archivist, Archives New Zealand, Dunedin

1 Te Ara: the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h6/hallenstein-bendix

https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=19850












http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE39365642

http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE39365642



https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h6/hallenstein-bendix

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h6/hallenstein-bendix


Lisa Duggan

I am constantly amazed by the assortment of websites one can �nd on the net. �is month I have my usual eclectic collection as I continue in my search for obscure, unique and (hopefully for at least one person reading this!) useful sites.Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Digital Collection�e Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh can trace its roots back to 1505. �e College Library and Archive department has digitised a range of documents and photographs from their archives. �e materials range from 18th century patient casebooks, to photos of surgical sta� from the early 1900s, and minute books from 1581 through to 1708. Additional material is added regularly to the site.

Also available on the site is a searchable database of all those who have been elected Fellows or Members of the College, up to 1918. �e search is a simple name search though you can narrow the search by the speci�c quali�cation. �ere is a key to the various quali�cations listed. A basic entry includes the name and the date that the quali�cation was awarded, however for some listings you will �nd additional biographical information.

Now if only the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland would only create a similar database, I might track down my mysterious John Reed.

https://archiveandlibrary.rcsed.ac.uk/The British Red Cross�e British Red Cross has played a crucial role in supporting victims of war and disaster since the 19th century. �e ‘Our History’ section of the British Red Cross website includes photos and stories from WWI, information on the work of the Red Cross during WWII and a link to their museum and archives site.

Over 90,000 people volunteered for the British Red Cross during WWI, both in the UK and overseas. �e VAD cards giving the names of the volunteers and details of their service have been indexed and digitised. You can search by name, location or duties.

�e museum and archives division has also photographed over 7,000 items that they hold from medals and certi�cates, to feeding cups, competition cups and even a diorama featuring a Red Cross mobile maternity clinic.

https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/our-history

Trentino Genealogy�is website was created by Lynn Sera�nn as an extension of her own research into the descendants of people from the province of Trento, Italy (previously Tyrol, Austria). �e site includes information about Lynn’s own research, links to related groups, and a searchable surname database. �ere are also blog articles on both general research topics and speci�c Trento-related research.

http://trentinogenealogy.com/Irish Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1852–1920�e National Archives of Ireland has created an online index of entries from the Calendars of Wills and Administrations. You can search by the name of the deceased or of the executor. Just note that the surname goes in the �rst box – this caught me out when trying to search and I wondered why I wasn’t getting any results!

Entries include the name of the deceased, the date of death and county or country of death. An image of the source index is also included, and sometimes this will state the relationship between the deceased and the executor or bene�ciary. While most entries relate to deaths in Ireland, there are some entries which relate to deaths in other countries. My own searching turned up a James Duggan who died in St Louisa, USA and a Frances Arabella Keogh who died in Australia.

http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie/Caribbean Newspaper Digital LibrarySome of you will have realised by now that I am a big fan of newspapers as sources. �e stories and details contained add colour and life to our relatives. �e Caribbean Newspaper Digital Collection is part of the Digital Library of the Caribbean, a collection of digital resources from archives, libraries and private collections. �e islands covered include the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Cuba and Barbados

When searching the collection, it pays to tick the box labelled “Include the document text in search”, in order to get the largest number of results.

�e newspapers come from a number of islands and are in

Genealogy on the Internet

https://archiveandlibrary.rcsed.ac.uk/

https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/our-history

http://trentinogenealogy.com/

http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie/


Genealogy on the Internetseveral languages. O�en these are very local publications and so many contain snippets of local gossip.

http://dloc.com/cndlCowra Japanese War Cemetery�e Cowra Japanese War Cemetery in Cowra, NSW, is the �nal resting place of 524 Japanese prisoners of war and civilian internees who died in Australia during WWII. �ere are also 25 Taiwanese and one Korean grave.

�e Embassy of Japan in Canberra commissioned a team to create a database of those buried at the cemetery, including not just their names and dates of death, but their occupations, reasons for internment and dates of capture.

�ere is both a simple keyword search and an advanced search which allows you to search on particular �elds or to limit the results to speci�c categories. �e results show as a table, but more information on each entry can be viewed by clicking on the “Details” link to the le� hand side of each result.

�e website also includes the history of the cemetery and background information about the Japanese POWs and internees.

https://www.cowrajapanesecemetery.org/Arolsen ArchivesPreviously known as the International Tracing Service, the Arolsen Archives are an international documentation centre

focused on the survivors and victims of Nazi persecution. Working in partnership with Yad Vashem, more than 13 million of the 30 million documents held have been digitised and made available online. At the time of writing the database has only just gone live, and the site has advised that the search function is limited at this point. However they are working to improve searchability and increase the number of documents available.

�e collection includes documents from concentration camps, detention facilities and ghettos, as well as from government departments and public authorities. You will be required to agree to terms of use before you access the database, however no registration is required to search.

https://collections.arolsen-archives.org�e website itself is not the easiest to navigate, especially

if you are working on a smaller screen. At the time of writing the search is a simple keyword box. �e results show on the le� of a split screen, requiring you to scroll to the right to read the full index entry. �e right side of the screen is dedicated to the digital images of the documents referenced, along with a short explanation of the origin of the documents being viewed, and a map showing the location of origin.

�e Arolsen Archives have also created an ‘e-guide’. �e guide gives examples of each type of document, along with an explanation of what that particular document was used for, and the types of information you might �nd on that particular document. On each document are highlighted sections – click on a particular section to get further information of what each item meant.

https://eguide.its-arolsen.org/en/�ere is also an amazing personal e�ects database, which

includes photos of the personal e�ects of detainees from the concentration camps and government authorities.

https://digitalcollections.its-arolsen.org/01020903/name/pageview/193992/232883

Happy hunting!Lisa Duggan.

E: [email protected]. TW: @genzhunter

Your computer is your bicycle on the path of knowledge.

http://dloc.com/cndl

https://www.cowrajapanesecemetery.org/

https://collections.arolsen-archives.org

https://eguide.its-arolsen.org/en/




BranchesHaweraSouth Taranaki Heritage and Family History WeekHāwera Branch held its inaugural South Taranaki and Family History Week at the beginning of April. It had been an idea suggested back in early 2018 and half way through that year plans and ideas were being put into action.

A�er meeting with Ella Borrows from the South Taranaki District Council, the event was on. Council personnel designed and provided us with posters and pamphlets to display around the district, an area from Waverley in the south to Warea, beyond Opunake, in the north.

We contacted the libraries, museums, and anyone we knew with heritage knowledge of the district. We decided to organise a few trips out as a group, to sites that included Ohawe and Waihi Soldiers’ Cemeteries and Bill Hone’s Museum out at Kohi. For these expeditions we hired a bus and driver who added his own local knowledge to the trip. �e weather was fantastic, apart from one really wet �rst day visiting Ohawe, where we were unable to get out of the bus and visit the site. We returned to Hawera and enjoyed time at Café Mania for a talk, slides and co�ee, thanks to Clem Coxhead.

Talks on history or family related

subjects were held at each library in the district and the Pātea and Eltham Historical Societies held open days.

On the Saturday we held a Family History Expo at the Hawera Community Hall, inviting groups from Whanganui, New Plymouth, Stratford, Heritage Taranaki, Pātea, Okato and the Waiouru Army Museum. Each group had a table with some of their resource materials and databases. Here they were able to assist people with their research. �ere was a display of old clothing and memorabilia from the Livingstone Baker Collection, provided by Jim and Donna Baker. Everyone enjoyed the day, even though we did not have the number


Branchesof people expected through the doors. Outside we had invited the Empty Fridge Food Truck, to sell food and drinks. �ere was also a display of a bren gun carrier, vintage car and tractor.

On Sunday, our last day, we pooled cars and headed out to the farm of branch member Jim Baker, who is also a member of the Pātea Historical Society. Here we walked to visit sites associated with Ruaputahanga,1 including her village Paranui, forti�ed pā Te Hoi and bathing pond; Potakataka and Turi’s pā site. Jim and his family are great caretakers of the land and sites including the Whenuakura Estuary.

We then travelled down the road, where we were invited on to the Wai O Turi Marae, a new experience for some of us. A�er the welcome and waiata, we shared a delicious a�ernoon tea at the marae hall. It had been a great a�ernoon to end our inaugural week.

�e week was a great success for a �rst e�ort, and we are planning to do it again next year with meetings underway to discuss ideas.

We are grateful to the many people and groups that helped make the week a success. �ese include: Pelorus Trust, South Taranaki District Council, Nigel Ogle, Weir Brothers, David Bruce,

Sandra Robinson, Laraine Sole, Jean Roach, Clem Coxhead, Mike Coils and the libraries of the district.

Julie Ryde, Secretary

Note1 “… Ruaputahanga was an important

genealogical connection between Ngāti Ruanui and the hapu from Whenuakura (south of Pātea) to Whakahurangi (Stratford). She also represents the connection between the people from the Aotea waka and the Kingitanga (Tainui/Waikato). Legend has it the Ngāti Ruanui woman was a maiden of high rank who brought people together.” Taranaki Daily News, 19 May 2010. http://www.stu�.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3712150/Maori-maiden-hails-visitors

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3712150/Maori-maiden-hails-visitors




BranchesNew PlymouthNew Plymouth Branch 50th Anniversary Celebration.On Saturday 23 November 2019 the New Plymouth Branch celebrates its 50th anniversary beginning the day at the branch rooms and library, Breakwater Road, Moturoa, at 9:30am. �e day will open with a mix and mingle, before Mary Shadbolt, NZSG chairperson will o�cially open the event. �e opening

will be followed by presentations on the branch history, and there will also be presentations on genealogy topics by Jan Gow, Q.S.M. well known genealogist and Fellow of the Society of Genealogists (U.K.).

In the evening a celebratory dinner will be held at the Autolodge Motor Inn commencing at 5:30pm, followed by the cutting of the anniversary cake and an a�er dinner speaker.

On the following day there will be

an informal Computer Group meeting at the branch rooms with guest speaker Jan Gow.

Any interested people or past members of the branch are welcome to attend.

For full details of the programme and a downloadable registration form please visit our branch website at www.genealogynp.com.

Bruce Bellini, Convenor.

DNA Users Group Auckland�e very enthusiastic NZSG DNA Users Group Auckland �rst got together in October 2018, and have met once a month since. Between 25 and 35 members attend each meeting.�ere is always lively discussion on the latest developments in the �eld of genetic genealogy.

�e members are really enjoying learning so much and going on to make many new discoveries. �is is greatly helped by everyone sharing their knowledge and reporting on how these new tools are helping their genealogical research. It’s been a very steep learning curve for many, and quite a few surprises popping up along the way!

John Mitchell, Library Coordinator

Interest Groups

New Plymouth Branch 50th celebration2019 is the 50th anniversary of the New Plymouth Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists! The first meeting of our Branch was held in the Orange Lodge Hall in New Plymouth on 20 November 1969. Ten persons were present with Mr White elected Chairman and Rosalie Hay elected Secretary/Treasurer.Our sub-committee is making plans to celebrate the occasion on 23 November. We hope that past members and any other interested people will be able to attend the celebrations. If you have been involved with our Branch over the last 50 years, please put that date in your diary.Information and a downloadable registration form available soon on our Branch website www.genealogynp.com.

Bruce Bellini, Convenor

HaweraContinued …A few more pictures from Hawera’s inaugural South Taranaki and Family History Week at the beginning of April.

http://www.genealogynp.com


Interest GroupsIrishIrish Meeting August�e next meeting of the Irish Interest Group is to be held at the NZSG FRC, Panmure on Sunday, 25 August, 1pm–4.00pm. An invitation has been issued to a New Zealand Maritime Museum Archivist, who manages one of Auckland’s largest maritime collections including Shipping Registers 1834–2010. �e FRC library will be open at the conclusion of our speaker’s presentation, with a wide range of Irish resources available to research. Visitors and new members welcome. View our webpage under Irish Groups at www.genealogy.org.nz. E: [email protected] OnwardProject�e Onward Project aim to publish a photograph of every member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who served overseas between 1914 and 1918. �e organisers are hoping you may be able to make a plea for photographs on their behalf at your local Branch or Interest Group meeting.

To date four volumes have been published with Volume 5 due to be released late this year. �is project is recognised by the New Zealand Government WW100 o�cial commemorative programme. �e link to �e Onward Project website where people can send images, and which also explains more about the project, is www.onwardproject.co.nz.

If you would like further information please contact organiser, Phil Beattie, E: [email protected] or postal address �e ONWARD Project, 12 Kirkdale Place, Torbay, Auckland 0632.

�e NZSG Library has these volumes, plus the Index to volumes 1–4.National Archives of IrelandOn 14 December 1918 women in Ireland voted in a general election for the �rst time. �is followed the enactment of the Representation of the People Act, 1918, which granted limited su�rage to women over 30 years of age and universal su�rage to men over 21 years of age. �e Act followed a long campaign by women and working class men for recognition of their contribution to society and their right to participate and vote in elections.

�e National Archives of Ireland www.nationalarchives.ie are holding an Online Exhibition: Su�ragettes and Prison Conditions in Ireland. It is an exhibition of documents from the Archives of the General Prison Board documenting the prison conditions of women sentenced to incarceration in Ireland as part of their campaign for women’s su�rage 1912–1914.Ireland Census 1901 and 1911For the past two years professional Irish genealogist John Grenham has been working through submitted Ireland census corrections. He has now completed this project for the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) and all the veri�ed suggestions have been uploaded to the NAI website: www.census.nationalarchives.ieGenealogical Society of Ireland (GSI)�e GSI have released each of their 2018 monthly lectures on video. Links to these lectures can be found at

http://familyhistory.ie/wp/lectures-3/. �e annual GSI Journals are held at FRC in our Irish holdings catalogued IRL.MAG.GSI.Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF)On 17 April the IFHF uploaded their latest newsletter Irish Genealogy Matters Volume 2, No. 1 2019. �e New County Online pages add details on Armagh, Carlow and South Dublin centres. �ese county pages are packed with information on the centres themselves, as well as the history of their respective counties, notable people from their areas, the records which they hold and much more. �e Home Page section Focus on a Source features the use of Census Substitutes. �e newsletter is free to view online or download at www.rootsireland.ie �e minimum subscription to IFHF to view records for 24 hours is €15.Co Donegal�e Donegal County Council Cultural Services Library Service have made available free to access A Guide to Genealogy Resources. A 32 page colour brochure can be read online or downloaded www.donegallibrary.ie. �is guide is suitable for anyone just staring out on their research to those interested in those whose ancestors migrated from Donegal. A list of websites in also included.

Check out the Donegal Diaspora Project which has been created to reach out and actively engage with the global community, acting as a resource for information, connections, partnerships and development. For more information on this project check out their webpage www.donegaldiaspora.ieFind My PastRecently access to eight Northern Ireland newspapers has been added to the website www.FindMyPast.ie located under the heading ‘Irish Newspaper Collection’. �is website is subscription based but is free for research use at the NZSG FRC, Panmure.Irish Family History CentreFor the latest Irish history and genealogy news subscribe to the Irish Family History Centre newsletter, email address [email protected] Lives Remembered�e latest issue of Ireland’s premier online genealogy magazine, Spring No. 44 is available FREE at https://irishlivesremembered.ie �is issue contains a range of articles including Fiona Fitzsimons Evidence for Traveller History: 1800 to Present, Paul Cotter’s �e O’Neill Surname and Maurice Gleeson on New Tools from Ancestry and MyHeritage to Help you Manage Your DNA Matches. Subscribe for your FREE digital copy.Irish Interest Group (Waikato)Trish and Bruce Cron are actively involved getting the Irish Interest group up and running again. Based in Hamilton they look forward to anyone in the Waikato region with an interest in Irish genealogy joining them at their Irish meetings. �ey hold a wide range of resources for research and look forward to sharing their expertise. All inquiries to [email protected]

Geraldene O’Reilly. Convenor, Irish Interest Group. E: [email protected]

http://www.genealogy.org.nz


http://www.onwardproject.co.nz


http://www.nationalarchives.ie

http://www.nationalarchives.ie

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie

http://familyhistory.ie/wp/lectures-3/

http://www.rootsireland.ie

http://www.donegallibrary.ie

http://www.donegaldiaspora.ie

http://www.FindMyPast.ie

https://irishlivesremembered.ie



Researching my Danish immigrant ancestorsJennifer Miller

I n 2001, before the advent of Internet research, I joined Aunt Annie’s

daughters in their search for their Danish ancestry. �ey had few documents, but numerous named and dated photographs of New Zealand relatives, plus good memories of stories told to them by their mother about Denmark and the families there. �ese were clear and remarkably accurate, considering that Aunt Annie’s mother had died when she was only eight years old. Nothing really was known about her father’s people as he had become a recluse a�er the deaths, in quick succession, of his only son, his wife and his mother.

Both of Aunt Annie’s parents, Jens Martinus Christensen and Karen Jensen, had come from Denmark to New Zealand with their respective parents in 1874 under the Vogel scheme to develop our country and attract more settlers. More farmland was needed, so Scandinavians were brought to New Zealand to clear the Seventy Mile Bush between Wellington and Hawke’s Bay.

The Christensen familyNaturalisation papers1 for Jens and his brother Christian Christensen, gave their ages and named the Province in Denmark they had come from. With this information I started with the Christensen family and searched the IGI (forerunner of today’s http://www.familysearch.org) and found baptisms for both Christian and Jens.

Next I went on a ‘Hooked on Genealogy Tour’ with Jan Gow and in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City searched �lmed parish records and had them translated at the Scandinavian Help Desk where a demure Norwegian lady announced in hushed tones “something rather irregular here, Ellen Jespersdatter unmarried mother, reputed father Christen Mortensen”. She would have been more shocked to learn this same state of a�airs continued through 1851, 1852, 1854 and 1863. �e surname of the boys was Christensen, son of Christen, according to the old custom where children’s surnames came from their father rather than their father’s family. �is made it virtually impossible to trace ancestors back through the generations. Fortunately,

by the time the daughters were born, this custom had been abandoned and they took the same surname as their father – Mortensen.

I also bought at the Library a small lea�et entitled Danish Genealogical Word List, which I found useful.

In the Serridslev parish records I found baptisms of two daughters and the burial of one of them. I also located Ellen’s parents, Jesper Christensen and Anne Marie Christendatter and their children, including Ellen. Jesper would have been the son of a Christen and Anne Marie would similarly have been the daughter of another Christen. Impossible to research any further back!

From 1852 Ellen lived in Serridslev, living and working on di�erent farms, as entered in the baptism records of her children, together with her age and marital status. In 1872 an un-named child of Christen Mortensen and wife was baptised in Tolstrup parish. Perhaps Christen was actually present, but I have found no record of a marriage having taken place. Who would question the marital status of a couple with four children?

Serridslev was obviously a small parish. Baptisms of boys and girls were kept separately, with only two or three entries in many years. Records also include dated lists of those who entered or le� the parish. Each person was identi�ed by name plus date of birth, plus reason for departure, then a further dated entry for their return. Ellen le� from 2 May till 16 November 1855, for work.

�ere are two entries for a Christen Mortensen. Neither checked out as suitable. In Familysearch there are 6,359 entries for Christen Mortensen, including the baptisms of his known children, but no marriage to Ellen, nor his death. He remains a man of mystery.

In 1874 they decided to emigrate to New Zealand and set out for Hamburg to join the ship Humbolt. �e passenger list names the Mortensen family group of Christen, Ellen, Eline Marie and Elsa (the then unnamed child born in Tolstrup and known in New Zealand as Alice). Jens and Christian were listed separately among the single men. �ere is considerable doubt as to whether Christen Mortensen himself actually boarded the ship at Hamburg. �e consensus of opinion is that he disappeared between Denmark

and Hamburg. �ere are no family memories of his ever having lived in New Zealand, nor even a death registration. His name is, however, on the Hamburg Outward passenger list2 as well as that held at National Archives, Wellington (written in a di�erent hand) and he was not listed among those who died on the voyage. He may well have changed his mind about tying himself to his part-time family. A�er all, he had come and gone so many times before, probably he just went away once more.

Fortunately, his absence was perhaps not noticed. �e boys were then 22 and 23 and had been working since the age of 14. �e record of Jens’ con�rmation in 1866 states he was then working in Mellenshavn for a Christian Jensen. Both young men were capable of supporting their whole family.

�ey landed at Wellington on 28 January 1875. From there the Scandinavians walked, while their belongings and newly issued work clothes and equipment were sent by cart, to Norsewood, through the Seventy Mile Bush. No doubt they stopped on the way at Scandinavian camps already established north of Masterton – Mauriceville, Mellenskov (now Eketahuna), Dannevirke and Matamau.

�e boys cleared part of their allotted land, built homes, planted crops, then set to work clearing the forest. Christian did not marry till 1883, so his mother kept house for him. His wife, Dagmar Albertine Olsen, su�ered badly from asthma. �ey had no children.

Jens married Karen Jensen in Norsewood on 22 February 1879, with the permission of her father, Frederick Jensen, as she was only seventeen.3 �ey had seven children:• Peder Frederik , b 1881, Norsewood;

d 1881, Norsewood• Ellen Christina, b 2 Oct 1882,

Norsewood• Christian, b 1884, Dannevirke;

d 1890, Rata• Arna Petrea, b 4 Oct 1885,

Dannevirke• Dagmar Kathrine (Kate), b 27 Sep

1887, Dannevirke• Emma Fredericke, b 23 Feb 1891,

Wellington• Hansine Kirstine (Sina), b 23 Feb

1891,WellingtonPeder Frederik’s birth and death, at

four months were registered, Christian’s were not.


Jens and his brother did not stay long in Hawke’s Bay. Forestry work did not really suit Danes whose homeland was covered in established pasture, not dense forest, so they followed another Government development scheme – the construction of the Main Trunk Railway.4 �ey chose to make bricks for lining the tunnels. With pug and kiln, they followed the line as it progressed.

�ey were at Rata when Jens’ only son, Christian, died in 1890. �en, in 1893, Karen died from tuberculosis. �is devastated Jens. With little English, he avoided o�cialdom where possible. He did not register either death, but purchased a plot in the Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North, and apparently buried either one or both himself.5

Grandmother Ellen came to look a�er the girls. Jens and his brother followed the railway to Mangaweka, where no fewer than seven tunnels were to be built. During this time, concrete blocks replaced bricks as tunnel liners, so Jens moved to Taihape and worked in Millers’ brickyard.

When Grandmother Ellen died on 21 February 1897, the address on her death registration was Tainui St, Palmerston North. �is was the home of her son Christian and wife Albertine, who was listed there in the 1893 electoral roll. �eir home was quite likely the one described by Aunt Annie as being on a hill and full of beautiful things that were not to be touched.

�is was all too much for Jens. He disappeared. At �rst, Ellen, the eldest, cared for her sisters, but was much too bossy. She went out to work and Mr Thompensen and Mr Stephensen, who had worked in Millers’ brickyard with Jens, cooked for them. Mr �ompensen must have been a garment maker by trade, as he taught the girls how to cut paper patterns and make their own clothes, starting with bloomers. When Arna and Dagmar went out to work, Mrs Rosa Jones of Taihape cared for the twins. Hers was the home all the girls returned to between jobs and she acted later as grandmother to their children.

The Jensen familyIn 1874, another ship, the Fritz Reuter, sailed from Hamburg with more immigrants for the Vogel Public Works scheme. She reached Napier on 17 March 1874 and the immigrants continued on to Norsewood. Among them was Karen’s father, Frederik Jensen, his second wife, Maren, daughter Karen and a further daughter and son by his �rst wife.

He must have intended to settle as he was naturalised 2 October 1876. However, when I asked my cousins what had become of Frederik, I was told he went to America, to Salt Lake City! On the Mormon Immigration Index I found the Jensen family, minus Karen, listed as passengers on the City of Sydney, sailing from Auckland on 26 April 1881 with 27 Latter Day Saints immigrants bound for

San Francisco and thence by train to Salt Lake City.

My cousins had been particularly keen to discover what had become of their grandmother Karen’s very dear twin sister, so I followed the Jensen family back to Lyderslev, named on the shipping list as their town of departure, then to Hellested, where I found Frederik and his �rst wife, Ellen Kirstine Sorensdatter, together with Karen and her twin sister Anne Margrethe, plus Ane Kirstine and brother Niels. Sadly, both mother and Karen’s twin sister died in 1871.

We wrote the results of our research as a family story, rounded o� by my cousins with a wonderful account of the New Zealand families of their grandfather Jens’ siblings and their mother’s sisters, lavishly illustrated with their photographs, and shared it with the family.

Notes1 National Archives, Wellington.2 FHL Salt Lake City Film 472907.3 Intentions to Marry, National Archives,

Wellington.4 Information about progress and

construction from “A Compendium of Railway Construction, Part Two: North Island Main Trunk” which I own.

5 Terrace End Cemetery Records “Presbyterian Block 2 – Plot 1 Purchased by Jens Martinus Christensen 5.5 (no year given) No burial record but plan c1898 shows the plot has been used.”

INFORMATION WANTED

Descendants of the daughters of William Edward Ryan and Annie Elizabeth Bright: Ethel May Bakalich; Ileen Margaret Williams or Phillips; Maud Eloise McGrath.

Patricia Ryan. T: 06 3484033. E: [email protected]

Members’ enquiries and notices submission guidelines are at the front of

this magazine

This section is free to members for inquiries of a genealogical nature but is not available to non-members. Please be precise and state clearly what you want to know. For submission guidelines see the front of this magazine. Where no details of a query are given it is presumed that the inquirer would be grateful for any information. When someone has taken the trouble to write to you with reference to your request for information, please acknowledge their letter whether the information they have shared is of use or not. It is customary to repay their postage.

Members’ enquiries and notices

Contributions from branches and interest groups are always welcome in the magazine – especially if you can

pass on useful information from your area that may assist other members. Events, projects, new repositories and services, ways you have engaged in the community and given something back. Uncertain about what you

could contribute? Contact the Editor. [email protected]


LettersFoy family reunion�ank you for the opportunity to give your readers information about a reunion for the family of �omas Foy, my great-great-grandfather, which is being held in New Plymouth on 26 and 27 October 2019. I have spent over 40 years researching our family along with Judith Foy and Vyver Main.

�omas Foy was born in Hull, Yorkshire in 1803, son of George Foy (butcher), born 1762 in Barton, and Elizabeth Jennison, born 1771 in Hull. His Foy ancestors lived in Barton on Humber, Lincolnshire and most were butchers.

Unfortunately, �omas Foy had a di�cult start to life when his father George died in 1814. His mother died a year later. �ankfully in 1817 the Parish of Churches of Hull and Barton contributed six pounds towards his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker to has uncle, William Foy. �is was clearly a wise move and we know that �omas grew into a �ne young man and was eventually able to establish his own thriving cabinet making business in partnership with a Mr Snowden in Leeds.

In 1822 he had a dramatic conversion through the ministry of the Wesleyans in Leeds and became a deeply committed member of the Methodist Church for the rest of his life. In 1825 he married Frances Pickering, born 1802 in Hull. �ere were two surviving children of this marriage. Sadly Frances died in 1831 and �omas then married Frances Snowden, a daughter of his business partner. �ey had one surviving child, �omas Henry Foy, who was born in December 1839. By 1842 the Foy and Snowden families had decided to emigrate to New Zealand through the oversight of the New Zealand Company. �ey le� Gravesend on the George Fyfe and arrived in Nelson in December 1842.

�omas and his wife were foundation members of the Nelson Methodist Church and eventually established a number of arable and cropping farms. �ey opened a butcher’s shop in Nelson called Foy’s Meat Bazaar along with their own abattoir. �ey also brought

a millstone from England which was used to grind wheat.

�e only son �omas Henry became involved in the family business as he grew up. He married twice, to Wimsett sisters, Eliza and Alice. �e two marriages produced a total of eight children.

�omas’ eldest daughter was Eliza who married Alfred Betts in 1847. �ey had nine children. From this marriage we have hundreds of Foy relatives in New Zealand who have surnames such as Betts, Main, McGavin and Hurst.

�e second daughter of �omas was Mary Ann. She had a child named John George Foy in 1858. �e father was Henry Barnett. �ey never married. Mary Ann later married a German migrant called Joseph Pahl. �ey had one child called Joseph.

In 1890 �omas Henry Foy and his family moved to Waverley in South Taranaki, taking the elderly �omas with them. �omas died shortly a�er the arrival in 1890. �e rest of the family moved to Hawera in 1893 where they bought land and established businesses.

�e Foy surname has French origins and means ‘faith’ in English. It is described by one family history site as a uncommon name of ‘great antiquity’. It probably goes back to St Foy who was martyred by the Romans in the third century.

Google �omas Foy Reunion or click on this site: https://tinyurl.com/yxgn7ytt

Brian Foy, 67 Fenwick Cres, Hillcrest, Hamilton. E: [email protected]

FRC assistance appreciatedI have been researching my family history for at least ten years. Recently I visited the NZSG in Panmure with a speci�c task in mind, to try to locate a newspaper article from the 1950s. I had looked in all the usual places, but had been struggling. It seems to me that the more recent research is, the more challenging it can be.

�e volunteer I spoke to, Peter Kra�, was extremely helpful. He listened to the information I had and gave me some ideas as to what my next steps could be. I had forgotten how helpful talking through a research problem face to face

with someone with is. �e knowledge and experience the volunteers provide is invaluable.

My sincere thanks to Peter and the other volunteers for this great service.

It was de�nitely worth the trip. I will be back.

Julie Swasbrook

Dear editor,I recently read Colyn Storer’s letter about the Tangiwai disaster.

I was with my grandad and some of his family when we drove past the site only a few weeks later. It was such a bright, cold windy sunny day there. I was seventeen at that time.

Everything was still, washed out capsized massive stone pillar bridge supports, upended carriages still jammed in the river bed, now back to a small stream, but you could still see where that massive lahar had torn through.

Army engineers had quickly built a temporary one-way bailey bridge across that river. Not quite level. It went down in the middle and up again as you entered that bridge and exited. So many spectators were parked before the crossing. And there was nearly complete silence as we recalled that terrible tragedy. I have a photo we took there but have mislaid it.

If I close my eyes I can still recall the scene of that tragedy. �at’s my story, my recollections brought back by Colyn’s letter.

�e saddest part was that a local man, hearing that tremendous roaring noise, dashed down to see that lahar sweeping away that bridge and knew that express train was due! Dashing back along the line he saw the train rushing toward him, the engine’s powerful head light cutting through the pouring rain. �at man was shouting and waving frantically in warning, but was not heard or seen in those terrible conditions early in the morning, and watched in horror as that train crashed down into that raging river. He was not able to get to those drowning people! He then rushed back to phone the emergency services.

Eric Strickett. E: [email protected]

Content on the theme of ‘Unusual Memorials: Crypts, mausoleums park benches, plaques etc ’ is required for the February 2020 issue. Do you have stories to tell about

Unusual Memorials: Crypts, mausoleums park benches, plaques etc ?

https://tinyurl.com/yxgn7ytt


Branch and Interest Group services

CANTERBURYSchool admission registers pre 1940s; church histories; transcriptions of pre 1940s BDMs and pre 1980s headstones. See our website for more holdings http://canterburygenealogy.wordpress.com/. Enquiries to [email protected]. Research Officer, NZSG Canterbury Branch, 21 Cairnbrae Drive, Prebbleton, Christchurch 7064. A small donation appreciated.

HAWERAThe SOUTH TARANAKI BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX consists of school admission records; newspaper birth, death and marriages; Anderson’s memorialist records; funeral sheets. Request by surname. Send SAE and donation to: Jill Williams, Fairfield Road, Hawera 4610 or email [email protected] or [email protected]

HAWKE’S BAYHAWKE’S BAY BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. Request by surname. Mail service only. Include contact telephone and/or email address. Send SAE and donation to Research Officer, NZSG Hawke’s Bay Branch, PO Box 7375, Taradale, Napier 4141.

NELSONA database of half a million entries covering the wider Nelson area, from indexes and books in our library, Ancestors Attic. Includes pre 1856 marriage index, including Maori, passenger shipping lists 1840–1914 to and from Nelson and from the UK and Australia. E: [email protected] or PO Box 1879, Nelson 7040.

NEW PLYMOUTHOur BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX has over 1⁄2 million records and covers mainly the wider New Plymouth area, but some references for other parts of Taranaki. Written requests by surname and forename are preferred. Please send a SAE & donation to: Bruce Bellini, Taranaki Biographical Index Librarian, NZSG New Plymouth Branch, 98A Queens Road, Glen Avon, New Plymouth 4312.

NORTH SHOREBirths and deaths c1940 to date from The New Zealand Herald. Mail service only. Send SAE and donation to: Dennise Cook, Research Officer NZSG North Shore Branch, PO Box 89045, Torbay, Auckland 0742.

OAMARUOamaru Cemeteries CD Headstone Transcriptions. For both the Old and New Cemeteries. The Old Cemetery records have been updated. Cost $25 including p&p. Enquiries to [email protected] or [email protected]

PALMERSTON NORTHOur SETTLERS DATABASE 1870–1900 contains 3,000 names or family groups. Headstone transcriptions – ask for lookups or buy the CD. BDM newspaper clippings; school admissions transcriptions – 20,000 and growing; funeral cards. Enquiries to: [email protected]. Include what you already know. A small donation will be welcome, depending on results.

PAPAKURAThe PAPAKURA AND DISTRICTS BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX includes Alfriston, Ardmore, Ararimu, Clevedon, Drury, Karaka, Kawakawa Bay, Maketu, Ramarama, Slippery Creek, Springfield and Wairoa South. Enquiries welcome, mail service only with SAE and donation to NZSG Papakura Branch, PO Box 72–993, Papakura 2244.

TE AWAMUTUBooklets of MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS FOR ST JOHN’S and ST PAUL’S ANGLICAN CHURCHES including full transcriptions from cemetery and church interiors, plans, histories and index. Also digital images of inscriptions from both cemeteries, lookups for local school admission registers (varying dates) and local newspaper family notices (1911–1974). Enquiries to [email protected]

WAIRARAPAThe WAIRARAPA BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX of local records includes newspaper family notices, 1997–current, a large BDM certificate collection, funeral service cards. Request by surname with telephone number and/or email address. SAE and donation to Research Officer, NZSG Wairarapa Branch, PO Box 726, Masterton 5840.