We live in incredible times. We have been locked away in our bubbles for a month or more. My lovely wife is still talking to me although her face is a little tense every now and then. My children are bullies (in the nicest possible way). They insist on keeping us well watered i.e. wined, and the refrigerator is well stocked. My baking skills were always good, but they are even better now. But the problem is that I make these wonderful breads, buns, scones etc and there is only my wife and I eating them. I have ballooned, my clothes are getting tighter. Even exercise is not beating that. I firmly believe that if God had wanted me to walk long distances, he would have put wheels on my feet. Excuse me – I have to run off and do the next stage in the sour dough recipe.

The first 3 weeks I was heavily into my genealogy research. But the last 10 days I have done none. Maybe it's because I believe I have cracked the last brick wall in my research that took over 25 years to achieve (see my column). Now I must focus on the brick walls that exist a 100 years earlier in my family tree. But my ambition was to get my ancestry back to the early 1800s and now, about 30 years later, I have achieved that, and the process of reloading new ambitions is not easy. Sometimes it is not good to break down brick walls.

I must say that I have seen the developments of a “new” way of doing genealogy. A few weekends ago I was supposed to be in London at the Family Tree Live conference. Well, that was cancelled, but the organisation put most of the speeches up on the internet for free viewing. I was able to “attend” the lectures – they were verbal not written. Last week the Auckland Library had 5 days of 2 hour lectures on the NZ military history via Zoom. That was brilliant. The process, from an idiot’s point of view and limited computer ability, was so easy to “hook up”. I have seen the future of Genealogy Conferences. And to cap it all off access to many valuable repositories has been made free. Love that word “free”. Read the News & Views section to see some of them.

I normally finish this section with the words "I'm off for a coffee", but that pleasure is but a dream. Nobody can make a coffee as good as my special lady barista. My Wednesday session with my old mate has also gone. Bugger! My favourite scones are out of reach. I'll be in tears soon.

This needs revising. I had more first post lockdown coffee made by my favourite lady barista. It was boooooootiful.

Please look after yourself. This is not a time to be silly. You must do as you are told and look after yourself. If you are silly you may have what I always considered fictional - a funeral with nobody present.

Regards

Peter Nash

Do you want to receive this newsletter every month?

This newsletter is free. There are not many free newsletters of this length in New Zealand. I am biased but it should be an interesting read.

To subscribe is easy too. Go onto the FAMNET website - don't misspell it as I have, twice already. https://www.famnet.org.nz/

The front page is lovely, but click on [Newsletters]. A page opens showing you a list of all the past newsletters, you can click the link to read one that you’re interested in.

Like the front page, the newsletters page has a place where you can log on or register. It’s in the top right-hand corner. Put your email here and click [Continue]. If you aren’t already on our mailing list, there will be a message “Email not in database” and a button [New User] appears. Click this and follow the dialog to register. It’s free and easy. You should receive a copy every month until you unsubscribe.

Robert has assured me that he will not send begging letters to your email - apparently, he has enough money at the moment. You will not have to put in your credit card number. You will not be charged a subscription.

Tell other genealogists so they can enjoy the newsletters too.

Regards

Peter Nash

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Regular Contributors

From the Developer

FamNet’s General Resource Databases

A late addition to the newsletter is an article in News and Views about a new web site that will provide access to some databases that Peter tells me will be very useful to NZ genealogists. Of course, I’m pleased that this data is going to become available, but I find it disappointing that FamNet was ignored as a potential host for this data. I know nothing about the details of this data, but I would be very surprised if it couldn’t have been hosted within our General Resources section within hours.

The heart of FamNet is of course the Genealogy Database (GDB) which has about 16M records of people linked into family trees, but there is also another section, General Resource Databases, designed to hold data such as lists of cemetery lists, passengers, and so on. When I originally developed FamNet I had rather naively thought that it would be welcomed by the NZ Society of Genealogists, and so I developed the General Resource section to provide a future replacement for CD’s. Like the GDB, the General Resource section rigorously maintains ownership. Thus there is an owner for each table who controls access rights to it, and is initially the only person who can update the table. Ownership can even be segmented: each cemetery in the burials database could have a different owner, for example. Because the General Resources section was developed to replace CD’s, the owner even has the ability to charge for access, although currently all our GR databases are free.

I quickly realised that I needed flexibility to handle what data owners had recorded – one set of cemetery records included the name of the horse that pulled the hearse, for example – so I abandoned the initial fixed-format table designs and wrote software that allows tables to be defined, modified, and displayed dynamically. It is now possible to create a new table and load data to it from a spreadsheet very quickly – say an hour to be reflecting the data back to the table owner for comment. Data can include links and pictures. As well as all these advantages, users can search many tables at once, and can easily link a found result to their GDB records.

It is very disappointing to me that only a few people have taken advantage of these features, and data owners continue to re-invent solutions that work (eventually) in isolation, leaving viewers to find and search multiple web sites, each with their own requirements and rules.

Telling your story: Index

1. Writing your story as notes, or with Word.

2. Embedding pictures in Word documents.

3. Saving Documents for Web Publication.

4. Saving Scrapbook Items

5. Sharing your Story: Managing your Family Group

6. On Line Editing: More Facts, Family, GDB Links

7. Comparing and Synchronising Records

8. Producing and Using Charts

9. Merging Trees. Part 1: Why Bother?

10. Merging Trees. Part 2: Adding Records On-Line

11. Merging Trees. Part3. Combining Existing Trees

12. Finding Your Way Around FamNet (Getting Help)

13. FamNet – a Resource for your Grandchildren

14. FamNet’s General Resource Databases
15. Updating General Resource Databases

16. Privacy

17. Indexes: beyond Excel.

18. Linking trees

19. Uploading a GEDCOM file

20. Uploading Objects to your Database

21. Bulk-uploading Objects. FamNet resource: Useful Databases
22. Publishing Living Family on Family Web Sites

23. Have YOU written your family story yet?

24. Editing and Re-arranging your Family Tree On-line.

25. It’s the Stories that Matter

26. Using QR Codes for your Family History

27. What happens to our Family History when we’re gone?

Robert Barnes

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The Nash Rambler

The Hunt for Julia Murray

Who was Julia MURRAY?

Julia or Julia Anne MURRAY married Joseph NASH in 1878 and together they had eleven children including my grandfather, Frederick James NASH. She used either Julia or Julia Ann (with or without the final e) throughout her New Zealand life.

For over 25 years I have hunted for her ancestry and where she came from. All the documentation I have found indicates that she was born in Sydney (this never varied) and that the year of birth varied from 1854 to 1860 depending on what document you were looking at. She was definitely not born in New Zealand and all research I have done into Australian records, particularly New South Wales did not produce her birth. There was one possibility for a birth in Warwick but on further research this proved to be not my Julia.

The Onehunga Murder

When I searched New Zealand newspapers [1] for Julia MURRAY an interesting murder case comes up. This occurred in Onehunga on 25 April 1864 and involved Frederick MURRAY who was eventually convicted of the manslaughter of his wife, Julia MURRAY.

The key facts gathered from the various newspaper reports are:

Frederick & Julia MURRAY were married

There were 5 children, 2 boys, 2 girls and another (possibly a baby)

The eldest was John MURRAY aged about 10 ie born about 1854 in one article and aged about 7 in another ie born about 1857

`The victim as aged about 24 ie born about 1840

Frederick was a groom, who worked for Vickerys in Royal Oak and he lived in Green St.

My immediate theory was that my great grandmother, Julia, was one of the children of this couple.

Further research resulted in my finding the births of two children [2] to the couple in Onehunga:

Francis MURRAY, born 8 May 1861,

Mary Ann MURRAY, born 20 Aug 1862

There were no other possible births in NZ for children with a mother, Julia MURRAY and/or father, Frederick MURRAY or Francis MURRAY.

Interestingly two facts emerged from this research:

Both children had their father’s name as Francis although in Catholic records at that time Latin names were used

Both children were sponsored at their baptisms, in the local Catholic Church, by a John MURRAY.

When Mary Ann MURRAY married Robert GEMMILL [3] in the Onehunga Catholic Church on 31 January 1889 she gave her father as John MURRAY and mother as Julia.

Many years were spent on trying to connect my great grandmother to this family to no avail. Several of my cousins who are genealogists also reached the same point as I did and, much later, I was to find that some GEMMILL researchers had the same problem.

Searching NZ Electoral Rolls produced the fact that the only voter with the surname MURRAY living in Green St, Onehunga was a Francis MURRAY.

Another problem was who looked after the children when Frederick went to prison or where did they go. Unfortunately, early Onehunga Catholic records were destroyed in a fire in that church. I did find that, in 1865 in Onehunga, a boy, John MURRAY, aged 10, was in court for theft of some fruit and was sent to Mr Cunningham’s place which turned out to be the Auckland City Mission Boys Home. Soon after, but unconnected to John MURRAY, a scandal arose in the press regarding the conditions in and the brutality of that boy’s home. It was very Dickensian in that boys were caged, manacled and/or handcuffed, starved, bullied, and beaten.

Last year (2019), a cousin, living in or near Brisbane, Australia, did a DNA test which produced a close connection with a descendant of the above mentioned GEMMILL marriage. She is a professional genealogy researcher specialising in DNA research. I met her recently and was very impressed by her research. She has a family tree on Ancestry.com and she has extensive list of sources to back up her research. Thus, I felt, the connection was right. Our Julia MURRAY was one of the children.

A new theory was developed:

Frederick (AKA Francis) MURRAY was married to Julia (the mother) somewhere in Australia (fingers crossed) and they had three children there. They came to NZ as a family of 5 maybe with a John MURRAY who was a brother or father of Frederick/Francis. This took place before May 1861.

The children, being very young (ie all under 7 at the time of the killing of their mother), were then looked after by John MURRAY. Being young, they forgot who their father was, and they considered John MURRAY to be their father although they did not forget Julia was their mother’s name.

When the MURRAY family came to NZ

A very good friend of mine came up with some mind-boggling passenger records:

She found that on 25 November 1859, the ship “Airedale” arrived in Auckland from Sydney with passengers John MURRAY, Mr & Mrs MURRAY and 3 children [4].

She found that, on 15 November 1859, the “Lady Dennison” arrived in Sydney with passengers Mr & Mrs MURRAY, Master MURRAY, Misses MURRAY (2) and Messr MURRAY. The same vessel had, as passengers on leaving Launceston, Tasmania, on 18 October 1859, John MURRAY, Francis MURRAY, Julia MURRAY and 3 children.

So, we have a John MURRAY, a Francis and a Julia MURRAY together with 3 children (a boy and 2 girls) leaving Launceston, Tasmania and arriving in NZ at the right time.

Who was Francis MURRAY?

In the period up to 1859 there appeared to be only three possibilities for Francis MURRAY in Tasmania and, with the exception of a British Army deserter in Victoria, no other in Australia. One was a woman, and another was too old to be a valid possibility. All were convicts.

The only possibility was Francis MURRAY, born in Borough, London in about 1822 and convicted in March 1844 in the Old Bailey [5] for theft. He arrived, in Tasmania on the “Maria Somes”. His convict record is found in many places online and he was always identified by the ship’s name on which he arrived. I spent much time studying his record but for reasons that will become obvious later I will not go into it now. I can say that he was not always a good boy and trouble and he were constant companions.

Who was Julia MURRAY (senior)?

There is only one marriage possibility for Francis MURRAY.

Francis MURRAY married Bridget SKINNER on 5 September 1859 in the Baptist Chapel in Launceston. The ages are interesting. Frances is aged 20 ie born 1839 which is impossible because there were no births in Tasmania to fit this. Bridget was aged 25 giving her birth year as 1834 which, much later proves about right.

Now the search was on to find if this was the marriage I needed. I could explain that if both the Frederick/Francis MURRAY and Julia MURRAY who arrived in Auckland in 1859 were convicts they might have wanted to hide their convict background by changing their Christian names.

Searching Tasmanian birth records I came across three births worth noting:

Julia Ann SKINNER, born 25 March 1856 just outside of Launceston to JAMES SKINNER and BRIDGET SKINNER formerly HIGGINS

James SKINNER died 12 December 1857 aged 4 months of natural debility. No birth record could be found.

Unnamed girl SKINNER born 13 November 1858 in the same locality with parents James SKINNER and Bridget HIGGINS

I was unable to find a marriage for James SKINNER and Bridget HIGGINS, but the search will continue. It would not surprise me that they never got married. Subsequent research has revealed that Bridget HIGGINS was a convict and it’s highly likely that James SKINNER was one too - there are 4 options here.

Further research is needed on James SKINNER as he is my great great grandfather. Francis MURRAY has no connection to me although he played a great part in my existence.

The obvious question that needs to be asked is – why did Bridget SKINNER/HIGGINS marry Francis MURRAY in September 1859 which is so soon after the birth of her last child in November 1858. Well, she has a boy, John (yet to be found but at least 5), Julia Ann aged 3, and an unnamed girl less than 12 months old. Something must have happened to James SKINNER. I found that a James SKINNER, living in the area where the children were born, was convicted on 12 May 1859, in Launceston, of sheep stealing and sentenced to 8 years penal servitude. Obviously, Bridget needed somebody to provide the necessities for her and her children to survive. Francis MURRAY lived in the same area and filled the role. In order to give themselves a better chance in life they decided to go to New Zealand, therefore they married, changed their given names, and left Tasmania. It was easier to travel as a married couple and the children took the surname MURRAY because they were so young and could not remember, later, what their real surname was.

Now I have a strong possibility for my Julia Ann MURRAY together with her unnamed sister which I have never been able to identify. All I need now is to find the birth of the boy later known as John MURRAY.

Who was Bridget HIGGINS?

The above Bridget Higgins was an Irish convict, born about 1832, who was convicted in Galway Town, Ireland, on 16 January 1849 for larceny. She was sentenced to transportation for 7 years and arrived in Tasmania, on the “Australasian”, 29 September 1849. She is always identified with her ship’s name and her record is easily obtained. She was not a good girl.

In 1851 she gets permission to marry John WALKER and does so on 22 September 1851 in Evandale, near Launceston.

Now the key piece of information. On 8 May 1852 (mmm a short pregnancy) John WALKER is born in Evandale to John WALKER and Bridget HIGGINS. Unfortunately, 10 days later, John WALKER (the father) dies in an accident with a team of two horses. It appears he was not sober at the time.

Now Bridget has a young boy and needs a few necessities for survival. I do not know the complete story but in April 1853 she was “found in bed with a man in a disorderly house” and sentenced to 3 months hard labour. In January 1854 she was “living in an improper manner and reporting herself married. She was sentenced to 6 months hard labour.

So, I now have a candidate for the boy, John MURRAY.

The conclusion

I know that the above collection of facts can be considered as a convenient collection of coincidences but, with a little bit of licence it fits all the facts I know about the murder in Onehunga. Further research must take place but the only real way I can prove it all is by having a DNA test confirm the link to the HIGGINS family or the SKINNER family. Maybe my cousin in Brisbane can help. I am in communication with her.

The details of the MURRAY family in Onehunga in 1864

Father: Francis aka Frederick MURRAY born about 1822 in London

Mother: Bridget aka Julia MURRAY nee HIGGINS

born about 1832 in Ireland

Children: John MURRAY nee WALKER born 8 May 1852 in Tasmania

Julia Ann MURRAY nee SKINNER born 25 March 1856 in Tasmania

Unnamed girl MURRAY

nee SKINNER born 13 November 1858 in Tasmania

Francis MURRAY born 8 May 1861 in Onehunga

Mary Ann MURRAY born 20 August 1862 in Onehunga

[1] PapersPast website: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

[2] Births, Deaths & Marriages Online bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz and Catholic Church Records

[3] Auckland Catholic Church Records

[4] NZ Herald 25 November 1859

[5] Old Bailey Records www.oldbaileyonline.org

Peter Nash

panash@xtra.co.nz

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DNA Testing for Family History

From the editor: Gail has written quite a series on DNA Testing. You will see them all on the FAMNET website and they are a must-read, particularly if you are considering or have had a test done. They are easy to read and not too technical. Click Index so far to see these articles

Is a Consanguineous marriage the same as an Endogamous marriage?

The simple answer is “no” but they can have similar results in genetic genealogy – to a point.

Let’s see what the differences are in their definitions.

Endogamy:

Endogamy is when a particular group of people (whether by a geographical area or by culture) marry another from their own group and a child is the product.

The child may then go on to marry a close relation and also have a child who later does similar.

It is particularly prevalent in groups which are isolated – either by geography or by culture

The end result of the practice of endogamy is the same but only more serious as that of a consanguineous marriage. That is, each union increases the chances that both members of the union carry recessive variants. These are then passed through the family at each later generation (if the practice continues).

Consanguinity:

In simple terms, it defines the connection between to people back to their common ancestor. It comes from a Latin term meaning ‘blood relative’

1st degree of consanguinity relates to your parents.

2^nd degree relates to your grandparents

3^rd degree to your great grandparents

4^th degree relates to your great grandparents and so on.

Certain religions and countries apply laws to whether or not people of the 1^st degree of consanguinity are able to marry.

A consanguineous marriage is not encouraged because it increases the chances that both members of the union will carry recessive variants being passed through the family, which increases the chance that their offspring will be affected by a recessive disease (Modell and Darr, 2002)

It also creates matching problems where our 2-faced chromosomes state we have a specific cousin match.

Do you have such a marriage (either endogamous or consanguineous) in your genealogical background? If you do, your sharing of centimorgans (cMs) will make the connection of your match appear closer than it really is.

Let us assume you have an autosomal match in either the 23andMe or the FTDNA data base. (Only 23andMe and FTDNA have Chromosome Browsers, but only FTDNA allows transfers of your chromosomes into its data base). If the match is indicated as being say, a likely 3rd cousin with say a ~52 cM match AND you have a consanguineous cousin chart (you can locate one at https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Relationship_Chart_FINAL_August_2017.jpg , your first reaction is probably to think the common ancestor is one of your 2*G Grandparents. But if that set of GG Grandparents were 1st cousins to one another, then the more likely common ancestor will be one of your set of 3*G grandparents. Remember you have 16 of these.

It gets even more complex if any of them had married more than once or had a child out of wedlock who was adopted in or out. The same difficulties apply if any of their parents (or grandparents) had similar cousin marriages or multiple marriages.

I began to understand this when I considered the following example in my own ancestry.

My son and my siblings agreed to test autosomally for me and at the same time a distant cousin agreed to do the same. (On paper, he is my 8^th cousin and my 7 * G Grandparents are our common ancestor).

Using FTDNA’s cut-off criteria, the cM (centimorgans) should be too small to register. Imagine my surprise when I had a match of 24 cMs. Using the consanguineous chart, the average cM match shows him as a 3^rd cousin once removed (or thereabouts). What was even more surprising that the realisation that my son has a 26 cM match.

Scuttling back to my genealogical tree and many hours later, I found that 2 sets of very, very close relatives had chosen to marry, thus skewing the chromosomal matches.

I then started thinking about the history of the time and the closed society in which these ancestors lived. They married within their own circles with many arrangements made between the same families to enhance wealth and title. This can and does lead to endogamy.

Thus far in my own ancestry, but there are certainly inherited physical weaknesses running through my mother’s paternal and her maternal families. So, I have more sleuthing to do – I have found my mother’s side a great deal more difficult than my father’s side. Perhaps your sleuthing has turned up some interesting discoveries? I sure look forward to hearing about it if you care to write.

Gail Riddell

gailriddelldna@gmail.com

Wairarapa Wandering

The Death of a Family Friend

It was sad news the other day when a friend of my late parents died - he was a great person, good driver… there’s a clue!

I had grown up in London knowing the family. I can remember his late relations as well - in fact his Uncle Michael was my fathers’ colleague at work at Moss & Lawson in Thornton Heath, Surrey, on the border of South London and Surrey (near Croydon) … there’s another clue in the firm’s name.

It was Sir Stirling Moss. He lived near Shepherds Market, Mayfair, London and was 90 years young.

Often when I was able to drive, I would pop over to see Dad in the Showroom, and if I was lucky, Stirling would be visiting as well.

I emailed him quite a bit over the last few years, I can remember him once saying he had fallen down the lift shaft at his apartment. I suggested that more water was needed! He had spent many months in Hospital the other year and I wonder if that was anything to do with his death.

One of my emails to him was to ask about a cigarette lighter in my possession which belonged to my father. On it was “HCC (Harrow Car Club) Moss Trophy Trial 1^st Class G. Pentony 5–3-1950. It has never been used and is still in its original box, Parker Roller Beacon, trademark “Made in England”. He replied saying his father Alfred would have presented it to my father, Gerard Pentony, from where Adele gets the name Pentony in her surname! I have most of my father’s trophies here in NZ and my sister has some in Perth.

Dad did trials with so many car clubs around the home counties, so I have cups of silver, pewter, ash trays. I have the lot, and I’m proud to have them on display.

When I was invited back home in 2014, it was to write up the history of a car built for Alfred Moss for car trials, which is in the Beaulieu Car Museum but with incorrect details. It was, in fact, built in the workshop at Moss & Lawson over weekends in 1950 by couple, Harry Payne and his wife, Flo. I had invited a Secretary of a local Car Club to meet up with Flo and listen to her telling the story of building the car for the Moss family. Flo later invited me to stay at their home and I always had my own bedroom no matter where I was going in England: she treated me like a daughter she never had. Harry was the Works manager at Moss & Lawson, and often helped my family with car trials.

RIP. Sir Stirling Moss.

Adele Pentony-Graham

12 Neich’s Lane

Clareville 5713

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Digging Into Historical Records

The White Population of Nelson, October 1843

The men who collected statistical information about the Nelson Settlement – Eugene Bellairs (surveyor), James Magarey (agricultural labourer), Thomas M. Hugh (?) and William G. Figgis (constable) – were identified via vouchers that recorded payments made to them by the New Zealand Company in return for their services. [1] A summary, based on information published in the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle of 16 Dec 1843 and “Statistics of Nelson 1843 to 1854” was created in late November 2019. [2]

Since then further references have been found in the original New Zealand Company correspondence records held at the Public Record Office London. These were microfilmed as part of the Australasian Joint Copying Project and many of the 196 microfilm reels can now be viewed online via the National Library of Australia. [3]

On 04 September 1843 Colonel William Wakefield wrote to William Fox advising him that he had been appointed the Company’s Resident Agent at the Settlement of Nelson and was authorised to act under the Power of Attorney of the late Resident Agent, Captain Arthur Wakefield. Amongst all the points to which Colonel Wakefield drew Fox’s attention, was a request to supply “statistical information required by the Directors according to the tables forwarded to Nelson some time ago, with as little delay as possible.” The Police Magistrate at Nelson was to “assist in the collection of the desired data by allowing one of his officers to accompany anyone whom you may depute, from house to house, to request the information under his authority.” [4]

William Fox forwarded the “Statistical Returns for this Settlement” to Colonel Wakefield on 25 March 1844. “They have been prepared as fully as possible, and their accuracy may be relied upon.” [5] A transcript is available. [6] The equivalent 1843-1844 ‘original return’ for Wellington has also been located. [7]

Extracts of the Nelson returns were published in the local newspaper in mid-December 1843 [8] and pencil annotations in the original return indicate publication in the New Zealand Journal. No online references to the latter have been found.

Other annotations indicate that most of the ‘notes’ in the original return were not published and when comparing the original to the published versions the former contains much more information than the latter. This illustrates the importance of locating the manuscript equivalents of published returns whenever possible. Another observation is that the original return is a ‘compiled’ return and is presumably based on earlier paper records. Remember the ‘house to house’ mentioned earlier? It is not known if these survive.

The original return contained 18 titled sections as follows: Population, White population by ages, Married & Unmarried persons, Religious Persuasions, Trades & Professions, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Houses &c., Livestock, Land, Ships, Taxes, Banks, Rates of Interest, Rates of Exchange, Education and Crime and Punishment. The published returns only carried partial information for some of the headings and the underlined items were excluded. One item excluded was the 28 marriages that occurred between 01 February 1842 and 31 October 1843. Would anyone like the challenge of detailing those?

Under the livestock section an annotation made after the return was compiled stated that about 1,000 sheep, 12 mules, 20 horses and two Timor Ponies had been imported. The return indicated that there were no Asses or Mules and it made a distinction between Draught & Farm horses and Pleasure horses. The two Timor Ponies arrived from Sydney on 09 December 1843 on the Brigantine Star of China. [9]

The shipping section recorded that five boats had been built in the settlement – Erin, Enterprize, Carbon, Hyndus and Moonraker; and that up till the end of 1843 exactly 100 vessels had arrived at the Port of Nelson.

Two girl’s schools were referred to under Education and they each catered for about 18 scholars. They were conducted by Mrs Jenkins and Misses Fyfe. The former is probably Harriette Jenkins nee Lane who, before marrying Alfred George Jenkins in late 1841, was Governess to the family of George Gething at Newport in Monmouthshire. [10] Agnes Allan (1795-1877), formerly Fyfe nee Clunie established “a small school at Nelson for young ladies” and was assisted by her four daughters, Margaret (1820-1863), Agnes (1823-1905), Ann Torn (1825-1894) and Janet (1830-1910). [11]

Some of the unpublished notes in the original return are:

The number of Natives and Half Castes resident within the surveyed limits of the Settlement has not been ascertained with great precision but it does not appear to exceed 300.

Two of the Widows may be considered unmarriageable from age; the remaining 22 are generally young; many of them are the relicts of men killed at the Wairau.

Capitalists employing labourers: 95

Circulation in Nelson £7,000 to £8,000 in £5 and £1 notes

Amount of specie in Bank? (can’t be ascertained)

Committals for trial by Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction to be holden at Nelson:

Males (15), females (1) – three crimes against the person, 13 against property

Statistics New Zealand carries copies of 19^th-century statistical publications and one of these is titled “Statistics of Nelson 1843-1854.” The 1843 information includes two additional sections labelled Imports and Exports. The source of this information is at present unknown. [12]

[1] Famnet Newsletter December 2019: The 1843 Nelson Census

https://famnet.org.nz/newsletters/FamNet/December_2019/Newsletter.htm

[2] Nelson Census 1843 undertaken by the New Zealand Company – A summary

http://www.nzpictures.co.nz/NelsonCensus1843Summary.pdf

[3] Public Record Office London Colonial Office – Original New Zealand Company Correspondence https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-728233170

[4] Public Record Office London Colonial Office CO 208/85 folio 193 (from Nelson 1843)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2233369597/view

[5] Public Record Office London Colonial Office CO 208/86 folio 85 Original NZ Company correspondence from Nelson 1844 – Nelson Statistical Returns

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2233491998/view

[6] Partial transcript of Public Record Office London Colonial Office CO 208/86 Original NZ Company correspondence from Nelson 1844 – Nelson Statistical Returns

http://www.nzpictures.co.nz/pandoraresearchAJCP-CO208-86.pdf

[7] Public Record Office London Colonial Office CO 208/101 folio 404 Original NZ Company correspondence from Wellington 1843 – Wellington Statistical Returns

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2214492700/view

[8] Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle 16 Dec 1843

[9] Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Gazette 16 Dec 1843 Shipping Intelligence

[10] 1841 Census Commercial Street, Newport, Monmouthshire – George & Jane Gething

[11] The Descendants of John Fyfe, circa 1730 http://www.airgale.com.au/fyfe/d2.htm

[12] Statistics of Nelson, New Zealand, from 1843 to 1854 (Note: as of 24 Apr 2020 the Statistics New Zealand Website was in transit to a new site and this link may change at a future date)

http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/digitised-collections/19th-century-collection.aspx

Pandora Research

www.nzpictures.co.nz

Dawn Chambers
nz19thcentury@outlook.com

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Chinese Corner

Chinese in Auckland- How They Live, An Interesting Interview

( Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, August 31 1919.

Although the sight of a Chinaman working industriously in his garden, reckoning his change with a moving accuracy in a fruit shop, or handing out the week's laundry is a very familiar one to New Zealanders comparatively little is known of the conditions under which these sons of the Celestial Empire are living. There are at present about 400 Chinamen in Auckland, and perhaps 10 Chinese wives. Nearly all the others, however, have wives and children in their own land, and are patiently adding day by day to the little hoard that will someday enable them to go back to their homes and families. The family tie is a very strong one with Chinese, and their sojourn in foreign lands is usually but a stepping stone to a return home and a prosperity among their own folk that it would be very hard to obtain in the ordinary run of life In China. The ancient traditions of the Chinese still hold strong sway in some respects, but in others even the manners and customs of the oldest Empire are waning and undergoing change. This Is inevitable when the Occident and Orient come into close and continuous contact. The pigtail has gone, and quaintly trousered women with shy eyes and tiny sandaled feet have given place to smart young misses wearing tailored skirts and French heels. But the average Chinaman is still the frugal, industrious worker of the age-old East. Even in prosperous Auckland he still lives mainly on rice, although his needs in this respect have gone unfulfilled for some time past on account of the prevailing acute shortage. An inquiry made by a Herald reporter as to how the local Chinese residents were faring, in view of this dietary difficulty, resulted in some interesting information with regard to the general trend of life among the Chinese. In Auckland, as in other respects, Orientals are conforming more and more to European ideas with regard to foods, and, although rice still is, or was until recently, their staple diet, the white man's menu is gradually being adopted by Chinamen. A few traditional Chinese dishes are still regarded as great delicacies. Dried sharks' fins are in strong demand, and this luxurious fare is provided at the banquets occasionally held in Auckland. A glance at a list of delicacies forwarded from China for local consumption revealed some weird and wonderful dishes. An item of dried shrimps and oysters looked more or less familiar, but sugared water melon rind, fishes' eyes in vinegar, onions in treacle, bamboo shoots in syrup, and beche de-mer (or sea slugs), brought to mind visions of a banquet truly Oriental. The Chinese were not given to riotous living, but by all accounts, the local banquets lack few of the traditional delicacies associated with these sumptuous repasts. There is in Auckland a strong branch of the Chinese Nationalist Society, which receives all the newspapers and current literature of China. This is widely read by local Chinese residents, who follow occasionally the stormy course of home politics with keen interest. There are also two Chinese Freemasons' Societies in Auckland, in which the trend of politics is reflected, although party feeling is apt to be a little less pronounced than is sometimes the case with regard to local politics. That is to say, the celestials usually agree to differ politely. One interesting point mentioned by a well-known Chinese resident was that the ancient dread of surgical operations is to a large extent dying out among the Chinese living abroad. A Chinese physician is traditionally a herbalist. Amputations were unknown in China until students of the present generation migrated to the west, where they learned western methods of healing, and the treatment of the sick. Consequently, Auckland doctors frequently tend Chinese patients and perform operations, and send them to the general hospital in a way that would have been undreamed of among the Orientals of past generation. At the same time the use of herbs is still very popular, and the only Chinese herbalist in the dominion, who has a shop in Wellington, does a fairly wide trade among his fellow-countrymen. Another point of interest, as showing the general acceptance of western ideas, is that the old tradition that the bones of every Chinaman must be taken back to his own land is not so inexorably observed as in the past. During the recent epidemic about 10 Chinese residents of Auckland died. Some of those were buried in the ordinary way, and will rest for ever in alien soil, but others were embalmed and provision was made for the shipment of the remains to China. This cannot be done, however, for at least one year, after interment, and even the ultimate carrying out of the old tradition will depend very largely upon shipping conditions. Otago Daily Times, Issue 17718, 1 September 1919, Page 6

Helen Wong

helen.familytree@gmail.com

Anne Sherman

Cousinship.

One of the things that people often ask me about is the different types of cousin. We generally know who our cousins are, but want about 2^nd cousins and the ‘once removed’ tag? Where do half cousins fit in?

Descendants of Your ancestors

First cousins

First cousins are simply known as cousins. They are the children of your aunts and uncles (true aunts and uncles, not the family friend kind). All of your first cousins will share the same grandparents with you.

Second and third cousins etc.

Second, third and fourth cousins etc. are of the same generation but are two or more generations away from your shared great grandparent.

Second cousins will share the same great grandparents. The parents of these cousins are also your cousins but a generation removed. i.e. they are not from your generation. The number before ‘removed’ is how many generations they are away from you,

On a side note, the siblings of your grandparents will be your granduncle or aunt (commonly called great uncle/aunt). Whatever the description is before the grandparents, the same applies to their siblings. Therefore your 3 x great grandparent’s brother will be your 3 x great granduncle.

The further back you go the more distant the cousin. Third cousins will only share your 2 x great grandparents, and fourth cousins will only share the same 3 x great grandparents.

Descendants of your cousins.

Once you know who your first, second and third cousins are, it is easier to determine your relationship to their children. Children of your first cousins are your first cousins once removed. Grandchildren of your first cousins will be your first cousins twice removed.

Half cousins.

There is some disagreement within the genealogy world as to whether half cousin is a real relationship.

Half cousins do exist in the legal sense. As far as probate, at least, is concerned, if someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will (intestate), full blood cousins are entitled to the estate before half cousins. In this case ‘Half’ means they only share one grandparent with the deceased, not both. [6]^,[7]

Cousinships can seem very complex but once you understand the basics it can be easy to work the relationships out. It is however usually easier if you have a family history chart in front of you to do it.

Be aware though that your ancestors may not have understood this. You may find that distant cousins and even grand aunts and uncles are all simply called ‘cousin’. If you do come across anyone called a cousin in your family papers and they appear to be too old/young etc., they are likely to be a more distant relative, rather than a first cousin.

[6] A ‘Paralegal in Probate’ working as a Case Manager for a global probate research company.

[7] Citizens Advice service. Who can inherit if there is no will – the rules of intestacy. Other Close relatives. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

Anne Sherman

anne@leavesfamilyhistory.co.uk

Jan’s Jottings

A few thoughts

A suggestion - whilst you are looking for ways to make good use of all this extra time (!!!) I have found a way to be able to relax and read a book (!!) AND be thinking about my research!!!

How? By reading Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth (set in 1100's) and World Without End (set in 1300's). You may have to wait awhile before the Libraries open so you can read these books also!!! I have read them before, but now I am thinking of my families experiencing a situation similar to what we are experiencing now, so am reading these two books again.

There may be other books, fiction but following what actually happened, for events in the 1100-????, available to download as e books. Let us know if you find any.

It is interesting to think of how our families coped with the plague etc.

But they would not have experienced the to and fro and what if’s that I am going through thinking about this year’s Hooked on Genealogy Tour!!!!

1. Will there be planes flying to Salt Lake City? And on to the UK????
2. Will anyone be prepared to travel sitting next to someone for hours - who might have the virus???? Especially as most people coming on a HOG Tour are over 70.
3. Will the Library be open?
4. Maybe there will be planes flying to the US and we could make this year’s HOG tour just to Salt Lake City?
5. Could things be back to what they were?????
6. So have accommodation booked for 3 weeks so we could research in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Leaving early September.
7. We could have the Salt Lake City to NZ weekend workshop over long weekend in June. We KNOW this is great preparation for the time in SLC and the UK. AND, we don’t have to have this over a long weekend - we could have it over a weekend in July. These would be our Pre-Tour seminars. In person or ???

So, if by chance, you had been thinking of a HOG tour this year, let me know your thoughts on the above. Then we can be ready for whatever the world is throwing at us re planes, libraries, hotels etc.

So, if you had been thinking of coming this year - email jangow@gmail.com or phone 09 5211518 and let me know your thoughts.

I was looking at https://www.youtube.com/familysearch. Look at the videos - plenty to choose from!! Look for the videos from Roots Tech. Suggest you have an indexed notebook to make a note of what you are looking at and LEARNING. Note any web sites etc. Perhaps do a screen print and paste into your notebook. Make sure this is a learning experience!!

Jan Gow
jangow@gmail.com

Guest Contributors

Ken Morris

Three Very Different Books on Maps

ON THE MAP by Simon Garfield, this paperback published in 2013 (ISBN 978 1 846685 10 1) is a very readable coverage of maps through history. The chapters cover specific topics such as the history of the London Tube Map by Harry Beck (and some quirky alternative themes & names for the lines and stations), a “Mrs P” alias Phyllis Pearsall who developed and produced the London A-Z and reputedly walked 3,000 miles to map the 23,000 streets of 1930’s London. For the older mapmakers there was the difficulty of getting not only reliable information but to be able to represent map data in size proportion on a flat surface. There are chapters on treasure maps, Google maps and on the development of tourist guidebooks and maps, from the Murray Handbooks for Travelers (1840’s) to Michelin and The Lonely Planet. There is a source bibliography.

LONDON the INFORMATION CAPITAL by Cheshire & Uberti. Published 2014, ISBN 978 1 846 14847 7.

The 100 maps and graphics will give you a whole new perspective on this incredible city. The maps are in form graphic presentation of statistical data and in chapters on: Where We Are, Who We are, Where We Go, How We’re Doing & What We Like. There are the cholera maps of the 1840-50’s, topical for the current COVID 19 Pandemic. For the genealogist/family history enthusiast it has a graphical presentation from census data of the city’s genetic code of who & where the residents came from, within the British Isles as well from overseas, their lifestyle and living conditions. This is not dry statistics, the various graphical presentations to suit the topic make for startling presentations and which would not have been possible to produce a few years prior to the book’s actual publication.

LONDON A HISTORY in MAPS by Peter Barber. Published by The London Topographical Society 2012 (ISBN 9780712358798) 380 pages of which the majority are maps with an appropriate level of text. The maps cover from Roman times of 50 AD through London’s rises, falls & redevelopment to the present. The clarity of the reproduced maps is excellent, albeit a magnifying glass is helpful for the finer detail. The cholera epidemic mid 1850’s is covered by Dr Snow’s map showing the death locations and their concentration around a water pump in Broad St Soho. The pump handle was removed, and the number of deaths decreased. Other maps of interest for genealogist/family history enthusiasts are those that show where people came from within the British Isles as well from overseas, their ethnicity, lifestyle and living conditions. There are plots of the WWI Zeppelin Raids, and German maps showing bombing targets and street maps for the planned invasion and conquest of Great Britain. The Society for Photographing Relics of Old London was founded in the 1870’s to record buildings prior to possible demolition provides another research source. Maps covering the development of services and infrastructure to the ever-expanding city are well covered. This is both a research book and something to while away many an hour just looking.

“The Ghost Map” Relationship to: Cholera, Covid 19, Outbreak, Epidemic, Pandemic, Clusters, Bubbles, Voroni Diagrams & Dr John Snow

There is an interesting relationship of the recording and plotting of deaths from cholera in London the 1850’s which may have stunted parts of your family tree and for COVID 19 around the world in 2020.

Dr John Snow, obstetrician to Queen Victoria and a leading surgeon (867 tooth extractions, 222 female breast tumour extraction, 7 males breast tumour extractions, 9 eyelid corrections and 12 penis amputations in his surgical lifetime) was also famous for his efforts to identify the source of cholera in London. Asian cholera first came to Britain in 1831 and claimed more than 50,000 lives. An epidemic in Soho in 1854 killed many residents with experts disagreeing about its cause, most including Florence Nightingale and Sir John Simon, City of London MO believed it was miasmic, an airborne infection. Other leading epidemiologists thought otherwise, Dr John Snow was one of them having published an 1849 pamphlet suggesting cholera was caused by human consumption of contaminated food or water.

In August 1854, some cholera cases were reported near his residence in Sackville St Piccadilly. Dr Snow made house calls (at some considerable risk) to try and match the illnesses, deaths and related human behavior and living conditions. By the 3^rd day of his investigation Dr Snow identified the likely source, the water pump at junction of Broad and Cambridge Streets. It was the main supply for those living in the area, passing traders, local pubs (to water down gin & whiskey), coffee shops and shops selling ‘sherbet’, water with a teaspoon of effervescent powder. Dr Snow examined the water and found an increase of ‘small white flocculent particles. Deaths from cholera in the Soho area showed a concentration around the pump, but in a nearby workhouse of 100’s of people there had been no deaths: they drew water from their own well.

Dr Snow presented his findings and the ‘local board of guardians’ removed the handle of the pump and over the next few days the number of cholera deaths slowed to a trickle. Dr Snow’s map (the above is only a portion) was centred on the Broad St pump and surrounding areas showing 13 pumps. Lines were drawn indicating the areas most convenient for use of the Broad St and other pumps, areas defined are now called a Voronoi Diagram. He the added small black dashes to denote cholera deaths, these showed up several clusters with the Broad St cluster having 82 deaths.

It still took time to convince all, that Cholera was water borne & not miasmic. Further investigation by a local priest Henry Whitehead discovered that Sarah, the 5-month-old daughter of Thomas Lewis, a policeman, and his wife living at 40 Broad St had died in late August after a bout of diarrhea. The water containing ‘the dejections’ of the baby had been emptied into the cesspool in the basement. Whitehead’s examination found the fecal contents of the cesspool had leaked into the soil and into the water supply. May not have been initial contaminant but certainly didn’t help.

Some 166 years later we have some unhygienic practices in a ‘wet market’ in China resulting in an initial cluster of virus infections reaching pandemic proportions and creating global chaos within a few months.

Note: Most of the information for this article is from Chap 12 Cholera and the Map that Stopped It - ON the MAP by Simon Garfield. The maps are also featured “London the Information Capital”, and “London a History in Maps”, reviewed above

Ken Morris

Murray Reid

Rangiaowhia Fact and Fiction

21 February 1864

The writer has grandchildren who descend from Thomas Power and Rahapa te Hauata. She was present during the events of that day. When discussing this fact with a senior Maori leader in North Waikato I was shocked to learn, “that was the place where Maori were locked in a church and burnt to death”. As a result, I decided to follow up on that story.

I soon learnt that the story has no basis in fact. Below is my analysis. I include quotations from numerous senior New Zealanders, with searchable references where possible.

Rangiaowhia was a flourishing village near Te Awamutu set up to create large scale farming in the Waikato from 1841. Gov. George Grey was instrumental in the development. He supplied horses, equipment and funds to the venture via Rev. John Morgan, Anglican Missionary. Central to the village was Thomas Power, sent by Grey to work with Morgan.

Power lived in the village with his wife, Rahapa te Hauata, and family.

During Gen. Cameron’s Waikato campaign, he was confronted with a well defended Pa at Paterangi. Military historians would say that Cameron followed classic military tactics to avoid bloodshed, by destroying the enemies supply lines. There is no doubt that Rangiaowhia was a supply source. There were found to be loaded wagons of food in the village.

The village was believed to be largely populated with the elderly, women and children. Cameron did not expect to find a large number of armed men in the village. Cameron was largely successful in preventing loss of life, save for one large whare where the occupants resisted arrest. A trooper was shot dead when he entered the whare which resulted in firing from both parties. During the affray a child and his mother were allowed to leave but the remainder resisted. The whare caught fire, either deliberately or accidentally from burning gun wadding. Military historians suggest the latter is probable. At the end of the attack five troopers were dead and no more than ten Maori. Troopers described the whare as having a sunken floor, much like a gun pit. There is no record of the age/sex of the dead.

A number of reports written after this event are readily available online through the NZ National Library. Despite overwhelming evidence, over 150 years later, the history of the village has been corrupted with claims by many influential people that A large number of unarmed women and children were herded into a church in the village, the doors locked and the building set on fire, with the loss of life of all inside. One prominent writer put the number of deaths at 144.

To this day, school groups visiting the site are still being told this story and in the last few years the story was influential in an act of parliament to annually commemorate the New Zealand Wars.

There are numerous documents that show the burned church was still standing until it was demolished in 1931, which is further proof that this horrific massacre never happened. It is hard to understand how local historians had not done the simple research long ago to dispel this myth which would otherwise stand as the worst atrocity in NZ history.

The purpose of this essay is to present the documents that disprove the prevailing myth and also to identify prominent people who have repeated the myth in recent years, supply their quotes with links to the documentation and media used. The items are in chronological order.

Published Facts.

A/. Articles written by persons present at Rangiaowhia on 21 Feb 1864.

1/. There are many newspaper articles from the days/weeks immediately after the event. None mention a burning church, but all comment on the defended whare.

2/. 14 July 1883. NZ Herald Rusden’s History. Boy witness Potatau

Too long to quote. But worth reading.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18830714.2.38

B/. Articles that prove the Catholic Church was still standing into the 1930’s.

1/. 6 April 1864 NZ Herald. Own correspondent 3 March

At Rangiaowhia they have completed another (Redoubt) upon exactly the same plan. The churches still remain intact, two officers of the 50^th Regiment live in the Catholic Church,

There is one settler there who married a native woman, his place is preserved and a white flag flies continuously in the case of danger, he himself not being at home. (Thomas Power)

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18640406.2.24

2/. 1922. Cowan. The New Zealand Wars. Chapter 37. Page 363. Footnote.

Mr. William Johns, of Auckland, a corporal in the Forest Rangers.

“The Rev. Father Vinay, who resided at the church for many years after the war, cleverly effaced and closed up the bullet-holes left in the building during the skirmish. A great deal of wild talk arose as to the burning of the Maori whares designedly, but the firing of Maori guns and of soldiers' rifles at close range into dry raupo whares is a sufficient explanation.”

(abridged)

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-c37.html

3/. 20 February 1931 Auckland Star.

One of the oldest buildings in the Te Awamutu district, the Roman Catholic church at Hairini (Rangiaowhia), was recently demolished.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19310220.2.143.5

4/. October 1938.Thomas Moisley. Son in law of Thomas Power.

“He brought the sawyers up to cut the timber for houses and the two churches in Rangiaowhia. Both of them are still standing.”

5/. Wikipedia

The Catholic Holy Angels mission station was about 400 metres north of St Paul's. Father Jean Pezant relocated it there from Matamata in 1844. In 1850 he was succeeded by Father Joseph Garavel. Part of the mission station burnt down in an accidental fire in 1865. The church was demolished in 1931. The cemetery remains.

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

6/. Victoria University. NZ Wars. P351 Rangiaowhia. William Johns

Mr. William Johns, of Auckland, who served as a corporal in the Forest Rangers, says, regarding the firing at the Roman Catholic church, Rangiaowhia:—

The Rev. Father Vinay, who resided at the church for many years after the war, cleverly effaced and closed up the bullet-holes left in the building during the skirmish, and yet these were long visible upon close inspection.

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-c37.html

7/. Alexander Turnbull Library. Rangiaowhia March 1864. EA Williams painting.

This painting shows a new redoubt in the village, with both churches clearly shown.

The same painting is reproduced in Mr. O’Malley’s major work on the NZ Wars.

8/. Alexander Turnbull Library. Rangiaowhia 1864. Charles Eastwood. Sketch.

This sketch was done by a member of the Forest Rangers.

https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23060288?search%5Bi%5D%5Bname_authority_id%5D=-201681&search%5Bpath%5D=items

C/. Below are some of the published articles perpetuating the myth.

Some are written by prominent authors. One by a Dame in a prominent Government appointed role. One can only speculate the motives behind those perpetuating the myth, which some clearly know to be false, while others may merely wish the myth to be true without query.

1/. 20 July 2009. Bay of Plenty Times. Tommy Kapai Wilson

Tommy is a regular BOP Time columnist.

His troops herded all the local Maori up like cattle and locked them in the church, and then set it alight - killing all 144 inside.
Those who tried to escape were shot and only one 3-year-old girl got out, by being thrown through the burning back wall.

www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=10984306

2/. 2013. Hazel Coromandel-Wander. Massey Thesis. Master in Adult Education.

Describes memories of gt grandmother Wikitoria (Te Mamae) Papa (c1830-1947)

When the alarm was raised in the village the elders along with the young mothers and their babies ran into both the Rangiaowhia Catholic church and Anglican church for refuge. The Crown troopers set the Catholic church on fire (Barber 1984) and kept their guns trained on the exits to make sure no one could escape (redacted). All those who sought the safe haven of the Rangiaowhia Catholic church were killed.

https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/4178/02_whole.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99417959/when-the-war-came-to-rangiaowhia

The reference to Barber 1984 is incorrect. In a later “Stuff” article Ms Coromandel-Wander does not refer to the Catholic church but to a whare karakia.

3/. 8 Dec 2015. Waikato Times. Petition to Parliament. Leah Bell

Student Leah Bell was among the students who marched on Tuesday to present the petition. She said a visit to battle sites at Orakau and Rangiaowhia were the reason for starting the petition. “We were shocked and horrified at the stories told by the kaumatua, who were distraught sharing their ancestors' stories about innocent women and children and elders being burned alive," she said. In a videoed interview Leah uses the words “innocent women, children and the elderly being burnt alive, in churches for example”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/74876330/null

The Otorohanga students were under the wing of their teacher, Mariana Papa and Rahui Papa, who that told them the history of Rangiaowhia. He is a very senior Tainui leader and advisor to the Maori King.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11937140

4/. 7 October 2016. Radio NZ. Aaron Smale. Vincent O’Malley Historian.

“The official casualty rate for the number of people killed at Rangiaowhia is only 12,” says O’Malley. “Some other sources suggest it may have been over a hundred. Many died in a church” (abridged)

www.radionz.co.nz/stories/201818953/'tainui-has-never-forgotten-the-atrocities-against-their-women-and-children

As a published historian, Mr. O’Malley might have been expected to cite the other sources.

5/. 5 February 2017. Bay of Plenty Times. Dame Susan Devoy. Race Relations Comm.

6 February 2017. Waitangi Day address. Mt Maunganui. Dame Susan Devoy.

A few years ago, some teenagers from Otorohanga were on a school history trip and were told it was the site of a battle during the New Zealand Wars. When the teens started asking about what went on, they were shocked to find out that civilians were killed by Crown soldiers. They were horrified to hear that women and children who sought shelter in a local church were locked inside and the church burnt to the ground.

www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=11794208 www.sunlive.co.nz/news/147967-under-fire-incorrect-history-lesson.html

When officially challenged by the writer, Dame Susan chose not to recant, merely saying that somebody had told her the story. Should she have not checked the veracity?

6/. 13 September 2017. RNZ. TV3. Shane Te Pou

TV 3 interview. Duncan Garner. “Him and his troops rounded up Maori women and children, put them in a church, locked the church and burnt them and killed them and we ought not to celebrate his life”.

http://www.treatyofwaitangi.net.nz/Rangiaowhia/ColonelNixonsMemoria.html

This story was in reference to the “Nixon” memorial in Papakura.

7/. 13 September 2017. Mr. Rahui Papa. Radio NZ. Mihi Forbes.

Mr Papa, whose ancestors were from Rangiaōwhia, “said there were many ways that history could be recorded”. "One of our tūpuna in particular was burnt in the church, two of them escaped out the window and looked from the swamp land as they were burning in the flames, so we hold those as very dear family histories.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/339297/changes-proposed-to-marmaduke-nixon-monument

Mr. Papa is the spokesman of the Māori King, and was an unsuccessful Māori Party candidate at the last election.

8/. Assoc Prof Tom Roa. Stuff 9 December 2017 Roa heard stories of deliberate fires, killing of elderly, women and children, and rape. These are the kinds of things mainstream New Zealand finds uncomfortable. There's much denial, but these are the stories that our tūpuna told us. He said their forebears talked about soldiers shooting people having prayers in the whare karakia, and when they refused to come out, they set the whare alight. Our mother talked about a young boy, eight or nine years old, who was shot dead, how women were raped. And an old man who came out wrapped in a blanket, hands held high, and he was shot dead, Roa said.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99417959/when-the-war-came-to-rangiaowhia

Tom Roa is a descendant of Thomas Power from Kahutoi. (not Rahapa, his wife)

All of the above stories are remarkably similar. As far as I am aware none of the contributors has recanted, with the exception of Ms. Wander who today no longer refers to a church but to a whare karakia. When asked what denomination, she replied “Roman Catholic”. One might then ask why the settlement required two Roman Catholic places of worship.

Some would argue that handed down memories have merit, but it needs to be remembered that both established Missionary groups in the area had been instructing young Maori in both English and Maori for nearly 20 years before 1864. Why are there no writings from those students?

Murray Reid

3 March 2020

An Invitation to Contribute:

I have a number of people that contribute occasional articles. These appear irregularly if and when the authors send them to me. I use them to bulk up each month's newsletter. The more we have the more "rests "I can give my much-appreciated regular columnists.

This is a way that a person can get some of their writing published. Of course we are all writing up our research results, aren't we? I have always said that every genealogist is an expert in some small piece of history, resources or research methods.

We circulate this newsletter to about 7,000 subscribers worldwide but is read by many more as it is passed on to other readers and LDS research centres. Every month I get feedback on my poor attempts at writing and I have now made many "new friends", albeit digital ones. In a few months I hope to meet a few when I waddle along to a few conferences and meetings in England and Scotland. I have even had a few very helpful assistances in my research.

Why don't you contribute an article?

My basic requirements:

1) The column must be in English

2) The column should be no longer than about 1,200 words

3) The article should be emailed to me in a Word document format

4) The subject should be genealogical or historical in nature

Do not be afraid about your "perceived" bad English. The article will be edited, in a friendly manner, by me and then Robert. Then all columnists and a few valuable proofreaders get to read the newsletter before it is emailed out. You’ll be paid $0 for your article, which is on the same scale that Robert and I pay ourselves for editing and publishing the newsletter.

From our Libraries and Museums

We are offering a forum to our libraries and museums to publicise their events, and to contribute articles to this newsletter that may be of interest to our readers. Auckland Libraries makes good use of this free service, let’s see if other libraries and museums take up this offer.

For readers of this newsletter: please bring this to the attention of your local libraries etc, and encourage them to participate.

Auckland Libraries

From the Editor: For obvious reasons the lecture programme at the library is suspended. But I believe that Library card holders can access Ancestry.com throught the library website.

Recent releases from Auckland Libraries SoundCloud

Researching your Property – a 4-part series

Auckland Council Archives archivist Eoin Lynch

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/researching-your-property-part-1-auckland-council-archives/s-xwlpi

Auckland Libraries’ local history librarian Joanne Graves

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/researching-your-property-part-2-auckland-libraries/s-AiwWQ

Heritage New Zealand’s outreach advisor Antony Phillips

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/researching-your-property-part-3-heritage-new-zealand/s-4tYGz

Auckland Council’s Heritage Unit, Heritage Researcher Marguerite Hill

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/researching-your-property-part-4-auckland-council-heritage-unit/s-by8U8

Nga mihi | Kind regards

SEONAID

Seonaid (Shona) Lewis RLIANZA | Family History Librarian

Central Auckland Research Centre, Central City Library

Heritage and Research

Auckland Libraries - Nga Whare Matauranga o Tamaki Makarau

Ph 09 890 2411| Extn (46) 2411 | Fax 09 307 7741

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Group News

Whangarei Family History Computer Group

Contacts:

Wayne: (09) 437 2881 wayne@bydand.co.nz

Pat: (09) 437 0692 whangareifamilyhistorygroup@gmail.com

Venues

Thursday evening venue is 6 Augusta Place, Whau Valley. Call Wayne or Pat or;

email Whangareifamilyhistorygroup@gmail.com, if you need directions.

Saturday meetings are held in the SeniorNet rooms in James Street.

The rooms are upstairs in the Arcade leading to Orr’s Pharmacy and Tiffany’s Café, Start time 9.30 till finished before 1.30pm.

Waikanae Family History Group

Contacts: Email: wfhg2012@gmail.com

Venue: Meets every 4^th Thursday morning at the Waikanae Chartered Club, 8 Elizabeth Street Waikanae, just over the Railway Crossing from 9.30am to 12 -12.30pm, every month from January to November.

Research days: at the Waikanae Public Library, 10am to 12 noon on second Wednesday of each month.

Waitara Districts History & Families Research Group

The contact details of this group are:

Waitara Districts History & Families Research Group

Rose Cottage 33 Memorial Place

WAITARA 4320

Tel: 06 – 754 – 3212

waitarahistory.genealogy@xtra.co.nz

President:- Rona Hooson

Vice President:- Doree Smith

Secretary:- Trish Smart

Treasurer:- Marilyn O’Lander

office:-067543212

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News and Views

A New Website for free access to some important NZ indexes

Early Christmas present

A new FREE database of New Zealand records will be on the web soon.

This will include the 5 significant electoral rolls, burial locator, WW1 service Personnel and Early settler records Approximately 3.4 million records

There will be no charge to use the data and no one is making a profit behind the wall. There will be no advertising on the site.

Why and How

This work was all done many years ago by many many folk, many who were not genealogists but personal friends and family who could see the value in the various projects. The databases were licensed exclusively to the NZSG free for them to sell on CD's for the benefit of the Society. This agreement, which has come to an end, has not been renewed by the NZSG.

If there is anyone who would like to share a New Zealand database for the general good please be in touch with me. I cannot stress enough you must own the database you are donating.

You could have an opportunity to ask for research queries which could give you a financial benefit for your own organisation. I do not want any money nor will I be making a profit.

And There is More

The first cut of the marriage locator data will be uploaded as soon as I am confident, we have the web site working smoothly. This project currently under way lists the name of groom and bride and the year of marriage, place of event and source of entry. 1856 to 1956 and some earlier.

Currently I have about 15% of the records sourced and would love to add more. Again, you can be acknowledged as the source and maybe use this as your own fund-raising effort.

This Marriage Locator like the Burial Locator is an index only but will provide researchers with clues to follow up. They are not official records Just aids to help genealogists

Diane Wilson
diane@wilson.gen.nz

From the Editor: I have had interesting discussions with Diane Wilson. I was one of her Indexing Team a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed doing the work. She was one of the people behind the surge in CD Rom Indexes that the NZ Society of Genealogists produced in the mid-2000s which created a lot of income for that Society.

She has made, for this newsletter, the following announcement. (see below)

I will be contributing some of my indexes to this website because I believe that no organisation has the right to dictate what will be available, or not, and for what price. I enjoyed doing my indexing and I want my work to be available for researchers.

Various Articles Worth Reading

From the Editor: Because of space restrictions and copyright issues I cannot put the complete articles in this newsletter so here are some URLs that are worth looking at:

A look ahead to the release of the 1921 census for the UK

https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/a-look-ahead-to-the-release-of-the-1921-census-for-the-uk/

The Shifting Landscape of Genetic Genealogy

https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/the-shifting-landscape-of-genetic-genealogy/

From the Editor: I have, on many occasions, said that I believe that Genealogy/Family History Societies were not taking DNA testing seriously enough and that it presented a golden opportunity to recruit membership and grow their membership and services. Although I was not criticizing any specific group, I received from the direction of one particular Society nothing but abuse. I therefore just sat on the fence and said under my breath “I told you so”.

Here is an article from a blog I follow about the change in the landscape of DNA testing. I found myself nodding in agreement as I read it.

While you are on that site have a look at some of the other articles.

Free Access to The Genealogist

Free access to records from the UK's National Archives now available

Coincidentally, following a tweet I sent to the National Archives at Kew this morning on the very same subject, requesting details and a timescale, TNA has now announced that it is indeed offering free access to its records, as initially promised on April 1st (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/04/uks-national-archives-to-offer-free.html).

The full announcement from TNA is available on its blog at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/digital-downloads/, and with the key part as follows:

Registered users will be able to order and download up to 10 items at no cost, to a maximum of 50 items over 30 days. The limits are there to try and help manage the demand for content and ensure the availability of our digital services for everyone.

To access the service and download for free, users will be required to:

Register/sign in to their Discovery account before adding items to their basket (maximum ten items per basket)

Abide by the terms of our fair use policy

Complete the order process to receive a download link, which will remain active for 30 days. (The link will also be saved in ‘Your orders’ in your account for 30 days)

Our usual terms of use still apply – digital copies can be downloaded for non-commercial private use and educational purposes only, and bulk downloads and web crawlers are not permitted.

A list of records available is at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/?research-category=online ("please note that it includes collections available on other sites that may charge for access, and are not included in this offer")

Go have some fun!

From the Editor: I first heard of this via Scottish Genes and acknowledge where it came from and thank Chris Paton

A Word About the Privacy of Your Genealogy and Other Information

https://blog.eogn.com/2020/04/24/a-word-about-privacy-of-your-genealogy-and-other-information/

What’s been digitised at Archives NZ

If you have time to spare, you may like to check out exactly what has been digitised at Archives NZ:
https://www.archives.govt.nz/search-the-archive/what-we-have/whats-been-digitised

In conclusion

Help wanted

Letters to the Editor

Advertising with FamNet

Every now and then we get requests to put an advertisement in the newsletter. I have therefore created a new section which will appear from time to time. Advertisements will be included only at the Editor's discretion and will be of a genealogical nature.

If your organisation is not a group subscriber then there will be a charge for advertising events and services, which must be paid for before publication. Charges start at $NZ25 for a basic flier, and increase for more elaborate presentations. Like everyone else we need funds to help keep FamNet going. Fees are very minimal. If your organisation paid a yearly subscription you can have all the advertising you want all year round in the Group News section. Your group could be anywhere in the world, not just in New Zealand. The editor will continue to exercise discretion for free events.

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A Bit of Light Relief

Heard a Doctor. on TV say, in this time of pandemic, we should stay at home and should focus on inner peace. To achieve this, we should always finish things we start and we all could use more calm in our lives. I looked through my house to find things I’d started and hadn't finished, so I finished off

A bottle of Merlot,

a bottle of Churdonnay,

a boodle of Balleys,

a butle of wum,

tha mainder of Valiumun srciptuns,

an a bux a chocletz.

Yu haf no idr how feckin fablus I feel rite new. Sned this to all who knead inner piss. An telum u luvum. And two hash yer wands, stafe day avrybobby!!!'

ðŸ ·ðŸ¥ƒðŸ ¸

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