A BIT OF THIS AND A BIT OF THAT

Issue 20
August 2009
MISSION STATEMENT: The Dunedin Family History Group’s purpose is to
promote interest in the field of family history through educational programs, to
collect and disseminate genealogical knowledge and information, and to
provide support and guidance to those trying to research all aspects of their
family history.
PROGRAMME FOR 2009
A BIT OF THIS AND A BIT OF THAT
Wednesday 12 August 2009
RESEARCHING IN SOUTHLAND
A few reminders this month.
1.
We are still collecting “Orders of Service” from
Funerals. The latest version of the index is on-line on
our website and it growing at about 50 entries a
month.
2.
Don’t forget our competition to name our gold mining
book. Entries close in -ovember. We have had a few
suggestions but would like some more.
3.
Don’t forget we are looking for a graphic for the
cover of the book and entries for that also close in
-ovember.
We have greatly reduced the time taken to email out the
newsletters so things are improving each month.
Enrolments are coming in fast for our one day seminar so if
you would like to attend please get your enrolment form to us
asap. The forms will be on the front desk at our August group
meeting or you can have one emailed to you at
[email protected]. Our treasurer will be happy to take
enrolments at our August group meeting.
On a personal note I have been having a huge amount of luck
using the cd of the Cyclopedia of Otago and Southland which
I recently purchased from Brenda at Colonial CD books http://www.colonialcdbooks.com/
Brenda brings these cds for sale at our monthly group
meetings.
Although I have used the Cyclopedia many times in the public
library I decided to buy the cd as a resource to have at home
and what an amazing amount of information I have got out of
it. -ormally when using the book I would look up a name and
read their details. But there is no overall index to all the
names mentioned within the text. However using the cd
version which is in .pdf I can do a search of all the text.
I discovered a relative who does not have an entry in the
Cyclopedia for himself personally being mentioned as saving
the life of a newly arrived immigrant who was drowning. The
man made mention that his life in -ew Zealand was almost
cut short before it began except for the brave deed of my
relative. This led me to
finding the actual event
mentioned in the local
newspaper.
Then I found another
mention in the Cyclopedia
of a different relative
working as a partner in an
engineering business. This
was something that had not
shown up in any directory
searches.
It is amazing where
different information turns
up. It proves you need to
keep looking.
Heather Bray
A look at the museums, repositories, libraries and resources
of Southland.
Remember Otago and Southland used to be one province.
Venue: St Peters Church Hall, Hillside Road, South Dunedin
Time: Meeting begins at 7.30 pm but the hall will be open from 7 pm
onwards.
Cost: $2 door charge (bring along some extra change as we will also
be having a raffle to raise funds for the group).
The meeting will conclude with a free supper - tea, coffee, cordial and
biscuits.
Saturday 5 September 2009
ONE DAY SEMINAR
See page 4 for further details
Wednesday 9 September 2009
There will be no group meeting tonight.
Instead there is a tour of the Hocken Collections.
Meet Kaye Saunders at the Hocken Library at 7 pm.
There is no charge for this tour.
Bookings for this tour are essential so email [email protected]
or telephone 4876558 and leave your name on the answer
machine or let Heather know at our next group meeting.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
PRIVACY AND PERSONAL RECORDS
A look at the criminal, mental, health, school and divorce
records and the privacy laws which restrict access to them.
Venue: St Peters Church Hall, Hillside Road, South Dunedin
Time: Meeting begins at 7.30 pm but the hall will be open from 7 pm
onwards.
Cost: $2 door charge (bring along some extra change as we will also
be having a raffle to raise funds for the group).
The meeting will conclude with a free supper - tea, coffee, cordial and
biscuits.
CONTACT DETAILS FOR GROUP
Dunedin Family History Group
C/- 28 Milburn Street, Corstorphine
Dunedin 9012
Email:
[email protected]
Website:
http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/dfhg/moodle/
The Dunedin Family History Group cannot vouch for the accuracy of goods and
services that are advertised in this newsletter or be responsible for the outcome
of any contract which may be entered into by a reader with an advertiser.
Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of the group.
This newsletter is copyrighted to the Dunedin Family History Group. No part
may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holders.
MEMBERSHIP OF OUR GROUP IS FREE
There is a monthly door charge of $2 to cover the rental of the hall
and the supper provided after the meeting.
Page 1
News from Canada
GENEALOGICAL HAPPENINGS
WORLD-WIDE
News from Dunedin
LINZ
(Land Information New Zealand)
On 23 February 2009, LINZ closed the public counters in
three of it five regional centres - Auckland, Wellington and
Dunedin. Customers can now order copies of land records
such as a title (computer register) or a survey place from
LINZ:
•
Order online using the Land Record Order Service on
the LINZ website (www.linz.govt.nz)
•
Fax or post the completed Land Record Order Form to
the LINZ Processing Centre that handles requests for
the land district where the property is located.
•
Call 0800665463 and select option 6 to request a copy
of the form
•
Email [email protected] to request a copy of the form.
Reading rooms are available to customers wishing to view
Survey, Title and Crown property records. You need to make
an appointment. To request an appointment you need to
complete an appointment form by doing one of the following:
•
Call 0800665463 and select option 6
•
Email [email protected] providing the record reference
number, land district, record type and if known the date
of the record
•
Order online via the LINZ website (as above) and
select “Viewing Original Land Records Appointment
Request Form”
•
Post or fax a completed “Viewing Original Land
Records Appointment Request Form” to the
Processing Centre that handles requests for the land
district where the property is located.
LINZ does not provide search services.
Archives New Zealand
Dunedin Regional Office
For the month of July the above office will be trialling a Digital
Camera Self Copying Service, in place of the current
Photocopying service.
If you do not have a digital camera you can use their camera.
You need to purchase an SD Card from the Archives (cost
$14 including GST) and then you can take this card to any
firm who develops prints or you can download the images to
your computer at home. You can bring the SD card with you
when ever you visit the Archives and reuse it in the camera.
This process means you get the images on the same day as
you visit so no lengthy delays for photocopying to be done.
You can also take as many images as you want.
We are nearly at the end of July but there are still a few days
left to try out this new service.
News from New Zealand
DigitalNZ
DigitalNZ wants your views on the digital content New
Zealanders need. Is there information you need for your
research? Are there things you’d like to be able to see and
use online? They are giving you the opportunity to go on-line
and vote for resources you would like digitised.
http://makeit.digitalnz.org/voting/
News from Scotland
Shetland Genealogy Website
If your ancestors come from the Shetlands then this is
probably the best website to use for genealogical
research
http://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/
Canadian 1881 Census
The 1881 Canadian census is available online without charge,
searchable, and with original images at:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census1881/001049-100.01-e.php
Canadian Soldiers in World War One
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/indexe.html
Over 600,000 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian
Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War (19141918). The CEF database is an index to those personnel files,
which are held by Library and Archives Canada. To date, over
800,000 images of Attestation papers have been scanned and
are being made available on-line.
The index is free to search and gives the full name of soldier,
his birthdate, rank and regiment. Remember that many of our
relatives who came to New Zealand had relatives who went to
Canada and the United States. So this site may provide a vital
clue in your researching.
News from England
New on findmypast.com
Ship’s crew lists added for 270,000 British merchant-ship’s
crew members for the period 1861-1913. These records are
indexes to original crew-list documents, which hold the
employment details of these men and women. Altogether they
reference around 30,000 lists. Original crew-list documents
are not online, but if you find an ancestor listed, you can order
the relevant document from the repositories that store them
around the country and in Canada. Full details on how to
locate the original crew-list documents are found on the
findmypast website crew lists search page. Please bear in
mind that the online indexes represent only a fraction of the
records available. Many have not yet been transcribed.
News from the United States of America
The California Digital Newspaper Collection offers over
200,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years
1849-191l: the Alta California, 1849-1891; the San Francisco
Call, 1893-1910; the Amador Ledger, 1900-1911; the Imperial
Valley Press, 1901-1911; the Sacramento Record-Union,
1859-1890; and the Los Angeles Herald, 1905-1907.
Additional years are forthcoming, as are other early California
newspapers: the Californian; the California Star; the California
Star and Californian; the Sacramento Transcript; the Placer
Times; and the Pacific Rural Press. The California Digital
Newspaper Collection offers over 200,000 pages of California
newspapers spanning the years 1849-191l: the Alta California,
1849-1891; the San Francisco Call, 1893-1910; the Amador
Ledger, 1900-1911; the Imperial Valley Press, 1901-1911; the
Sacramento Record-Union, 1859-1890; and the Los Angeles
Herald, 1905-1907.
Additional years are coming, as are other early California
newspapers so if you have American research it may be worth
keeping an eye on this website in the future.
The California Digital Newspaper Collection is available at
http://cdnc.ucr.edu.
ON-LINE MAPS
Many highly detailed maps dating from the mid-19th century,
and based on the 6-inch scale Ordnance Survey (OS) charts,
can be found at www.old-maps.com. If you want to compare
them with modern maps, however, most sites, such as
www.multimap.com can only provide you with a simple road
map with little additional topographical features.
However, the Ordnance Survey site - www.ordsvy.gov.uk has 1:50,000 scale ‘landranger’ maps.
Page 2
LATEST ADDITIONS ADDED TO TO OUR
WEBSITE DURING JULY 2009
I have a couple of death certificates which have causes of
death which I am not sure about. My grandmother always
said her brother died as a child from appendicitis yet his
death certificate says he died from cholera morbus. Also my
2x great grandfather died from neuralgia. What was
neuralgia - Susan Haywood, Tauranga.
http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/dfhg/moodle/
•
•
•
•
Pukerau Cemetery
Hyde Cemetery
Albert Town Cemetery
A comprehensive historical listing of Hotels and their
publicans in Dunedin 1848-1937 (this can be found
under “Researching in Dunedin”).
BALCLUTHA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Presents
Heather Bray
FINDING YOUR IRISH
ANCESTORS
Saturday 1st August 2009
St John’s, High Street, Balclutha
10.30am to 3.30pm
$10 entry
BYO Lunch, Tea, Coffee etc provided
Further information and to register
your interest
Phone Noeline at (03) 418 0653
[email protected]
Firstly I am no medical expert so I rang the Dunedin Medical
School library. I was told cholera morbus is a disease
characterised by vomiting, purging, violent gripings, coldness,
and cramps of the extremities. These can all be symptoms of
appendicitis so it probably was appendicitis. Neuralgia is a
pain in a nerve. In the 1890s the term was used quite
frequently, and apparently in many cases for pain that had
little to do with the nerves themselves. For example, there was
"neuralgia of the heart" which was either a heart attack or
angina. "Neuralgia of the "stomach" seems to have been
either an ulcer or heartburn. "Neuralgia of the head" was
usually simply a headache.
My grandfather did the family tree in the 1960s and several
of his sources back in the 1700s relate to manorial records.
What are these? - Tom Thomas, Dunedin.
The easiest way to explain Manorial Courts and their records
is that these were the 'ruling body' of the local community in
medieval times. It not only had administrative control over
matters such as the succession rights to land within the
boundary of the manor, but it also often functioned as a local
court of law for routine offences. Manorial documents are
among the few types of records where genealogical
information about ordinary people - rather than the upper
classes - is likely to survive from medieval times.
Generally the most useful manorial records for the genealogist
are those of the court baron, which dealt with the everyday
business of the manor, meeting usually every 3 or 4 weeks.
This business would include the reporting of tenants' deaths
and the payment to the lord of the corresponding feudal due,
called a heriot. When the heir of a dead tenant succeeded, the
surrender of the land and the admission of the new tenant
would be recorded, and the relationship between the two
would normally be noted. Often it was father to son.
Occasionally, there are also payments for the marriages of the
daughters of tenants (merchets) or records of the remarriage
of widows. Many tenants will be routinely named for a variety
of reasons - they may appear as officials or jurors, they may
be noted as absent (with or without leave), or they may be
fined for some minor offence.
Many manors also held a court leet, which acted as a court of
law dealing with routine local matters.
The difficulties of using manorial documents include the
common ones of handwriting and language. The language in
medieval times is Latin which is often heavily abbreviated.
English became more common in Tudor times, but many
manorial court records continue in Latin until the 18th century.
Another problem is the large number of medieval manorial
documents that have been lost. These were private not public,
records, and so their survival is a matter of luck rather than
administrative routine (except for manors owned by the crown
or the church, which have generally fared better).
Nevertheless, the Public Record Office has a large collection,
and many of those previously in private hands have been
deposited in local record offices.
Fortunately, because of their legal significance, there is an
official listing - the Manorial Documents Register - of known
surviving records and their location, so that it is not too hard to
determine whether material has survived for a given manor.
This information is available online for parts of England. If you
have Internet access refer to the following guide on the
National Archives in England http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/rdleaflet.asp?
sLeafletID=139&j=1
Page 3
Genealogy and Old Documents
Initials you are likely to find on old handwritten family trees:
d.s.p. - died without children
d.s.p.l. - died without legitimate children
d.s.p.m.s. - died without surviving male child
d.s.p.s - died without surviving children
d.unm - died unmarried
d.v.p. - died in the lifetime of his father
d.v.m. - died in the lifetime of his mother
Et al - and others
Inst - present month
Rel. or Relict - widow or widower
Res. or Residue - widow or widower
Sic - exact copy as written
Ux or vs - wife
Viz - namely
Rules and Regulations
Insurance Office, New York City, 1872
Office employees will daily sweep the floors, dust the furniture and
shelves.
Each day fill lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. Wash the
windows once a week.
Each clerk will bring in a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the
day's business.
Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to your individual
taste.
This office will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p. m. daily except on the
Sabbath, on which day it will remain closed.
Men employees will be given an evening off each week for courting
purposes, or two evenings a week if they go regularly to church.
Every employee should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his
earnings for his benefits during his declining, so that he will not
become a burden upon the charity of his betters.
Any employee who smokes Spanish cigars, uses liquor in any form,
gets shaved at a barber shop, or frequents pool or public halls will
give a good reason to suspect his worth, intentions, integrity and
honesty.
The employee who has performed his labour faithfully and without
faults for a period of five years in my service and who has been thrifty
and attentive to his religious duties and is looked upon by his fellow
men as a substantial and law-abiding citizen will be given an increase
of five cents per day, providing a just return of profits from the
business permits it.
And you thought the rules of today's workplaces were tough!
Trade Symbols which can be found on old headstones:
Barber - Bowl (for bleeding) & Razor
Butcher - an axe, steel knife and cleaver
Farmer - Coulter (type of hoe), flail (threshing implement),
swingletree (rod for beating flax), stalk of corn
Gardener - rake & spade
Mason - wedge & level
Mariner - anchor, sextant
Merchant - scales, sign
Minister - Bible
Shoemaker - awl, knife, nippers
Smith - crown, hammer & anvil
Teacher - open book
Weaver - loom, shuttle & stretchers
Wood Wright - wooden objects they made
Saturday 5 September 2009
Owheo Building, 133 Union Street East, Dunedin (cnr of Forth and Union Streets)
10 am - 12 noon
and
12.45 pm - 4 pm
$6.00 - morning session $6.00 - afternoon session
$10.00 - full day
Bookings essential - to obtain an enrolment form email [email protected], or telephone 4876558
or collect it at our July or August group meetings.
Refreshments (tea, coffee, cordial) provided but please bring your own lunch
9.30 am
Seminar open
Refreshments available - come early and have a chat with other researchers
10.00 am
Beginners guide to getting started
11.00 am
Civil Registration world wide - How to use the New Zealand Civil Registration Website
12 noon
Lunch
12.45 pm
Alternative records for death information
1.45 pm
Understanding shipping records to Otago and Southland
2.45 pm
Afternoon Tea
3 pm
How to correctly use the LDS Website - www.familysearch.org
INTERNET WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DEMONSTRATING WEBSITES
Page 4
REPORT OF JULY
GROUP MEETING
YEAR EVENT
My Ancestors Must
have been beamed
up by aliens cause
they didn’t die on
this earth
SOURCE
Enter the birth year as your starting point and fill in all the
details about a person using this simple chart.
OR
How do you look
for family
members who
disappear without
a trace.
Before beginning to research a missing ancestor you need to
take into consideration four key points
1. Remember they may not want to be found
Many of our ancestors reinvented themselves because
•
Left their birth country for a new life
•
Left behind crimes or unwanted pregnancies
•
Left behind wives and children and remarried
•
Left behind family arguments or problems
•
Entered into situations where they wanted to hide their
identity – workhouse, mental institutes etc
2. They changed their name
People changed both their Christian and surnames
•
use variations of their names
•
Women change their names when they marry and
women remarried several times
•
Children take the name of a step-father or guardian
3. They aren’t who you think they are
Nicknames, alises, assumed names, fictitious names, stage
names, pen names, noms de plume - whatever you like to call
them people could use any name throughout their life time.
One of the hardest issues to track down is finding what the
person’s actual birth name really was.
One important point is making sure you actually have the right
person. Nicknames or shortened versions of names are very
difficult to trace. An example is a photograph of a man with
“Uncle Bert” written on the back. He could have been just
plain Bert or he could have been Bertram, Burton, Albert,
Gilbert, Robert, Herbert, Egbert, Wilbert, Dilbert, Philbert and
so on.
Another problems is names changing from one source to
another. An example is Albert Brown
Born: Noel Albert Thomas Brown
Baptised: Noel Albert Brown
Army Service: Noel Thomas Brown
Married: Albert Noel Brown
Died: Albert Thomas Brown
You must research all combinations of a person’s full name.
4. They didn’t exist
Make sure they are actually family members. Previous
generations often referred to family friends as being aunty or
uncle or granny etc.
Once you are sure of the person who are looking for you need
to track all events in their life.
If you have a computer you can do the following exercise
easily on a spreadsheet or if you don’t own a computer you
can draw up some columns in an exercise book.
YEAR
1885
EVENT
SOURCE
Born at Dunedin - 31
Birth Certificate - blue clear file
October
Certificate no 3 under Wilson
Father - Percy
family
Mother - Mary nee Howard
1886
Baptised by Rev Cooper 17 February East Taieri
Presbyterian Church
PCA.Z Archives, Knox College,
Dunedin.
Living in Glen Road,
Dunedin
Wise’s Street Directiory 1887-88.
Mc.ab Room, Dunedin Public
Library.
1887
1888
You can then quickly identify what years you have no
information on a person and when they disappear from
mainstream records.
So how do you fill in the missing years between birth, death
and marriage ?
You start in your own home. Look for clues in photographs,
old documents, newspaper clippings, certificates, scrapbooks,
postcards etc.
An example is this very faded old certificate from the
Kaitangata Presbyterian Church. Not only does it give me a
signature of my great grandfather but it gives me a place
(Kaitangata), religion (Presbyterian), activity (young persons
membership pledge) and a date (28 October 1897).
Once you have exhausted your own home it is time to use
other types of genealogical records.
The first place to start would be Archives New Zealand. Their
website is
http://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/
They are gradually indexing and placing on-line references to
bankruptcies, divorces, probates, military records along with
many other documents. All these contain vital clues to tracking
down information on a missing person.
If you don’t have Internet access you can use the computer in
the reception area of Archives New Zealand. They have
offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Page 5
The next place to research is the Paperspast website which is
part of the National Library.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
They are slowly but steadily digitising old newspapers and
making them fully searchable.
Some early newspaper articles contain a wealth of
information. The following newspaper article about the
marriage of Florence Gertrude Pool (note it is wrong in the
newspaper as Poole) and Arthur Bennetts Truscott lists all the
gifts given to the couple and who gave them which helped to
build up a family tree of extended family members. This is
from the Ellesmere Guardian newspaper in 1905.
Other sources worth consulting are:
JURORS ROLLS - usually printed in the newspaper. Go to
Paperspast website.
DIRECTORIES - Hocken Library have an excellent collection.
ELECTORAL ROLLS - McNab New Zealand Room has the
best collection in Dunedin.
NATURALISATION RECORDS - held at Archives New
Zealand in Wellington.
MILITARY RECORDS – Maori Land Wars, Boer War, World
War One and World War Two. Remember men went overseas
and served with other countries so check Australian and
English military records.
GOVERNMENT GAZETTES - Available in hardcopy at the
Hocken Library. These are also available from Colonial CD
books and contain a wealth of information including land
transactions, patents and change of name.
SCHOOL RECORDS - As well as public school records there
are Industrial School records. Children were often made
Wards of the Court so check if Court records are available.
Also check newspapers for write-ups about Industrial School
admissions. Where Industrial records exist they are with the
nearest Archives New Zealand. Archives New Zealand,
Dunedin Office have the Industrial School committals 18861897.
POLICE GAZETTES - Archives New Zealand Dunedin Office
have New Zealand Police Gazettes 1877-1989. Hocken
Collections have Otago Police Gazettes up to 1877 - indexed
and available on ONI (Otago Nominal Index) http://marvin.otago.ac.nz/oni/default.html
ONI website also has Electoral Rolls and Directories for Otago
and Southland pre 1875.
LODGE RECORDS - contain a wealth of information. The
Hocken Collections in Dunedin has the biggest collection of
old Lodge records for Otago and Southland but also check
local museums to see what they hold. North Otago and South
Otago museums have local lodge records indexed.
CORONERS INQUEST RECORDS - It is important to
remember that up to the 1960s if there was no body there
would be no death certificate. But there should be a write up in
the local newspaper of the event and there should be a
coroners inquest. All coroners inquests are held at Archives
New Zealand in Wellington but have a 70 year restriction.
MENTAL HOSPTIAL RECORDS - these have a 70 year
restriction. They contain a wealth of medical family history.
However admission could be a stigma on some families who
admitted people under false names. Many married women
were admitted under their maiden name or their mother’s
maiden name. Until the 1900s no identification was required
on admission. Many men divorced their wives while in the
hospital so those records can provide clues.
If your missing person comes from the United Kingdom then it
is important to consider the following records PRISON RECORDS - if you ancestor is missing from census
records they could be in prison but many prisons only
recorded prisoners in the census by their initials. Don’t be
surprised to find young children or infants in prison with their
mother.
MILITARY DESERTERS RECORDS - these are beginning to
appear on the Internet. They contain the date of desertion, full
name of soldier, their regiment, their age, their place of birth
and their occupation before enlisting. Some of these lists go
back to the late 1700s.
WORKHOUSE - Entering
into the Workhouse was
the fear of most people.
They were known as
inmates and if they died in
the workhouse, their death
was notified to their nearest
relative. Most relatives
declined to collect the
bodies so the Workhouse
Guardians arranged a
burial in a local cemetery or
burial ground. A few
workhouses had their own
burial ground on or
adjacent to the workhouse
site. No headstone would
be erected.
Under the terms of the
1832 Anatomy Act, bodies
unclaimed for forty-eight
hours could also be
disposed of by donating
them for use in medical
research and training. This
did not apply just to the
Workhouse but to any institution whose patients died while in
their care.
Deaths were, however, supposed to be registered in the
normal way. But it is estimated that only 50% of the deaths in
workhouses prior to 1875 were ever registered.
People ended-up in the workhouse for a variety of reasons.
Usually, it was because they were too poor, old or ill to
support themselves. Unmarried pregnant women were often
disowned by their families and the workhouse was the only
place they could go during and after the birth of their child.
Prior to the establishment of public mental asylums in the midnineteenth century (and in some cases even after that), the
mentally ill and mentally handicapped poor were also
consigned to the workhouse.
The Workhouse may account for your ancestor disappearing
from the Electoral Roll. Until 1918, admission to a Workhouse
or being a recipient of poor relief meant a loss of the right to
vote. This can often explain why people disappear from
electoral rolls.
Despite the lengthy admission and discharge procedures,
some paupers treated the workhouse as a free lodging,
leaving and departing as the fancy took them. When
workhouses clamped down on this practice many went from
one workhouse to another changing their names on admission
so it was possible they died under a false name.
Page 6
GAINING A FOOTHOLD
Published by the Friends of the
Hocken Collections Inc, as a
memorial to the memory of the
late David McDonald, Hocken
Library Reference Libraran
from 1974 until 2000.
The Friends of the Hocken
Collections, established in
1991, promotes public
awareness and support for the
Hocken Collections and all the
proceeds from the sale of this
book will be used for
enhancement
of
the
Collections.
Gaining a Foothold - Historical Records of Otago’s Eastern
Coast 1770-1839 is a collection of records on early European
explorations, sealing, whaling, interaction with the resident Kai
Tahu Māori population along Otago’s eastern coast, and as
far north as Bank’s Peninsula and to Stewart Island in the
south. The documents include Māori sources, archaeological
records, logs, journals, reminiscences of explorers, sealers,
flax-gatherers and whalers, court cases, old land claims,
newspaper and shipping reports. In addition, the material
provides new insights into European place-names, the causes
of friction between Māori and Europeans, and the effects of
European diseases on an indigenous people.
Though many early records have come from the Hocken
Collections, they have been hugely expanded by
documentation from Hobart, Sydney and elsewhere to provide
the most comprehensive coverage of Otago history prior to
the establishment of the first European settlement at
Waikouaiti in 1840.
The book is a 467-page A4 hardback, plus 32 pages
containing 96 illustrations, 32 of them in colour.
Copies of Gaining a Foothold can be obtained from:
Friends of the Hocken Collections Inc,
P O Box 6336, Dunedin North 9059, New Zealand
Price: NZ$120 (includes postage and packaging to NZ).
Cheques should be made payable to the Friends of the
Hocken Collections.
GOLD TRAILS OF
OTAGO
By John Hall-Jones
The group has received a
complimentary copy of a
booklet published by the “Otago
Goldfields Heritage Trust” to
commemorate 150 years since
Gabriel Read discovered gold in
the Lawrence area.
The booklet was written by
John Hall-Jones and is intended
to be a quick tour guide to the
various Otago Goldfields.
Copies of the booklet are in bookshops or available direct
from Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust.
P.O. Box 91, Cromwell 9342.
The cost is $12.95 plus $3.00 p&p.
The book will be at our August group meeting for members to
have a look at. It is an excellent size just to put in the travel
bag when next heading to Central Otago and in fact you can
use the pages of the booklet as a sort of map to follow your
way around the goldfields of Central Otago.
I believe that my ancestor Cecilia Jane Osborn BENDLE was
at the Normal School in Dunedin. Also, she may have been
baptised at Chalmers Church, Timaru. Her parents were
William and Mary BENDLE or BENDELL.
Any help would be appreciated.
Helen Riddell, 142 Domain Road, R D 7, Te Puke.
<[email protected]>
**********************************
Albert Kinghorn was born on 27 August 1909 in Finnercy,
Echt, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His birth mother was Isabella
Kinghorn 1891-1959. She married William Macgregor
Farquharson in Dunedin in 1912.
Albert’s birth father is unknown.
He married on 8 May 1845 to Alice Eva Lenore Dawson nee
Green (who died in 1969 in Auckland)
Albert’s mother came to New Zealand from Scotland about
1911. She worked as a servant at the Farquharson’s farm at
Signal Hill, Dunedin and she married the youngest son in
1912. They had four children - William (died as an infant),
Douglas, Constance and Kathleen (all now deceased).
When Isabella came to New Zealand she left Albert in
Aberdeenshire in the care of her sister, Jessie, who was 22
years older than Isabella.
Isabella returned to Scotland to visit her family about 1930
and met up again with Albert. While she was away, she
informed her husband, William Farquharson, back in New
Zealand that she had met up with her son who her husband
never knew about. She told her husband she had decided to
stay in Scotland and not return to New Zealand. However a
year later she did return.
As a result of Isabella coming to Scotland, Albert came to New
Zealand about 1931 and lived initially at the Farquharson
farm. The two daughters, Constance and Kathleen, were not
told this was their half-brother and without anyone realising
what was happening Constance and Albert became an item.
Constance became pregnant and Albert went to live in
Wellington. The child was born in 1936 and adopted out. The
adopted child did not know she was adopted until she was 56
years old and got her birth certificate to obtain an Australian
passport.
She is still alive and living in Surfers Paradise and would like
to know what happened to Albert. From electoral rolls, it
appears that after his marriage to Alice, Albert lived at
Johnsonville until 1954 when he is shown as living in the
Mirimar electorate. He can be traced there until the 1960
electoral rolls.
Family members report that he came to Dunedin for his
mother’s funeral in 1959 and in the early 1960s there was a
missing persons notice about him in a newspaper from
somebody seeking his whereabouts.
We have not been able to find a death certificate for him in
New Zealand, Scotland or Australia.
Can anyone help please? Any information to [email protected]
**********************************
My 2x great aunt, Sarah Pile Gordon (Mrs Price) was widowed
with two sons when she came to New Zealand and married
Donald Reid in 1874. They lived in Dunedin. He became quite
well known - I have found numerous articles about him via
'Google'. I am wondering if anyone reading this would be
aware of any descendants still alive. I know Sarah's sons
were Herbert and Ernest and her daughter with Donald was
Nina.
I am really interested in possible photos of Sarah, and
perhaps the farm which Donald ran as well as his auctioneer
business.
Elizabeth Smith, email <[email protected]> or write to 6 Audas Place, Florey, ACT 2615, Australia.
Page 7
The photocopied Admission, Progress and Withdrawal
Register was donated to the Hocken Library after it had been
transcribed by the Alexandra Branch of the New Zealand
Society of Genealogists. The Branch believes that many of the
original registers are held at the Naseby Museum.
The town's old school building has been sold and will be used
as a dining room, kitchen, and conference facility with a
covered outdoor seating and barbecue area in what was the
school swimming pool.
PUPILS AT HYDE SCHOOL 1869-1900
The year shown is the first year that pupil was enrolled at the
school
Hyde is a farming district near the west bank of the Taieri
River, to the north-east of the Rock and Pillar Range, within
the boundaries of Dunedin City on State highway 87. It is
situated 28 kilometres north-east of Middlemarch and 104
Kilometres from Dunedin.
It was originally known as Eight Mile as that was the distance
south-east from the Hamilton diggings to the north of the Rock
and Pillar Range. It was later renamed Hyde after politician
John Hyde Harris (1826-1886), Superintendent of Otago
1863-1865 and second mayor of Dunedin.
Located 1103 feet above sea level Hyde is prone to extreme
weather conditions. Hyde was a settlement of the Otago’s
gold rush era. The railway finally reached the town in 1894.
The station had to be built 2 kilometres (a mile) out of Hyde on
the only area of flat land considered big enough for railway
operations. The settlement around the station was named
Newtown. By the time the railway arrived Hyde had a number
of hotels, blacksmith, butcher, baker, saddlers, stonemason, a
courthouse, school and several churches. Most of these
premises and numerous houses have now gone but Hyde is
still a popular stop-off point by cyclists on the Central Otago
Rail Trail.
The town’s hotel, the Otago Central, was originally at the
railway settlement until it was destroyed by fire in 1925. The
replacement hotel closed in 1987. The post office operated
from 1924 until it closed in 1984.
HYDE SCHOOL
Hyde School was established in 1869 and was closed in 1999.
The first teacher was S. H. Saunders and the first school
lessons were held in the old Union Church, a corrugated
building that was freezing in winter and very hot in summer. A
purpose built school was not erected until 1879. A second
classroom was added in 1894. For most of the school’s 125
years the school was a sole charge school, although on
occasions there were two teachers when the school roll rose.
The Hocken Collections in Dunedin hold the Admission
Progress and Withdrawal (APW) Registers, Examination
Registers, Record of Surveys, Registers of Progress and
Achievement, Registers of Attendance, Teachers' Work
Books, staff records (mostly from the 1990s), School
Committee records, School Diaries and Newsletters, Parent
Teacher Association records, Centennial and 125th Jubilee
records. There is a substantial collection of photographs and
videos relating to the school's closure. There is also a large
number of Board of Trustees records and school files from the
1990s. Records of Surveys, Registers of Progress and
Achievement, Individual Pupil Records, and some files
containing personal staff information are restricted. Access to
restricted files requires the permission of the Hocken
Librarian.
AGNEW
AGNEW
AGNEW
AGNEW
ANNETT
ANNETT
ANNETT
ANNETT
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
ARTHUR
BAILEY
BAIN
BAIN
BAZLEY
BEATTIE
BEATTIE
BEATTY
BEATTY
BEATTY
BEATTY
BEATTY
BELL
BELL
BENNETT
BENNETT
BISHOP
BISHOP
BISHOP
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BOYD
BREMNER
BREMNER
BREMNER
BREMNER
BROOKE
BROOKS
BROOKS
BROWN
BROWN
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BRUHNS
BUCKLE
BUCKLE
BUCKLE
BURKE
BURNARD
BURNARD
BURNARD
BURNARD
BURNARD
Page 8
Edward
Hugh
Maggie
Marness
Alice
Charles
Ellen A
John M
Alfred
Annie
George
Gertrude
James
Kate
Thomas
Percy
Alexander
George
Elizabeth
Emily
John
Emily
Jane
John
Louisa
Lucy
Alexander
Irene Elizabeth
Jane
William
Albert Henry
Edith
Norman
Alfred
Edith
Elizabeth
Ellen
Jane
John R
Robert R
Thomas G
William
Andrew Henry
Graham Dewar
Roland Scott
Ruby Helen
May
Charles
Harold
James
Katie
Albert C
Bertie
Catherine H
F W Leonard
James
James
Leonard
Mary A
Sarah E
Ada
Elsie
Mabel Laura
Patrick
Alfred
Alice
Annie D
Eva
Florence
1898
1893
1893
1894
1881
1881
1881
1891
1894
1900
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1895
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1900
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1889
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1891
1891
1891
1897
1894
BURNARD
BURNARD
CAHILL
CASPER
CAWLY
CHRISTIE
CHRISTIE
CHRISTIE
CONNOLLY
CONNOLLY
CONNOLLY
CONNOLLY
CONNOLLY
CREIGHTON
CROFT
CURRIE
CURRIE
CURRIE
CURRIE
CURRIE
CURRIE
CUSHMAN
DAVIS
DAVIS
DAVIS
DOUGLASS
DOUGLASS
DOWLING
DOWLING
DOWLING
DOWLING
DOWLING
DUFF
DUFF
DUNCAN
DUNCAN
EAGAN
EAGAN
EDWARD
FERGUSON
FLAMANK
FLAMANK
FRASER
FRASER
FRASER
GILCHRIST
GILCHRIST
GILLESPIE
GILLESPIE
GILLESPIE
GILLESPIE
GRAY
GUNN
GUNN
GUNN
GUNN
GUNN
HARVEY
HARVEY
HARVEY
HARVEY
HICKEY
HOWARD
HOWARD
HUGHES
HUGHES
HUSSEY
HUSSEY
JACKSON
JACKSON
JACKSON
JOHNSON
KELLY
KENNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
KINNEY
LAUGHTON
LAUGHTON
John
Thirza
May
Christina
James
Margaret Ellen
Robert
William James
Hugh
Maria R
Phillip A
Thomas
William
John
Katie
Annie
David
George
Jane
Sarah
William
James
Fred
George
Robert
Frances
Mary Jane
Ellen
Patrick
Sarah
Thomas
William
Ethel M
William
Robert
William H B
Sydney
Victoria
Lintern
Ivy
Ethel F
Oscar
Hugh
John
William
Alexander
George
Frank
George
Thomas
William
Philip
Christina C
Clara
George
Henry
Isabella
Joseph
Robert
Thomas
William
Alice
Amy Elizabeth
Peter E
James
Maggie
John
Thomas
Annie
Letitia
Mary
Rebecca
John
Catherine
Ellen
Frank
John
Margaret Jane
Michael
Patrick
Thomas
Johann
John
1898
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1900
HW
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1900
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1891
1898
1888
LAUGHTON
LAUGHTON
LAVERTY
LAVERTY
LAVERTY
LAVERTY
LAVERTY
LAVERTY
L'ESTRANG
L'ESTRANG
LOCKWOOD
LODGE
LODGE
LODGE
MACKIE
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MARDLING
MATHERSON
MATHERSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MATHEWSON
MAYO
MAYO
McAULAY
McAULAY
McAULEY
McAULEY
McAULEY
McAULEY
McAULEY
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McBRIDE
McGEE
McINTYRE
McINTYRE
McINTYRE
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKENNA
McLEAN
McLEAN
McLEW
MEAD
MEADE
MEADE
MILLAN
Mary
Peter
Edward
Maggie
Mary
Mina
Owen
Peter
Mary
Rorie
Alice Lillie
Leonard
Percy
Sydney
John
Andrew
Annie S
Elizabeth
Ezekiel
Fernel
Jane
Louisa
Nellie
William
James
William
Andrew
Arthur
Elizabeth
James
Kate
Walter
William
Lizzie
Stephen
Martha
Patrick
Hugh
James
John
Margaret
Martha
Alexander
Catherine
Daniel
Frank
Gabriel
James
John
Lucretia
Maggie
Monica
Nellie
Patrick
Robert
Thomas
Betsy
James
Jane
Alexander
Andrew
Angus
Annie
Catherine
Charles
Charles A
Donald
Isabella
Jessie
John A
Leonard
Lexina
Marion
Mary
Minnie
Louisa
John
Minnie
Winifred
William
May
Ruth
James
Page 9
1893
1888
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1883
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1889
1889
1891
1894
1894
1889
1889
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1889
1896
1889
1889
1889
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1899
1884
1888
1892
1891
1897
1881
1893
1882
1881
1894
1895
1899
1899
1896
MILLER
Elizabeth M
MILLER
John
MILLER
William P
MOORE
Frederick
MOORE
Mabel
MOORE
Richard
MORTON
Charles
MORTON
Thomas
MOUNT
Daniel
MOUNT
Edward
MOUNT
Elizabeth
MOUNT
William
MOWAT
Ernest
MOWAT
William
NOLAN
Edward
NOLAN
Eliza
NOLAN
Ellen
NOLAN
Jane A
NOLAN
Maurice
NOLAN
Patrick
O'CONNELL Anna
O'CONNELL James
O'CONNELL John
O'CONNELL Michael
O'CONNELL Patrick
O'CONNELL Richard
PATTERSON Eva Maud
PATTERSON Lizzie
PATTERSON Violet
PERRY
Louisa
PONTON
Florence
PONTON
Mabel
RAMSAY
Agnes
RAMSAY
Anna
RAMSAY
Grace M
REILLY
Edward
REILLY
William
RIELLY
Thomas
ROBINSON
Alice
SEBELIN
Catherine
SEBELIN
Charles
SEBELIN
Diana A
SEBELIN
Ellen L
SEBELIN
Elza Jane
SEBELIN
Francis
SEBELIN
Heinrich
SHEEHY
Catherine
SHIER
George
SMITH
Florence
SMITH
Janet
SMITHSON
Albert
SMITHSON
Ann Miriam
SMITHSON
Isabella
SMITHSON
John McLean
SMITHSON
Maud
SMITHSON
Teresa
SNUSHELL
William
SUTHERLAND Isabel
TEVIOTDALE Catherine C
TEVIOTDALE David
THOMPSON Jessie
TROTTER
Anna
TROTTER
Elizabeth
TROTTER
James
TROTTER
John
TROTTER
Margaret
TROTTER
Robert
WATERS
Alice
WATERS
Ruby
WELLS
Joseph
WEST
George
WILLIAMSON Catherine
WILLIAMSON Charles H S
WILLIAMSON Donald
WILLIAMSON Ewart
WILLIAMSON Jesse
WILLIAMSON John
WILLIAMSON Kenneth
WILLIAMSON Robert
WILSON
Arthur
WILSON
Horace
WILSON
Robert
1893
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HYDE CEMETERY
ar
e W al
d
y
H
ori
Mem
The cemetery is two kilometres from Hyde along a narrow
unsealed road. It is well signposted. Entrance to the cemetery
is through beautiful ornate gates (see photo above).
The cemetery was transcribed in 1979 and forms part of the
NZSG cemetery headstone transcripts which are available on
microfiche.
The cemetery has recently been updated by members of the
NZSG Dunstan Informal Group.
The earliest burial took place in 1867. The early burial records
and minute books for the cemetery were destroyed in a fire so
the early history of the cemetery is lost. A newer portion of the
cemetery was opened in 1932 although this extension was not
fenced off until 1939.
The Hyde War Memorial was
unveiled on 24 May 1922.
WAR MEMORIAL IN THE HYDE TOWNSHIP
In Honour and Memory of those who died
for the Empire’s Cause.
Surnames of those buried in the cemetery include Annett
Laverty
Bruhns
Lynch
Beel
McAuley
Budge
McBride
Burnard
McKay
Cameron
McLean
Christie
Mardling
Cockerell
Meade
Connolly
Moore
Coster
Nelson
Cross
Nolan
Currie
O’Connell
Donnell
Persson
Dowling
Prendergast
Fergusson
Ramsay
Ferry
Read
Fox
Redmond
Gilchrist
Sebelin
Gill
Sinclair
Goble
Smith
Hill
Tate
Howard
Teviotdale
Keating
Tomkins
Kelly
Trotter
Kinney
Underwood
Larkin
Wilson
Laughton
Wisnesky
Great War 1914 - 1918
HYDE SCHOOL AND DISTRICT
Robert Allen
George Arthur
Robert Benzie
James Christie
Francis Gillespie
Ernest P. Howard
Francis J. Kinney
James J. Mathewson
Andrew McKay
John McLean
J. Allan Ramsay
Percy H. White
Word War Two
Albert C. Bruhns
Leslie E. Christie
ROLL OF HONOUR WHICH WAS DISPLAYED IN THE
PUBLIC HALL IN HYDE
1939 - World War II - 1945
Beel C. S.
Beel J. P.
Beel W. H.
Berkeley S. S. H.
Bruhns J. D.
Bruhns M. W. N.
Bruhns E. G.
Christie V. C.
Coster D. R.
Kinney F. A.
McAuley H. F.
Oliver R. B.
Park J. T.
Peddie J. T.
Ramsay E.
Russell F. E. J.
Smith G.
They paid the Supreme Sacrifice
Bruhns A. C.
Christie L. E.
In the Roman Catholic Church there was a plaque which read:
In Loving Memory of Francis J. Kinney killed at
Passchendaele December 3rd, 1917. Requiescat in Pace.
Page 10
So who were the soldiers? The bolded names are as they
appear on the War Memorial.
HYDE RAILWAY DISASTER
WORLD WAR ONE
Robert Allen - unable to find a reference to a Robert Allen
serving with any New Zealand armed forces and who had any
connection to Hyde.
George Arthur - Private George Arthur 13411, New Zealand
Expeditionary Force, 13th Reinforcements, J Company.
Native of Hyde and brother of A. Arthur of Hyde. Died of
disease 6 February 1918 in France.
Robert Benzie - Private Robert Benzies 8/2845, New Zealand
Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion, 7th
Reinforcements. Son of Robert and Jane Benzie, Golden
Point, Macraw’s Flat. Killed in action 28 September 1916,
Somme, France.
James Christie - Lance Corporal William James Christie
24/713, New Zealand Rifle Brigafe, 2nd Battalion, C
Company. Son of James and M. Christie of Tiroiti, Hyde.
Killed in action 15 September 1916 at Somme, France.
Francis Gilliespie - Private Frank Gilliespie 8/2339, New
Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion, 4th
Reinforcements. Son of G. F. Gillespie of Oturehua. Died of
disease on 1 August 1915 en route from Malta to Egypt.
Ernest P. Howard - Private Peter Ernest Howard, 912078,
New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Regiment, 8
Company 1st Battalion. Son of Peter and Amelia Howard of
Hyde. Died on 12 October 1917, Ypres, Belgium.
Francis J. Kinney - Private Francis Joseph Kinney, 55062,
New Zealand Rifle Brigade, Reinforcements J. Company. Son
of Patrick and Johanna Kinney of St. Clair, Dunedin. Killed in
action on 3 December 1917 in Ypres, Belgium.
James L. Mathewson - Trooper James Lawrence
Mathewson, 17/119, New Zealand Expeditionary Forces,
Otago Infantry Regiment, 2nd Reinforcement Veterinary Copr.
Son of late Laurence and Johanna Mathewson of Hyde,
husband of Effie Mary Forster Mathewson nee Morgan of 60
Grosvenor Street, Kensington, Dunedin. Killed in action 12
October 1917 at Ypres, Belgium.
Andrew McKay - unable to find a reference to a Andrew
McKay serving with any New Zealand armed forces and who
had any connection to Hyde.
John McLean - Second Lieutenant, 30108, New Zealand
Expeditionary Forces 22 Reinforcements Otago Infantry
Regiment D Company. Son of Charles and Eliza Jane
Sevenson McLean of Cumberland Street, Dunedin and
husband of Martha McLean of Ranfurly. Died of disease 15
October 1917 in Belgium.
The engine derailed after the disaster
The accident occurred on 4 June 1943. The Cromwell to
Dunedin express was made up of seven carriages and
carrying 113 passengers, many of them heading for the
Winter Show in Dunedin and a horse race meeting at
Wingatui.
The disaster occurred in a deep cutting on the Otago Central
Railway. The train was travelling at speed through the cutting
at about 1.45 pm when it failed to negotiate a bend and
derailed. All seven carriages left the tracks and four of them
telescoped into each other.
Due to the remote location, it took some 90 minutes for
rescuers to arrive, during which time the injured were tended
by the passengers from the relatively undamaged rear
carriages. Some passengers were trapped in the wreckage for
several hours.
Of the 113 passengers on board, 21 were killed and a further
47 injured.
A commission of inquiry set up to
investigate the crash reported that
the train had been travelling at twice
the recommended speed for the
cutting. It ruled that the driver had
been responsible for the crash. He
was found to have been drunk at the
time of the disaster. The driver was
charged and found guilty of
manslaughter and spent three years
in prison.
In February 1991 a cairn was
erected 540 metres from the site of
the accident by the families of the
victims and survivors and supported
by the local community at Hyde. The
site of the disaster is now part of the
Otago Central Rail Trail.
The Cairn erected near the
The names of those who died in the
site of the Hyde Rail
Disaster.
accident are:
Robert Carr (Senior)
William Carson
Ethel Cassels
Thomas Chisholm
Frederick Christopher
Thomas Clare
Thomas Connor
John Connor
Charles Douglas
John Frater
Francis Kinney
Duncan Lindsay
Duncan MacDonald
Daniel McDonald
John Maskell
Charles MacKenzie
John O’Connell
Irene White
Desmond White
John White
John Wright
J. Allan Ramsay - Rifleman James Allan Ramsay 39311,
New Zealand Rifle Brigade, H. Company. Son of Thomas and
Mary Sarah Ramsay of Hyde. Killed in action 12 October 1917
at Ypres, Belgium.
Percy H. White - Private Percy Henry White, 8/1675, New
Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion, 3rd
Reinforcements. Son of Henry and Ellen White of Andersons
Bay, Dunedin. Killed in action on 27 September 1915 at
Gallipoli, Turkey. Percy White was the school master at Hyde.
WORLD WAR TWO
Albert C. Bruhns - Corporal Albert Charles
Bruhns, son of Fredrick William Leonard and
Jane Bruhns of Hyde. Killed in action on 7
October 1944 in Italy.
Leslie E. Christie - Private Leslie Ezekiel
Christie, New Zealand Infantry 20th Battalion.
Died on 29 October 1941 in Egypt.
This remains New Zealand's
second-worst railway disaster.
Page 11
ALBERT TOWN SCHOOL COLLINS
Albert Town is four kilometres east of Wanaka. It was
originally called Albert Crossing, after Albert, Queen Victoria’s
husband.
In the early pioneer days the river ford at Albert Town was the
only place up-river of Dunstan where it was possible to cross
the Clutha River.
When gold was discovered at the Arrow, miners travelling
from the north via the Lindis Pass needed a fast way to cross
the river so a ferry was brought to Albert Town. Soon stores
and a hotel were established and Albert Crossing was
renamed Albert Town and became the commercial centre for
the Wanaka district. It remained this way until the early 1870s.
However when a road was formed linking Cromwell and
Queenstown through the Kawarau Gorge and the opening in
1911 of the bridge at Luggate, Albert Town declined. The ferry
was finally superseded by a bridge in 1930.
Today Albert Town is popular as a holiday spot.
The Albert Town Hotel
ALBERT TOWN CEMETERY
Albert Town School opened in
1870, closed in 1876 and
reopened in 1886. In 1888 it
became known as Wanaka
School. It closed in 1902, reopening in 1906. It reverted to
Albert Town School in 1940
but in 1946 it closed and was
consolidated with Wanaka
School.
The schools Admission,
Progress and Withdrawal
(APW) registers have been
transcribed by the New
Zealand
Society
of
Genealogists, Wanaka Branch
and cover 1882-1965. Copies
of the transcripts are in the
Hocken Library, Dunedin.
Known pupils at the Albert
Town School 1888-1900
ANDERSON
ANDERSON
ANDERSON
ANDERSON
ANDERSON
ANDERSON
AUSTIN
BALLANTYNE
BALLANTYNE
BALLANTYNE
BALLANTYNE
BARKER
BARKER
BARKER
BARKER
BOVETT
BOVETT
BOVETT
BOVETT
BOVETT
CAMERON
CAMERON
CAMERON
CAMERON
CAMERON
CAMERON
COLLINS
COLLINS
COLLINS
COLLINS
COLLINS
COLLINS
Agnes
Annie
Elizabeth
James
Lilian
William
Bella
Arthur
Bertie Francis
Mary Ann
William
Edwin
Emily
Herbert
Alice
Charles
Frank
Frederick
George
Thomas
Christina
Donald
Hugh
Maggie
Malcolm
Margaret
Amelia
Bella
Jane
Joseph
Maria
Thomas
COLLINS
ESCOTT
GEER
HALLIDAY
HALLIDAY
HALLIDAY
HALLIDAY
HALLIDAY
HOWEJOHN
HOWEJOHN
HOWEJOHN
KING
KINGAN
KINGAN
KINGAN
KINGAN
KITTO
LITTLE
LITTLE
LITTLE
LITTLE
LITTLE
LITTLE
MacKAY
MacKAY
MacKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
McKAY
MILLER
MILLER
MILLER
MILLER
NORMAN
NORMAN
NORMAN
NORMAN
NORMAN
NORMAN
PARSONS
PARSONS
PARSONS
PINN
PINN
PINN
PIPSON
PIPSON
RUSSELL
Walter
William
Daisy
George
Blanche
Corrie
Jane
John
Ralph
Beatrice
James
William
Grace
Isabella Jane
Jessie
John
William
Ernest
Elizabeth
Isabella
James
Robert
Walter
William
Andrew
Alex
Redpath
Alex
Andrew
Bella
George
Jane
John
Margaret Isabella
Mary
Robert
Sarah
William
Edith E E
Gertrude
Mary
William
Bessie
Charles
Edith Mary
George
Henry
Leslie
Amy
David
Laura
Herman
Sarah
Thomas
Ellen
Margaret
May
There is an old cemetery at Albert Town which is actually located in the camping ground on the left as you leave Albert Town
heading towards Hawea. It is a very small cemetery which is no longer open for burials. The Clutha River flooded in 1878 and
washed away many of the graves of the early settlers in the Albert Town Cemetery. In 1952 headstones were discovered along
the river banks. These headstones, along with several which were being used as fireplaces in the nearby camping ground were
placed in a concrete memorial block built in the centre of the Cemetery Reserve. In 1962 the memorial block was topped with
coloured stones from the East Matukituki Valley. Four corner pillars were also erected from the same stones. At this time the
engravings on the headstones were deepened and filled with black plastic to make them readable. The names which appear on
the Early Settlers Memorial are as follows:
SOUTH SIDE - Erected in Memory of the Early Settlers buried here
1861-1883
EAST SIDE
- Mary Annie NORMAN nee EDWARDS 26.07.1886.
aged 46 years. 3 Infants.
Child of Donald and Wlspeth McLENNAN 1877 aged
7 months
Abel Ferris DOMINY
Henry NORMAN died 5.12.1879 aged 47 years
Richard W. HOAD 1881 aged 37
1873 2 children of Edward J. & Harriet THOMAS nee
EDWARDS
Jas. MITCHELL 1869 aged 34
NORTH SIDE - Robt. EDWARDS aged 36. 3.8.1879
J. E. EDMUNDSON. 1873. Buried in Alexandra.
Drowned
Robert H. NORMAN. First white child born in Wanaka
11.05.1861. Died 11.8.1923.
Phil COMARFORD. 1864 aged 27.
Wm McKINNON. Body lost in River 1862.
Alexr. KEITH. 1863 aged 25 years.
Jno. GILBERT. First Death. 1861
WEST SIDE - 1864 and 1870 - 2 Infants
Jno. GALLON aged 27. Burned. Buried in Clyde 1869.
Thos. DUNN 23 December 1865 aged 55
1873 Jas PARKIN aged 40.
Page 12
ST JOHN BRANIGAN
and
THE OTAGO POLICE GAZETTES
St John (pronounced Sinjin) Branigan was born about 1824 in King's County, Ireland. He joined
the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment and was sent to Cape Colony in 1845. He entered the
Cape police and saw active service during frontier warfare. He was wounded and decorated for
gallantry.
On 24 April 1851 he married 20-year-old Margaret Elizabeth Hudd in the Cathedral Church, Cape
Town.
On hearing in 1853 that goods were in short supply on the Victorian goldfields, he spent all his
savings and sailed to Melbourne, Australia, with a schooner full of merchandise. This venture
failed so he joined the Victorian police in November 1854.
Branigan was appointed Police Commissioner for the Otago Provincial Police Force in 1861. He
arrived in Dunedin along with his family, and several other Victorian policemen, on the Oscar late
in August 1861. By April 1862 he had permission to increase his police force to over one hundred
men, making it the largest in the colony. Arriving at the height of the Otago goldrushes he set up
sophisticated control mechanisms before the Dunstan and Lake Wakatipu goldrushes occurred in
the second half of 1862.
ABOVE: St John Branigan
BELOW: His grave in the
Southern Cemetery
He also set up specialist aspects of policing including Water Police, and the publication of the
colony's first Police Gazette. Within a year Branigan's fame had become legendary; his force,
popularly known as 'Branigan's Troopers', was 'universally admitted to be one of the best, not
only in these Colonies, but in the world'. It was often said that the 'orderly state' of the Otago
region compared to goldfields and their hinterlands in other countries, was largely due to his 'able
superintendence' of the force which he had brought to such a 'pitch of excellence'.
A key town on the gold escort route to the Wakatipu fields was named St John's (later renamed
Kingston) after him.
In 1866 he recommended the establishment of a residential industrial school and reformatory for
the 'education and training of vagrant and neglected children'. The Otago Industrial School, the
first in the colony, was established at Lookout Point at Caversham the following year. Branigan
framed its regulations, superintended it as inspector, and visited it almost daily.
However Branigan’s mental health was deteriorating and from April 1872 he had to be under
constant and severe restraint. Eventually he was permanently bedridden and died on 11
September 1873. The coroner T. M. Hocken recorded his cause of death as 'softening of the
brain'.
Inmates from the industrial school attended his funeral, and all Dunedin's shops and businesses closed for the paramilitary
ceremony. Otago and Armed Constabulary police collected funds for a 24-foot-high monument, on which police accoutrements,
including an unsheathed sword, were carved. His wife died on 29 April 1876 and was buried beside him in the Southern
Cemetery.
OTAGO POLICE GAZETTES
The Otago Police Gazette was published in October 1861 barely two months after his arrival in Dunedin. He modelled this gazette
on those produced by the Irish Constabulary and the Victorian Police. The Canterbury Provincial Police followed suit in 1865,
printing its own gazette until the New Zealand Police Gazette, circulated nationally, superseded both publications in July 1877.
The New Zealand Police Gazette remained the official communication throughout New Zealand for 114 years and the Police
Bulletin was to supplement it from 1957 until September 1991 when both publications were superseded by the magazine, Ten
One. The Otago Police Gazettes are a wonderful source of information for genealogists and really "put flesh on the bones" of our
ancestors. They list crimes and other events including murder, robbery, horse and cattle stealing, theft, inquests, prisoners
discharged in the colony and in Australia as well as details of arrests, imprisonments, penal releases, and the circulation of details
relating to found property and property lost or stolen. They also include staff appointments, promotions and resignations,
In the first issue of the Otago Police Gazette is an item informing regional stations about the highway robbery at the foot of the
Maungatua Ranges by five masked and armed men. In issue 7 published on 17 February 1862 is a notice to the effect that all the
offenders in the Maungatua highway robbery had been arrested. They were named as Garrett (alias Rowse) who was "fully
committed" on 17 February; Burns (alias "Piss Ant" Burns) sentenced to three years hard labour; and Duncan and McLoughlin,
committed for trial in Sydney for "sticking up the bank there". Other interesting items appear. In the 17 March 1862 issue was a
notice saying that information had been received of the death of His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort, Prince Albert, Consort of
Queen Victoria (he had died on 14 December 1861), and that the Commissioner had ordered the wearing of the regulation
mourning band on the left arm for one month.
Archives New Zealand Dunedin Office have New Zealand Police Gazettes 1877-1989.
Hocken Collections have a complete set of the Otago Police Gazettes up to 1877. These have been indexed and are available on
ONI (Otago Nominal Index) which is available at http://marvin.otago.ac.nz/oni/default.html or by using the index on computer at
the Hocken Library in Dunedin.
Page 13
USING THE OTAGO POLICE GAZETTES
So what sort of information can the Otago Police Gazettes provide?
First let’s visit the ONI website - http://marvin.otago.ac.nz/oni/default.html
There is an on-line form to be completed. Although the search facility allows for more information to be entered in the initial search
all the information I entered was the surname and the forename of a man I was researching. The following information was
available in the index on-line.
The index told me that Patrick Dempsey, aged 26 years, a miner, died at the railway tunnel at Chain Hills on 10 February 1875
(this was worked out the inquest was held on the 11 February and it mentions the death was the previous day). It also tells us a
coroners inquest was held by T. M. Hocken and the coroners verdict was the death was accidental being killed by a quantity of
earth falling on him while working in the railway tunnel. This information was printed in the Otago Police Gazette on 10 March
1875, page 23.
You must then view the entry in the gazette as it can sometimes contain additional information. In this case the only additional
information was the place in which the coroners inquest was held - An inquest was held on the 11th February 1875, at the Rose, Thistle,
and Shamrock Hotel, Green Island, by T M HOCKEN, Esq., Coroner, on the body of Patrick DEMPSEY, a miner, aged 26 years, who was
killed on the day previous, by a quantity of earth falling upon him while at work in the railway tunnel at Chain Hills. Verdict - Accidentally
killed.
You then can order the death certificate and apply to Archives New Zealand for a copy of the Coroners Inquest.
It is important to note that Archives New Zealand is the official repository for Police records (including access to personal files for
genealogical research). For further information on what records are available visit the Archives New Zealand website - Archway:
http://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/
Access to Police records is restricted until 100 years from date of closure, or 70 years from date of closure for Police Gazettes.
BUT WHAT ELSE COULD WE FIND OUT ABOUT PATRICK DEMPSEY?
A quick look on the Paperspast website - http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/
paperspast gives several references to this incident in both Dunedin newspapers
and other newspapers around Otago? On the right is the opening paragraph of one
of those articles.
A visit to the Dunedin City Council website for burials in the greater Dunedin City http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries_search provides
further information. It records that Patrick Dempsey, aged 30 (four years older than
the other sources) died on 10 February 1875 and was buried in the Southern
Cemetery, Dunedin (block 7R plot 7) on 12 February 1875. Also buried in the plot is
Michael James Cahill, aged 37 years, who was buried on 17 June 1912.
Sadly a search of the Victorian Outwards Shipping Index (available in the NZSG
Dunedin Branch Library at the Otago Settlers Museum but currently being put on
CD by the NZSG for sale) tells us that Patrick Dempsey, aged 26 years, a native of
Ireland sailed from Melbourne on 21 July 1874 for Otago. The full passenger list is
available on an LDS film no 0284506 which can be ordered into the Dunedin
Family History Centre in Fenton Crescent.
Page 14