THE BRIDE'S FAMILY
Rosalie McLEAN
Usually the male side of the family gets the attention, and this is understandable since that will be the surname of forthcoming issue.
However the bride (or spouse) also has brothers and sisters and an ancestry so that is why my research began – to find a totally different set of relatives sometimes from different counties or countries. Back in the 1850s travel would have been difficult, expensive and time consuming and also racism would have been rife.
The area is small by today's travel standards but to meet their respective partners they travelled the world and met in New Zealand.
The surnames of people I am looking for include THURSTON, COX, NEILSON (or NELSON), William and Mary STONE nee LEE and Charles HEDGES from England. Another branch wasMOFFAT from Leadhills, ROY from near Aberdeen and James McDONALD from Strathmore, Scotland.
The greatest help has been Bruce with the census records. An entry in 1851 above the one I was looking for, was another relative (different surname) who unknown to me lived next door – or maybe across the street - numbers 39 and 40. Their offspring later married in New Zealand.
Could this happen twice? Yes! On another census form was Hanah GORR [sic]. I found Hannah GORE two numbers from another relative.
Historical books give further leads but details are sometimes misleading - one relative was an engineer on a wartime hospital ship but was given the title of captain in a passengers' memoirs
I know he was an engineer from an old post card written to him from my grandmother. She queried why he was called up for war service since he was already serving on the hospital ship. Why didn't my mother tell me I had these relatives? They had lost touch. The parents had died young and the children had been brought up by aunts on the other side of the family. This proves how necessary it is to find the relatives of spouses.
Another hint to researchers – the sailor on the hospital ship was not listed in war records.
Do I have a brick wall?
A documentary at Te Papa spoke of people from different parts of the UK who emigrated and a Charles Hedges and family from Devon was mentioned. They sailed on the Cospatrick. That ill-fated ship burnt near the Cape of Good Hope. There would be no passenger list documented in New Zealand. Their memorial headstone is in their home town graveyard.
Rosalie McLEAN
Usually the male side of the family gets the attention, and this is understandable since that will be the surname of forthcoming issue.
However the bride (or spouse) also has brothers and sisters and an ancestry so that is why my research began – to find a totally different set of relatives sometimes from different counties or countries. Back in the 1850s travel would have been difficult, expensive and time consuming and also racism would have been rife.
The area is small by today's travel standards but to meet their respective partners they travelled the world and met in New Zealand.
The surnames of people I am looking for include THURSTON, COX, NEILSON (or NELSON), William and Mary STONE nee LEE and Charles HEDGES from England. Another branch wasMOFFAT from Leadhills, ROY from near Aberdeen and James McDONALD from Strathmore, Scotland.
The greatest help has been Bruce with the census records. An entry in 1851 above the one I was looking for, was another relative (different surname) who unknown to me lived next door – or maybe across the street - numbers 39 and 40. Their offspring later married in New Zealand.
Could this happen twice? Yes! On another census form was Hanah GORR [sic]. I found Hannah GORE two numbers from another relative.
Historical books give further leads but details are sometimes misleading - one relative was an engineer on a wartime hospital ship but was given the title of captain in a passengers' memoirs
I know he was an engineer from an old post card written to him from my grandmother. She queried why he was called up for war service since he was already serving on the hospital ship. Why didn't my mother tell me I had these relatives? They had lost touch. The parents had died young and the children had been brought up by aunts on the other side of the family. This proves how necessary it is to find the relatives of spouses.
Another hint to researchers – the sailor on the hospital ship was not listed in war records.
Do I have a brick wall?
A documentary at Te Papa spoke of people from different parts of the UK who emigrated and a Charles Hedges and family from Devon was mentioned. They sailed on the Cospatrick. That ill-fated ship burnt near the Cape of Good Hope. There would be no passenger list documented in New Zealand. Their memorial headstone is in their home town graveyard.