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FamNet eNewsletter October 2023
ISSN 2253-4040
Quote: What did our parents do to kill boredom before the internet? I asked my 26 brothers and sisters and they didn’t know either – unknown
Contents
Contents
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DNA Testing for Family History
FREE DNA tests with FamilyTreeDNA.com
New Zealand Chinese Language
Week
More Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of
Fanny McHugh
nee Balmer (1861-1943)
Aunt Daisy and The Cornish Pasty
From our Libraries and
Museums
Auckland
Libraries’ Research and Heritage Service Changes
Agricultural
Labourers - Part 1
Agricultural
Labourers – Part 2
To Unsubscribe, Change your Email Address, or Manage your Personal Information
Editorial
Hello
fellow hermits.
Greetings and welcome to another issue of the FamNet newsletter.
Last month I wrote about the Old Fogys group which meet irregularly and brainstorm somebody’s research problem. We have had another meeting recently which was not as successful as the one I reported on but much pleasure was experienced during that session. Well, I was inundated by about a dozen emails from readers in West Auckland who wanted to join us, one even offered to pay for the coffee and scones that were to be consumed and he went very close to an invitation. That got me thinking. Either present societies (i.e. the NZSG), their branches, U3A groups and the other miscellaneous groups are not providing the services researchers are wanting, or am I finally getting through to readers that a successful researcher needs to talk to other researchers to assist in their thinking. Some of my readers are members of groups – maybe they are not “guiding” their groups towards what their members are asking for. I cannot come to a conclusion and I’m not going to submit this to the Old Fogys. I think organised groups have to rethink their reasons for meeting or die. Methinks another column on this subject will be written.
Anyway, back to reality. Once again, we have an interesting newsletter. The articles are varied. The jokes are funny although they are not the main reason for reading the newsletter.
I hope this month’s issue occupies some of your time and you find something valuable.
Peter Nash
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Tell other genealogists so they can enjoy the newsletters too.
Regards
Contributors
From the Developer
Telling your Own Story
After I received Peter’s newsletter draft, my role is to convert it from
Word to a web page, and to give it another edit. So
I read it completely, and correct any grammar and spelling mistakes that I find
(or mostly, that Microsoft Word finds for me). I enjoy reading through
the newsletter, seeing what our contributors have written.
Last month’s Nash Rambler struck a chord with many. As he says in this month’s newsletter more people than can be accommodated now want to join his “Old Fogys” group. And there are several more articles this month about various “Dead ends” that people are trying to get past. Hopefully other readers will be able to help. I love it that FamNet is able to help connect people who are interested in genealogy, and foster the cooperation that is important in learning about one’s family history. We never know so much that we can’t learn more from others, especially about our more distant relatives.
But let me repeat something I’ve said before: the most important thing that you can do for your descendants is to write your own story. Only you can tell the story of yourself, most of it didn’t make the newspapers or any other records, and while what you can find on the internet is truly amazing, unless you’ve written an autobiography, nothing exists telling your grandchildren what you did with your life, what you felt about your accomplishments and failures. It doesn’t have to be a major book. Mine, on FamNet, is only 14 pages, but it is the only part of my genealogy that all my children were interested in. So don’t neglect this. Nobody else can do this.
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.
5. Sharing your Story: Managing your Family Group
6. On Line Editing: More Facts, Family, GDB Links
7. Comparing and Synchronising Records
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
18. Linking trees
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?
The Nash Rambler
I’ve
been naughty
Three
weekends ago my wife took a mental health break from me and, with my daughter,
had a ladies’ weekend in Sydney. Of course, I agreed to this, after all it was
a mental health break and it is dangerous to disagree under those
circumstances.
So I had a pleasant weekend, at home, doing genealogy. I decided to write up the story of William Daniel ARCHIBALD, my grandmother’s brother. This gentleman was a family hero who “ran away to sea” as a teenager and rose through the ranks of the merchant navy to eventually become the captain of an ocean liner. He was a World War 1 hero but nobody knew much about him because he lived all of his life, after his escape from the family, in Australia or on board a ship.
I had, a long time ago, found his WW1 service record and found him to have served in Gallipoli with the Australian army and had been awarded a DCM. His service was not totally without misbehaviour and he threw his medals overboard on his voyage home. So that part of the story was able to be written.
Then I explored Trove. Please do not open this treasure chest. You will find unexpected things and you will lose all sense of time. But did I hit the jackpot!!!!
After also searching PapersPast, Ancestry and FindmyPast, I was able to piece together his long service record in the merchant navy and the ships he sailed on. He had a few exciting “episodes” such as taking part in the rescue of a ship that was very close to running aground, in a gale, near Napier and his bravery was commented on in some newspaper reports of that “episode”. He was also the captain of the freighter “Abel Tasman” that sunk, without loss of life, in the Greymouth harbour in the 1930s. He jumped on board with some crew in an effort to save the ship but was unsuccessful. The subsequent enquiry vindicated his actions and no blame was attached to him. Incidentally he had two of his many nephews as crewmen on board that ship at this time. This led to a number of paragraphs in his life’s story with the biggest problem being what to put in and what to leave out.
There was other interesting “stuff” I found. His marriage in 1923 which nobody in New Zealand seemed to remember and the subsequent divorce on the grounds of his desertion. This led to all sorts of theories about the marriage breakdown. His second marriage was found with a few articles about this lady who travelled the world with him on his various ships. The family remembered this marriage and had met her.
Then I found this
Newcastle Sun 28 Nov 1933
This definitely was my William Archibald. This ship was the one that sunk in Greymouth. Who was Olive Eileen Bain????? What had she done to deserve her clothing being “stolen”. Why was it his job to “punish” misbehaving ladies and what was her connection to my William. Now I had a problem that had to be solved. She could have been his daughter from his first marriage, she could have been his girlfriend, and the many other combinations of possible relationships. My head was now spinning. This article on his life was going to be very interesting.
NSW BDM website was no help because their limitations due to privacy concerns are similar to that of NZ. I could not use that website to find any children of William’s first (or second) marriage or of his subsequent second wife. This problem is now becoming very important and must be solved. I needed to have a session with the Old Fogys group but that is not possible for a week.
My lovely wife is also the Minister of Finance in the management of our family affairs. She “balanced the books” after coming home and decided that “we” had spent too much and, therefore, we had to save money in order to get a better economic situation (sounds a little like politicians). Of course, I agreed. No money, other than coffees, for me to spend for a week or two. That’s not too difficult.
Next day, the Monday, I decided to find William’s will and see if any children are mentioned. So, onto the NSW Archives website I go. I enter his name and a few items come up. The will is there but it is $50 Australian to get a copy. BUT there are the divorce case records – that will show, hopefully, if there are any children and, also, I might find “juicy” details on what caused the divorce. So, without thinking, out came the credit card and within a minute or two I had ordered and paid for those divorce records.
Then the cold winds of trouble swirled around me !!!!!!!
I broke out in sweat. I had to confess. The wrath of God is going to descend on my head. O woe is me !!!!!! When my lovely lady came home from work I made her a cup of tea, and a few cheese and crackers and waited for the right moment. She immediately said “What HAVE you done???? I can’t remember the rest of the conversation. I survived – just. The penance is going to be long and painful.
The papers arrived (50 pages at $1 a page) and didn’t help me. There were no children and the divorce was a gentle “growing apart” process and was mutually agreed. I still don’t know who Olive Eileen BAIN is and I cannot spend any more money trying to find out. Maybe another long session on Trove calls.
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
FREE DNA tests with FamilyTreeDNA.com
From time to time I have mentioned ISOGG
(International Society of Genetic Genealogists).
The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) was founded in 2005 by DNA project administrators who shared a common vision: the promotion and education of genetic genealogy. Its mission is to advocate for and educate about the use of genetics as a tool for genealogical research, and to promote a supportive network for genetic genealogists.
The Wiki was established for the benefit and education of the genetic genealogy community. To contribute to this Wiki please join ISOGG (it's free!) and then register for a Wiki account. If you don't have information to contribute, enjoy reading the articles on this website. Please click on the hyperlinks in this article to learn more.Free DNA tests are sometimes available to encourage participation in surname projects. Offers are usually restricted to Y-DNA tests with sponsorship being provided by the relevant surname project. Some projects will underwrite the entire cost of a DNA test. Other projects will contribute towards the cost of a test or pay for tests for a limited number of markers. In order to qualify for the offer it is usually necessary to supply a list of your paternal line ancestors for at least three or more generations. But each project offering free testing has its own conditions.
To see the names of the projects for which free testing is available, go to https://isogg.org/wiki/Free_DNA_tests
Before You Test
This guide provides
advice on some points to consider before you take DNA test.
Clarify your goals. What do you hope to learn from a DNA test? Which DNA test(s) should you or your relatives take to address your questions? Consult the beginners' guides to genetic genealogy for more insights. Don't hesitate to seek advice about your specific scenario on some of the genetic genealogy mailing lists.
You may need to lower your expectations a bit. DNA is a "novel, objective, and independent form of evidence," yet uncertainties may remain. The nomenclature or the interpretation of your results may change over time. Each type of DNA test has its limitations. You may not have an immediate match in a Y chromosome or mtDNA database. Your haplogroup may not tell you exactly where your paternal or maternal line originated. Autosomal DNA tests may not identify a known fourth cousin or break down that brick wall. Admixture percentages may show inconsistencies from company to company and fail to detect small components of your ancestry. In spite of all those caveats, success stories do abound.
Ask yourself if you really want to know. A DNA test can sometimes provide surprising results, which might challenge your sense of ethnic identity, contradict your laborious genealogical research, or reveal unsuspected relationships. Your results may have an impact on your family members as well. You are your own best judge of your ability to handle the unexpected.
Do some comparison shopping. See the list of DNA testing companies, which also has links to side-by-side comparison charts for different types of tests.
In addition, please read Judy Russell’s article found https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/12/11/read-the-fine-print/ - it is a MUST read.
Should it happen that you get unexpected results that have turned your life ‘sideways’, see the articles here https://isogg.org/wiki/Unexpected_results
As always, if you have a question, please send to me mailto:gailriddelldna@gmail.com
Chinese Corner
New
Zealand Chinese Language Week
Eda Tang spoke to six people, born in each decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, about their relationship with their reo tūpuna – their ancestral languages. When some Chinese diaspora members plant roots in Aotearoa and start thinking about parenting, a choice is made: Will they focus on teaching their children Mandarin, or will they, against all odds, teach them their ancestral tongue? The milieu now is shaped by a tension between ageing elders who carry the richness of ancestral languages and the Chinese Communist Party language law which delegitimises the hundreds of non-Mandarin Chinese languages. https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/132704755/six-ancestral-languages-of-chinese-new-zealanders To celebrate New Zealand Chinese Language week, Angel and Hannah from Manawatu and Whanganui Chinese Association hosted a 5-Part Series to talk about Cantonese language (the oldest Chinese language in NZ Chinese heritage) and its culture. In the first of the series, Tony Thackey, from Palmerston North, spoke about his family’s history in New Zealand – several early generations, who originally came from Sun Gai, Jungseng, Canton. His tale spoke well of his inheritance and the hard life they endured initially. Jack Yan published his comments in 2022 in his: The reality of Chinese Language Week for many Chinese New Zealanders. it’s clear that we need to organize something to counter a hegemonic desire to wipe out our culture and language. This is why so many Chinese get what Māori go through. The first Chinese New Zealanders came from the south, and were Cantonese speakers, likely with another language or dialect from their villages. Cantonese was the principal Chinese tongue spoken here, so if there’s to be any government funding to preserve culture, and honour those who had to pay the Poll Tax, then that’s where efforts should go—along with the other languages spoken by the early Chinese settlers. For further reading, Nigel Murphy’s ‘A Brief History of the Chinese Language in New Zealand’ is instructive, if people really want to know and engage in something constructive. It’s on the Chinese Language Week website, who evidently see no irony in hosting it. |
New
Zealand Chinese Language Week 2023 is almost over for this year. However, we
old time Chinese believe that it’s time for a change – to perhaps Chinese
Heritage Language week, to truly reflect the 150 years of our being in New
Zealand.More Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of
Fanny McHugh nee Balmer (1861-1943)
Fanny BALMER was born at Auckland on the
21 August 1861, the fourth daughter of William and Margaret Balmer nee McINTOSH. Her father died while she was young,
and in the mid 1870's with her mother and stepfather Archibald HAMILTON, the
family moved to Marton, and later the Turakina
Valley.
On the 1 July 1880, at the age of 19, Fanny married Henry Joseph McHUGH, and then, with her husband, farmed in the Turakina Valley where she also acted as a midwife and nurse. In 1893, Fanny opened a general store in Turakina which she operated while her husband farmed their property.
When the Midwifes Registration Act was passed those who had several years’ experience were given their registration, but from there on, midwifes had to do hospital training. Fanny was registered on the 24 January 1906, and by 1907 Fanny was running ‘The Bungalow" Maternity Home at Manaia, with her daughter Gladys helping.
In 1915, Fanny joined up with Ettie ROUT and the Voluntary Sisterhood. These were a group of women who volunteered to go overseas without pay to help in hospitals, canteens, and anywhere that they could do something to improve conditions for the soldiers. They were not welcomed by the army command but went anyway. The women had a great sense of purpose and determination to do what they considered in New Zealand, needed doing.
Fanny was determined to go, she knew some of the others, and had nothing to keep her at home. Her husband had died, her five sons had all enlisted and gone to the front, (including Eric who was to die in France in March 1917), and her daughter was married.
Later, with Ada Ballantine from Hawera, Fanny did street patrol work in London under the auspices of the Women's International Street Patrol (WISP's). This involved trying to separate men and women and avert sexual intercourse. They would go up to young couples, tick them off about the dangers of courtship and escort the women to the nearest homeward bound bus.
Fanny arrived back in New Zealand in the early 1920's and then joined the "Health Patrol" department of the Department of Health. The Social Hygiene Act (1917) included regulations which provided for the employment of Health Patrols (female and aged over 40), two in each of the four main cities. The job was largely to advise and warn women and young people of the dangers of VD and to encourage them to attend the free clinics at the hospitals for diagnosis and, if necessary, for treatment. However, they were also supposed to walk the streets to suppress immoral and unsafe behaviour.
Records suggest that these women did everything from routing young couples out of bushes for a lecture on proper conduct, to helping young mothers with babies, to locating possible VD cases and persuading them to go to the clinics, to supervising the picture theatres (checking behaviour of the young people and watching out for male perverts and so on).
Although the description may sound prudish, some of the records suggest that the women performed very useful work and were highly thought of at a local level. However, the (male) Health Department officials tended not to take them seriously.
Most of the patrols were sacked around 1921 but Fanny was kept on owing to her experience at public speaking. She then toured the country as a "social hygiene" lecturer, as a continuation of her venereal disease prevention work.
In 1926, Fanny went to Canada to visit two of her sons who had settled on Vancouver Island. In her later years she lived with her daughter at Thames.
Fanny McHugh died on the 17 December 1943 aged 82 years, at St Stephen's Hospital, Bombay, Auckland.
SOURCES:
- Women of South Taranaki Nga Wahine Toa O Taranaki Tonga – O Ratou Korero – Christine Clement and Judith Johnston
- Article "Our Sisters Overseas" by Jane Tolerton (More Magazine)
- Sarah Dalton Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs
Ken
Morris
No Simple Passage
by Jenny Robin Jones.
Published by Random House NZ in 2011. 351 Pages, extensive illustrations,
Bibliography and Index.
The Author has written books on a variety of subjects and has been a full time author since 2008.
“No Simple Passage” tells the story of the 1842 voyage of the emigrant ship ‘London’ from London to Port Nicholson in New Zealand with 258 passengers making a break from what they know in the hope of a better life for them & their families.
This could have been a simple straight forward narrative, but the author has chosen to create a more personable and readable format by ‘accompanying’ her great great grandmother Rebecca REMINGTON, 19, married and pregnant on the four-month voyage. Access to actual journals and diaries is a must for such a narrative and the author has the ship’s doctor, William Mackie Turnbull MD’s journal and one kept by a cabin passenger.
The ‘London’ of 700 tons was quite large and the passengers; 55 married couples, 13 single women, 14 single men and 39 children would not have had as cramped conditions as some migrant ships, which in some cases were converted cargo vessels.
The author has carried out extensive research on what the migrants could expect on their arrival in Wellington and of some of the events that would shape their lives in their new homeland. 1842 was just two years after the signing of the Treaty and New Zealand, a lawless environment, existed with both the Maori and the white settlers coming to grips with living together.
All these ‘futures’ are woven into the daily diary/narrative of the ship’s life. The length of each day’s narrative varies from a part to several pages, there were 15 deaths during the voyage and one birth, so the tone is more sombre if there has been a death and more so if a child.
Reference is made as to geographical points if relevant and to the passing of other ships and to the daily events on board. The inclusion of the ‘futures’ can sometimes break one’s train of thought if wanting to concentrate just on the events of the actual voyage.
The extensive research by the author is well covered in the notes and bibliography. The illustrations include a wide variety including sketches of on board events as well post voyage paintings, press articles, advertisements, and drawings & photos of buildings, locations where the migrants made their homes in a new land.
I have found the book of great help for a ‘migrant ship’ project I’m working on, but for which I’ve not yet been able to find a journal of the particular voyage. I have a reference that the ship’s doctor kept a journal, but it doesn’t seem to have found its way into a known depository. So my narrative of the actual voyage will be more generic, backed up by some family ancestor notes and an Enquiry/Inquest reporting from Papers Past.
There isn’t a passenger list as such in the book but the index has reference to all the names for the 1842 voyage of the ‘London’. There is a Facebook Page, Descendants of the ship London, 1842 for those that may have specific connections to the voyage.
Adverts you won’t see again
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Robina Trenbath
Aunt Daisy and The Cornish Pasty
“Good morning, Everybody! Here is the Souvenir Cookery Book! To all my Listeners, all “the Girls” in the big “Family”, may it bring back happy memories of our dear old Station IZR.
As you read it through, you will be reminded of the jokes we had, - of the Cream Lily controversy, the Custard Tart contrariness, the Mysteries of Meringues.
If there should be any mistakes, please excuse them; and if any recipes are left out, - well, there are 760 in, anyhow: and perhaps the others will be in the next edition.
Cherrio, Girls,
Yours affectionately,
“”AUNT DAISY.”
I just knew
if I wanted an authentic recipe for a Cornish Pasty
I’d have to turn to Aunty Daisy’s Cookery Book Of Approved Recipes.1. Sure enough it was on page 133.
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1680: A Huguenot refugee and baker named Solange Luyon arrived in Bath and set up shop selling her breads. Her fame spread but English folk had difficulty saying her name so they Anglicized it to Sally Lunn.2.
However, the story may be more myth than fact, as no records can be found to prove the lady’s existence. Sally Lunn (or Solange Luyon) only surfaced in 1937 when an Englishwoman bought an ancient Bath townhouse, where Sally Lunn’s Eating House now operates. The woman claimed to have found the Huguenot refugee’s recipe hidden in a cupboard. Miffed by bun-making rivals nearby the lady called out her antagonists for “fakes” and stuck to her ‘buns’. Nevertheless, much doubt surrounds the authenticity of the origins of Sally Lunn aka Solange Luyon and her buns.
A food Journalist proposed that there is a warm brioche-style bun in France named solilemmes. Food Britannia and the historical site Food Timeline find a very plausible source for both the names Sally Lunn and solilemmes: it may arise from the French phrase “sun and moon”, a reference to the round bun with a golden top and a pale base.
NB. Huguenots were persecuted for their Protestant beliefs and ultimately fled France, many to England.
NB 2: If Sally Lunn’s arose out of the finding of an ancient recipe (Bath 1937) how the devil did Aunt Daisy publish a recipe for Sally Lun Buns in her 1934 cookbook? Did Daisy Basham have inside knowledge which has now been lost to her departure and time? WATCH THIS SPACE…
Cornish Pasties – myths, miners & meals:
i. Using the Cornish pasty crust as a handle: my Cornish rellies always said the tin miners held the pasty by the crimp and only ever ate the middle filling of the pie because miners didn’t want to poison themselves with the toxic chemicals that might be on their hands.
A food
historian’s reply to this was: “The first reference to Cornish pasty was in
1861 in the Leeds Times. The truth is Cornish miners ate their pasty from cloth
bags – photo evidence 1890. Also they cannot lay claim
to inventing the pasty. People have been folding pastry over fillings for over
2,000 years. The word pasty goes back to 13th century and
refers to a single piece of meat covered in pastry. The oldest recipe for a
Cornish pasty is as recent as 1929.” 3. Crickey doesn’t that put
Aunt Daisy in the frame for being ‘on-the-ball’.
ii. Cornish fishermen consider pasties bad luck & refuse to take them on board their boat.
iii Traditionally the presence of carrot in a pasty is a mark of an inferior pasty.
iv. …and here’s a gem: some mines had stoves down the mine shafts specifically to cook raw pasties. A well-known British rhyme sprang up: “Oggie, Oggie, Oggie!” This stems from “Hoggan”, Cornish for pasty and it was shouted down the mine shaft by the bal-maidens who were cooking the pasties, when they were ready for eating. The miners would shout in reply: “Oi, Oi, Oi!” However, if the pasties were cooked in the mornings, the pastry could keep the fillings warm for 8-10 hours and when held close to the body, keep the miners warm, too.4.
The obvious: Sorry, mate. It seems Ozzie’s aren’t very original when they yell: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oi, Oi, Oi!”
Where am I
off to now? My local bakery at Mudgeeraba. It has
been owned and operated by the same family for 100 years. They sell amazing
Cornish pasties (with a touch of curry) and the absolute best Sally Lunn Buns.
And that’ll be with a hot chocolate.
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Ref. 1..Aunt Daisy’s Cookbook Of Approved Recipes. Published 1934 by Mrs. D. Basham late of Station 1ZR. Price 2/-
Ref. 2. The Mysterious Origin of Sally Lunn Buns: www.thedailymeal.com, 5 Jan. 2023 by Elias Nash.
Ref. 3. Cornish pasty/ Greg Wallace. cornwallalive.com/ by Shannon Hards, 8 April 2020.
Ref. 4. The Cornish Pasty by Ben Johnson, 12 May 2015. Historic-uk.com/Cultural/The-Cornish-Pasty/
Rowan Gibbs
Who is
“Prudence Cadey”?
My hobby for more than forty years was collecting New Zealand novels, especially the more obscure and rarer titles, and a quest to find out something about the lives of the lesser-known, or (even more tantalising) pseudonymous, authors. This soon led me to an interest in genealogy.
Two novels, now very hard to find, were published in England in the 1920s under the name “Prudence Cadey”, Claudia Decides and Broken Pattern. The former centres on a female ambulance driver in Serbia in WW1, the second is the story of an English couple who come to New Zealand but do not stay long: this was widely and critically reviewed in the New Zealand papers on publication.
A few academics have discussed her books, but assessment was always problematic as it was unknown if she was a New Zealander or a visitor. Identifying her was made more difficult by her married name long being given as “Mrs Dreschfelt”.
Some research finally showed that she was in fact “Mrs Dreschfeld”. She was English and spent two years in New Zealand, living in Dunedin, and published her two novels on her return to England; both were probably largely written in New Zealand.
She was Katharine WARDLE, born in Durham, England, 24 March 1889 to Mark Anthony Wardle and Jane Elizabeth M. Hutchinson who married in Durham in 1880.
In Durham in 1920 Katharine married Stanley Alfred Ethelbert Dreschfeld, born Chorlton 4 August 1898. He was the son of a well-known doctor, Julius Dreschfeld (1845-1907) and his wife Selina, née Gaspari. Julius, born in Germany, settled in Manchester in 1861.
Stanley enlisted in 1916 and served in the Royal Flying Corps. He was badly injured in a crash in 1919, losing an arm, and was invalided out in 1920. He became an automobile consultant and insurance assessor and in February 1925 he and Kathleen arrived in New Zealand on the ‘Aorangi’ and settled in Dunedin. There are brief glimpses in the Otago papers of their time here, including a nasty car accident for Stanley. They left New Zealand in May 1927 and made their home in Surrey, England. Katharine died there in 1943, age 54; Stanley died in Fulham on August 22nd 1957. No children are recorded.
Her novel set in New Zealand is clearly autobiographical, though how close it is to her own experiences is difficult to judge. I can find no evidence that she herself served as an ambulance driver in WW1 and she may have based that novel in part on the life of Australian Sergeant Olive May (Kelso) King.
Ric Silcock
My Fitzpatrick Problem
G'day.
The Nash Rambler has issued the challenge to us to test our brick walls on those Old Fogies of over 30 year's genealogy experience, so I thought I would give it a whirl in his excellent newsletter. I’ve only been doing this for about 15 years but I have joined genealogy societies and visited a number of overseas centers to delve into their local resources. Unfortunately, we have Irish ancestors from before the time of statutory registrations, and then murders in Pacific Islands to contend with.
So I thought, you New Zealanders have lots of contacts in the Pacific Islands and someone amongst you may have the missing suggestion about my jigsaw puzzle. It concerns a Thomas FITZPATRICK, born 1828 near Newry in Northern Ireland who ‘swam’ to Victoria around 1850 and married a Wicklow girl in Melbourne in 1853 who had come out under the Earl Grey Orphaned Girl’s scheme in 1950. They had children and moved to the Candelo region of southern NSW where he was a contractor for road construction projects and a telegraph line erection in the 1860s. There is plenty of reasonable documentation about that, but then it dissolves into family gossip and legend.
The family legend says, in several Australian Fitzpatrick branches, that he was murdered by cannibals in Fiji in the early 1870s but I can find no documentation of this. Newspaper announcements of his son Thomas Joseph’s marriage in April 1892 says that his father was ‘late of Vita Levu, Fiji’. His wife had died young in 1876 aged 41 when the eldest child was 22 and young TJ was only 9. Scans of microfiche of the Fiji Times in the 1870s found no reports of his death but other documents illustrate the lawless condition of Fiji before 1874 when Britain declared sovereignty over those islands.
Papers report large numbers of people going to Fiji from Melbourne and Sydney in the late 1870s and Thomas may have been amongst them. People from New Zealand were also reported to be going there. The last discovered record of his presence in Australia was in July 1869 while constructing the telegraph line from Eden to the Gabo Island lighthouse off the coast near the Victorian-NSW border. That line was completed in February 1871 but was mostly completed up to the coast opposite Gabo Island by June 1870. I have found no passenger records for him travelling to Fiji and no mention of him completing the line for which he won the contract. However, quarterly reconciliations of Treasury expenditure on the line appeared regularly in newspapers up until April 1870.
Was Thomas murdered in Fiji or did he just abscond from family responsibilities to who-knows-where? Is the Fiji story a screen created by his distraught wife to disguise his disappearance? As the eldest children were in their twenties, it seems logical that they would know from where their father last made contact if mum was inventing the murder story, so he almost certainly went to Fiji. Was he another lonely male to fall for a Polynesian beauty?
The Fiji Times have not been OCR’d, so I may have missed a report of his murder during my scan. I have tried many places such as Family Search, Ancestry, TROVE, Papers Past, AJCP etc. without any luck. Ship’s passenger lists are very hit and miss – a Mr. Fitzpatrick of no stated age could be one of hundreds. Maybe he went to New Zealand under an alias or had a stopover there? I have not visited Fiji where some online articles indicate that help may be available, but most is only reliable after Britain took over in 1874. My belief is that he died before then. Has anybody from the Shaky Isles got suggestions of where I might find some sort of evidence of the time and circumstances of his death between 1870 & 1874?
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, I have even had some very helpful assistance 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 proof-readers 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
Heritage
Talks
Are you interested in family, local and social history, the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific, and beyond?
Then why not come along to one of our fortnightly HeritageTalks | Waha pū-taonga and hear more about both our personal and our shared heritage?
These talks are given by experts in their field and can provide valuable insight into our histories and our cultures.
When: Wednesdays, February to November, 12noon - 1pm
Where: Auckland Whare Wanga, L2
Central City Library,
Lorne St . Also online
via Zoom Cost: Free
Bookings: https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/family-and-local-history-events.aspx
For queries contact Research Central ph 09 890 2412.
Labour Day in Auckland with David Verran Wednesday 18 October 2023 12pm-1pm
David Verran is a historian, author, and former librarian (1975 to 2017). He graduated with MA Hons in history from the University of Auckland in 1974.
In 2010 Random House published his ‘The North Shore; an illustrated history’ and he has written a few articles and book reviews.
David is a member of PHANZA (Professional Historians of Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa) and volunteers at Devonport and Birkenhead Museums, Auckland Council Archives, and he is on the Devonport Museum and North Shore Historical Society committee. He also writes a monthly local history column for ‘Channel’ magazine on the North Shore.
Digital Recording of Cemeteries with Joe Mills Wednesday 1 November 2023 12pm-1pm
This talk is for Cemeteries and Crematoria week.
As historic cemeteries are becoming increasingly fragile and their assets precarious, recording them in their present state is hugely important to preserve their unique values.
New technologies are emerging and becoming increasingly accessible, providing new ways of recording that enable digital curation, reconstruction, and ongoing analysis.
This talk will provide an overview of these technologies and how they are being applied in cemeteries across Tāmaki Makaurau to protect and preserve some of our most precious heritage assets.
About
the speaker
Joe Mills is an archaeologist and historic heritage specialist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, having received an MA in Anthropology
and Archaeology from the University of Auckland. He has worked in the Heritage
Unit at Auckland Council for five years, with work focusing on Auckland’s
historic cemeteries and the Tūpuna Maunga of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Did you miss one of our HeritageTalks, or would you like to listen to it again?
Enjoy our podcasts - recorded events and presentations
https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries
And see more on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/aucklandlibraries
Auckland Libraries’ Research and Heritage Service
Changes
Changes to Research Centres and Special Collections Reading
Room
For some time, Aucklanders have been changing how they access our research services and heritage collections, with an increasing number of people choosing to engage with our collections and expertise through online channels.
From 30 September, we will be making some changes to the services and hours of our Research Centres and the Special Collections Reading Room.
Please note that Seonaid Harvey will still be available for Book A Family History Librarian appointments at Takapuna Library on the first Tuesday of every month, and Waitakere Library on the second Tuesday of every month. And she can also be available at Research Central by appointment.
Research assistance
There are a number of ways we can help you with your research and provide access to our heritage and research collections and resources.
- Fill out our research enquiry online form
- Book an in-person appointment with a specialist librarian
- Visit our Research Centres at Central City Library and Manukau Library
Hours and service changes from 30 September
Research Central (Level 2, Central City Library)
Monday to Friday, 10am – 6pm
Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Sunday – Closed.
Special Collections Reading Room (Level 2, Central City Library)
Monday and Tuesday – Closed.
Wednesday – Friday, 12pm – 5pm (Appointments only)
Saturday – 10am – 5pm (Appointments only)
Sunday – Closed.
Visitors to Central City Library can get in-person assistance from staff at the Research Central desk from Monday to Saturday.
Research South (Level 2, Manukau Library)
Monday – Friday, 12noon – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday – Closed.
Research West and North closure information
Our research service desks at Research West (Level 2, Waitākere Central Library) and Research North (Level 1, Takapuna Library) will close from 30 September.
Some research collections held at these libraries require an appointment with a specialist librarian.
Contact libraryresearch@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to make an appointment.
Some reference collections available at Takapuna Library and Waitākere Central Library can be accessed without an appointment. Our staff at these libraries can help you access these collections. You are also welcome to use the microfiche and CDROMs at these locations
Why are you closing Research North and West?
The number of people using the in-person research services at these Research Centres has been declining for a number of years, with increasing numbers of customers choosing to engage with our specialist expertise and research collections online.
From 30 September, we will focus on offering in-person research services at our Research Central (Central City Library) and Research South (Manukau Library) locations and increasing our ability to provide community outreach and online research support.
Changes to our research services were included in the Auckland Council 2023/2024 Annual Budget consultation in February and March 2023. Council’s Governing Body adopted the proposed changes on 29 June 2023.
Can I still use the research collections and specialist
equipment at Research North and West?
Some research collections will require an appointment with a specialist librarian to access them. Other collections are available for you to use without an appointment. You are welcome to use the research collections on the open floors and the microfiche and CD-ROMs.
What if I can’t make it to Research Central or South?
We have a range of options for those unable to travel to our Research Central or South locations. This includes support from a specialist librarian over the phone, email or video conference call, for example, Microsoft Teams or Zoom. You can also contact us to book an appointment with one of our specialists.
Email libraryresearch@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
You may also like to check out our video tutorials available on our Niche Academy platform. These tutorials provide step-by-step instructions on using various online resources, including Kura Heritage Collections Online, Ancestry and Findmypast.
https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/niche[1]academy.aspx
Why are you changing the Special Collections Reading Room
to appointment only?
Last year, we changed the opening hours and services available at the Special Collections Reading Room, providing both drop-in support at the desk as well as appointments.
We are moving to an appointment only system to provide a more efficient service to customers. Visitors to Central City Library can get in-person assistance from staff at the Research Central desk from Monday to Saturday.
To book an appointment with a specialist librarian at the Special Collections Reading Room, email libraryresearch@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
How will this service be better for customers and staff?
A fully integrated heritage and research service will mean we can more effectively manage our collections and deliver to a wide range of customer interests.
It will also increase staff skills and knowledge transfer and enable us to streamline internal processes, resulting in a more consistent and improved customer experience.
For any enquiries about these changes please email libraryresearch@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
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
Auckland Libraries, Level 2, Central City Library, 44 - 46 Lorne Street, Auckland
Visit our website: www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz
@Kintalk on Twitter / Auckland Research Centre on Facebook
Group News
News
and Views
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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. Just click the heading.
What is the 1939 Register
Agricultural Labourers - Part 1
Agricultural Labourers – Part 2
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Where to find death records
What were friendly societies?
In conclusion
Book Reviews
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 may 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.
A Bit of Light Relief
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Ever since I was a child I've always had a fear of someone under my bed at night.
So I went to a shrink and told him, "I've got problems".
"Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under it."
"I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy."
"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink.
"Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears."
"How much do you charge?"
"One hundred fifty dollars per visit," replied the doctor.
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
Six months later the doctor met me on the street.
He asked, "Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?"
"Well, $150 a visit, three times a week for a year, is $23,400.00. A bartender cured me for $10.00.
I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought a new pickup truck."
With a bit of an attitude he said, "Is that so?" "And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed. Ain't nobody there now."
It's always better to get a second opinion…..
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America ...
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLEN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!
TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie, always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right: 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE: No, sir. It's the same dog.
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher
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Feel free to redistribute this newsletter. If you publish a newsletter yourself you may include material from this newsletter in yours provided that you contact the particular author of the article for permission, and acknowledge its source and include the FamNet URL. https://www.famnet.org.nz/