I am never surprised by the easiness of genealogical and family history research. We no longer have to leave the heated computer room. We don’t have to face other researchers who are always telling us we are wrong. All that matters is that we are pleased with “our tree”. So much so we can put it up on the internet and ignore everybody who has the audacity to not believe the “fruits of our own research” Want royalty on your tree – just add it somewhere. Ignore the villains by lopping them off the tree. You can argue that those census records are rubbish because they don’t agree with “your results. Unfortunately we can ridicule such people but it doesn’t stop them.

I found a tree for my Coutts family from Scotland. I was amazed to find one of my ancestors had a baby at age 63 and she died at age 147. My body shook with laughter. I had to have a whisky and a lie down. I looked at it again next day and it got funnier and funnier. Maybe this tree is proof of my idiocy – I inherited from the Coutts ancestry.

I suggest that the role of research has changed from finding proof of BDMs and life events to refuting the stupid trees you can find on web sites. Ancestry.com isn’t the only web site with bad trees but they have more than others because of their size.

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

Do you want to receive this newsletter every month?

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

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

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

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

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

Tell other genealogists so they can enjoy the newsletters too.

Regards

Peter Nash

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Contributors

The Nash Rambler

I Hate Being Ethical

A gentleman, Mr A, approached me and asked if I was the “famous” Peter Nash who was a genealogist of some repute. After I admitted to possibly being such person, he then told me he had in his possession an old watch which had been inscribed with the name of a gentleman, surname Darton, and he wanted to know who that person was and how did he get it. Mr A hadn’t stolen it but it came to him via his grandmother. I suggested that he email me with the details and I would get back to him.

The email duly arrived and my fingers started to itch. In I rushed and within 10 minutes I had an obituary for said Mr Darton and his will. A quick dive in Ancestry trees and I had his ancestors and descendants. I checked the trees and found many of the mistakes I expected. Total time taken 20 minutes. The obituary was a brilliant document and had obviously resulted from an interview with Mr Darton just before his death. It had an amazing amount of detail of his life with dates and places named. I immediately suspected that this gentleman had an opportunity to paint his life’s achievements with positive descriptions i.e. very biased. Not one negative act was included. I underlined all the things that needed to be independently verified e.g. he was an officer in the Royal Navy and had an interesting exploring voyage. My fingers were itching to check this out – I love destroying a perfect obituary or life story. I have yet to meet the perfect person (except my wife in case she reads this). But I kept the fingers in my pockets.

I had found that Mr A was a direct descendant i.e. he was a great great grandson. I immediately rang him and told him of my success and explained what websites I had used to get the obituary and the will. BUT I had more!!!!!!!!! I suggested that he visit my abode and I would explain how I found things and what he should do next. He agreed but one month later he has not done so.

So I have answered his questions and found much more. My fingers were still itching and I knew there was much more. I have resisted all temptation to dive headlong into the Darton family history. I know he has an ambition to do his own genealogy and family history research and I can’t ruin that ambition.

I have moaned to my coffee mate, Allan, many times and received many lectures on the ethics of a researcher. He told me to shut up and buy the coffees – he really knows how to hurt a man. But I have a serious itch. Gosh I hate ethics which I consider to up there on a level with Privacy as an annoying restriction on research (in my humble opinion). How can a successful researcher gloat publicly about his prowess with those restrictions.

Well, I misbehaved at a meeting this week when I gave him everything I had in a folder. I was unethical in that I included everything I had found including the family trees. Allan lectured me again yesterday. I had to pay for the coffees again. And Mr A still hasn’t contacted me.

I need to publicly gloat.

Peter Nash

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DNA Testing for Family History

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

From the Editor: It appears that a two year old grandchild has got the better of Gail. She apologises for the absence of her column but she is too busy running.

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Gail Riddell

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Chinese Corner

Hainamana History

Haina-Mana History is a new Instagram site, supported by the NZ Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust. It aims to provide 365 days of New Zealand Chinese History and is profiled by Tiana Marshall

Daily informative posts on Chinese history in Aotearoa for 2024 with support from the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust

#OnThisDay May 15 1866, John Ah Tong became the second Chinese person to be naturalised as a British subject in New Zealand.

This was somewhat of a contemporary equivalent to citizenship, and he was second only to Appo Hocton. Ah Tong was born around 1838 in Guangdong, and may have learnt cabinetry from established Australian Chinese cabinet makers before moving to New Zealand. Recall our post from May 10, where unions were trying to prevent Chinese cabinet makers from entering the furniture trade in 1912. John Ah Tong was already working as a cabinet maker on Willis St, pictured, by 1865. He was likely the first Chinese business owner in Wellington and the wider North Island.

He married Caroline Tolhurst in 1865, with whom he had three children. Tolhurst and their youngest child died in May 1869. In 1866, Ah Tong continued his cabinetry, carving and upholstery business in Taranaki St, employing other early Chinese immigrants, although this business went bankrupt in 1867. After failed gold mining investments, Ah Tong became the first person to export black fungus to Australia from Taranaki in 1871, which would be taken over by entrepreneur Chew Chong.

After this, he became an interpreter, labour agent, and farmer. Ah Tong treated his second wife, Jessie, poorly, and he never married again. He died in Wellington in 1885.

Willis, T M, active 20th century. Willis Street, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-029400-F.

Helen Wong

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From the Editor: Helen featured recently on TV1’s “Good Sorts”. You have to skip over a couple of ads.

More Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of

James George Deck (1807 – 1884)

James George DECK was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk to John and Mary Deck née WELSH. He was well educated and was fluent in French as well as Latin, Greek and Hebrew. James trained for the military in France and then joined the British East India Company. In India he had a commission in the 14th Madras Infantry.

After returning to England, James married Alicia FIELD in 1829. He was to train for the Church of England ministry, but instead became involved with the Plymouth Brethren and became an evangelist, preaching in Somerset and Dorset.

In 1848 the Brethren split into the Plymouth or Exclusive Brethren and the Open Brethren. After attempting reconciliation, James and his family migrated to New Zealand in 1853, settling near Ngātīmoti, Nelson with other former Indian Army officers. Shortly after arrival Alicia died, and in 1855 James married Lewanna ATKINSON.

In 1863 James had founded a Brethren assembly at Ngātīmoti, though it is thought that there may have been earlier meetings in Motueka before this. He had not wanted to bring the Exclusive-Open division to New Zealand, saying it was irrelevant, but in 1875 after visits from Exclusive Brethren leaders, the Brethren assemblies in New Zealand, split. He sided with the Exclusive but did not want to abandon the Open assembly. It is claimed that he was both the founder of the Exclusive and Open Brethren in New Zealand.

James Deck died on 14 August 1884 at Motueka and was buried in the original Old Cemetery with his two wives.

Ken Morris

EPSON FastFoto FF-680W (Wi-Fi enabled) PHOTO SCANNER – a REVIEW

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Description automatically generated Why a review of a scanner in a genealogy/family history newsletter you may well ask.

Well, there may be people out there like me who have heaps of pre-digital age-photo prints, either loose or in albums (before year 2000), and who would like to digitise their prints, and it’s easier than digitising negatives and slides.

I have a faithful Canon Canoscan 9000F flatbed that can also do slides and negatives, but recently it has developed a ‘line’ that shows up on scans so I was looking at possible replacements. Although expensive at $AU650, the equivalent replacement for the Canon 9000F is ~$AU1,500. I’ve had the FF-680F a few weeks and it’s doing a great job, so far scanned ~ 2,000 photos and post cards, and still more to go.

It can do ordinary A4 feeder scanning but it’s photo scanning attributes are its best features.

· It can scan a 36 pack of prints in a minute or so.

· Can take all normal and photos up to A4.

· Can be set at 300, 600 and 1200 dpi (a 6”x4” @ 600 is ~ 4-5mb and @ 1200 is ~ 11-12mb) and glossy and matt finish ok.

· It has multiple file date and naming options as well as an ongoing 5-digit identifier. I’ve not tried to get the identifier to match the actual negative numbers, but by sorting photos prior to scan will likely achieve what I want.

· Can be set to Auto Rotation and take into account curled photos and reduce lines and streaks.

· It can enhance photos: auto, remove redeye, restore faded colours. These can be done on either the scanned photo or a second copy. I’ve not tried and will likely do my corrections/enhancement with Adobe software. From a workflow perspective it’s easier to scan all the photos in a pack and then look at them on the monitor and edit and enhance as and when required.

· Has Wi-Fi capability and upload capability to Dropbox and Google Drive.

· Can be set to scan the back of a photo or postcard with Epson single step technology, when set it scans the face and then the back of photo/postcard and gives the back scan the same file name with an added alpha. I have a project to make a presentation of post cards of a trip, including the message and addresses on the back. It worked a treat even with postcards with frilly edges scanned fine.

So all in all I’m very pleased with the unit and after I have finished scanning all my photo prints I could sell it, but will keep it on as a normal scanner.

Ken Morris

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Robina Trenbath

Living in the Shadow of Ned Kelly

1958: when this sorry saga began. Mother was attending the funeral of her maternal uncle. I asked my aunt (the trusted family historian), “Who was his mother?” She explained that his mother would have been our maternal great grandmother. On a piece of paper which I have always kept and is now yellow with age, Aunty wrote:

UNCLE

Born 1887 Riverton

Father John Buchanan Aged 41 (constable)

born 1846 Augher, County Tyrone, Ireland

Mother Ada Buchanan (formerly Hart) aged 25

born 1862 Adelaide, Australia

Married 25^th Jan. 1881 Invercargill.

What followed was her telling of the story of notorious Australian bush ranger named Ned Kelly. Together with his brother and two friends (one of whom was Stephen Hart) their outrageous activities culminated in the infamous siege at Glenrowan, Victoria, Australia. Ultimately, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart were killed in that fracas.

Ada Hart (our great grandmother) was supposedly the sister of Steve Hart/ bushranger and member of the Kelly Gang. Over the ensuing years this tale amongst our Buchanan clan was not only accepted but ratified by uncle’s family with copies of his Marriage Certificate and Death Certificate. Yes, both read: Born 1887 at Riverton, N.Z. Father = John Buchanan Police Constable. Mother = Ada Buchanan formerly Hart.

1984: By now I was well and truly into family history. Some facts were way off kilter with this branch of the family and I smelled the proverbial ‘rat’. So, I ordered 2 documents (i.) Birth Certificate (ii.) W.W.1 Military papers.

(i.) Birth Certificate: the year of birth presented a significant discrepancy. A different mother and place of birth – which coincidentally fitted the profile of next of kin, sister on his military file.

(ii) Attestation forms showed a date of birth as 1886. Okay – it’s only a year. But, his next of kin, sister, did not fit with a Riverton N.Z. reference or parentage.

I got on the blower to another aunt, whose wits, at 90 were cracking sharp. “Aunty what’s this malarky with Uncle’s parents being John Buchanan and Ada Hart/ sister to Steve Hart of the Kelly Gang?”

Aunty’s story: during W.W.1 when uncle was in England recuperating from wounds received in France, he fell in love. He came back to N.Z. and worked to save enough money to bring his future wife and family out to live in New Zealand. He needed a birth certificate to get married and applied for one at the last minute. What he received was the birth certificate of someone with the same name, born in Riverton. Too late to cover the mistake he used that certificate and now, what we have…is called ‘a conundrum’, my dear”.

Conundrum or not, in my books this had to be put to rights. I set about researching (i.) Stephen Hart of the Kelly Gang and (ii.) Ada Hart married John Buchanan.

1.Stephen Hart 2. :

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3. Ada Hart/ Riverton. N.Z: following are my research notes:

1862: HART Ada born at Sandhurst, Sandridge, Victoria, Australia. Father = HART Edward James. Mother = BRAY Catherine 3 .

1869: HART FAMILY/ Migration to New Zealand 4. HART Ada sailed on ‘Rangitoto’ (Ship’s Master = Hagley James) from Victoria, Australia to a N.Z. port. She was aged 5 b. abt. 1864, with mother HART (nee BRAY) Catherine aged 46 & HART Emily/

sibling aged 6.

1880: BUCHANAN John/ Occupation: Southland Constable 5.

1881: MARRIAGE: HART Ada married BUCHANAN John/ Constable on 25 January @ Invercargill,. N.Z. 6. John Buchanan was born in 1846 in Augher, Tyrone, Ireland.

The issue of John & Ada BUCHANAN (nee HART):

1881: Thomas 1883: Sarah 1884: Margaret

1885: John 1886: Francis Edward 1887: Henry

1889: Emily 1890: William James 1892 (January): David Gustavus

1891: BUCHANAN John/ Death: 5 November @ Springwells Farms, Dunedin aged 45. John Buchanan was buried on 7 November at Port Chalmers New Cemetery – Plot No. 1, Diamond/ 99 7.

1914: Australian Electoral Rolls:

BUCHANAN Ada, 108 Punt Rd; Windsor, home duties + at same address:

BUCHANAN David Augustus/ salesman

BUCHANAN Emily/ dressmaker

BUCHANAN Margaret/ dressmaker

BUCHANAN Frank Edward/ salesman, 42 Perth St; Prahan.

1943: BUCHANAN ADA/ DEATH: on 10 May, aged 80 @ Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. Born abt. 1863. Father = HART Edward James. Mother = BRAY Catherine. Reg. No. 4382 8.

1981: BUCHANAN HENRY/ DEATH: Aged 93 @ Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Born abt. 1888. Father = John. Mother = Ada. Reg. No. 08801 9.

2008/ Family Reunion: after presenting the above facts (with all the sensitivity I could muster) my great uncle’s family have never spoken to me.

Lesson learned: steer well clear of ever attending a family reunion.

References:

1. Stephen Hart: Biography/ Wikipedia.

2. Bushrangers: State Library of Victoria

3. Hart Amy: ancestry.com/ Australian Birth Index 1788-1922.

4. Hart Family Migration to N.Z. Index to Outward Passengers to Interstate, UK, N.Z.

and Foreign Ports 1852-1923.

5. Buchanan John: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ ‘Southland Times’ 4 May = 4

mentions of Constable Buchanan. Between 1880-1881 Southland Times had 49

entries for Constable Buchanan.

6. Birth Certificate/ Francis Edward BUCHANAN 1866. N.Z. BMD (Folio No. 720)

7. Buchanan John/ Death: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ Evening Star Funeral Notices.

8. Buchanan Ada/ Death: Australian Death Index 1787-1985, ancestry.com

9. Buchanan Henry/ Death: Australian Death Index 1787-1985, ancestry.com.

Robina Trenbath

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Rowan Gibbs

Looking for Madame Bosco

Among Bosco’s many excellent tricks was exchanging the heads of two doves, putting the head of a living white dove on the body of a living black dove. After one performance he was approached by a farmer asking, could he do the same on his wife and his sister-in-law? He would gladly pay whatever the fee was.

This is one of the many anecdotes told of the famous Italian magician Bartolomeo BOSCO, born in Turin on January 3rd 1793 to Matteo Manifacio Bosco and his wife Cecilia Caterina CUORE (long misread in the baptismal register as CERORE).

Bosco’s fame attracted not just countless anecdotes but countless impostors. Among the earliest and most successful was a young magician from Warsaw whose real name was Marcus (Markus, Marek, Marianus, Sigmund, Sigismund, Zygmunt) EPSTEIN (EPPSTEIN, EPZSTAIN); aka Salomon ENGLÄNDER, born in Leutschitz (modern Łęczyca, in Kalisch, now Kałusz) in Russian Poland in 1827 or 1828 and already wanted by the authorities (“religion Jewish; stature medium, slim; hair black; eyes grey”).

He arrived in England in November 1854 and began performing in Cornwall as “Signor Bosco”, claiming to be Bartolomeo Bosco’s son, a fairly safe claim as Bartolomeo had visited England only once, in 1851, and had failed to find audiences, their attention and money distracted by the Great Exhibition. Epstein toured Britain with great success and in Dundee in 1855 met a colourful American, “Professor” William John Lauderdale MILLAR who became his manager. Millar, born in New York on January 28th 1825, had come to England only the previous month as manager of the conjoined “African Twins” known as “Millie-Christine” [1], but they were “stolen” from him (another story...). Millar’s flair and Epstein’s expertise combined well and won Epstein a performance before Queen Victoria and her children at Balmoral. But the following year in Dublin they quarrelled over their business arrangements and Millar’s treatment of Epstein’s black servant who, Millar said, had insulted his wife (the first we hear of his wife, the subject of this article). Millar and Epstein went their separate ways and soon afterwards Bartolomeo arrived in Dublin, having rushed over from Toulouse where he had been performing. He proved that Epstein was not his son but failed to obtain a prosecution and the only result was that the impostor changed his stage name (though still claiming to be a Bosco and to be Italian) to “Signor Alfred Bosco, of Mantua”. Epstein left England in 1858 and was finally prosecuted in Berlin that year after complaints by Bartolomeo’s real son, Eugenio, though not for claiming a false identity (a civil offence only) but for wearing the Légion d’honneur to which he was not entitled. He went on to have a long career, and half a dozen impostors of his own.

When Epstein left England several rival “Signor Boscos” were already hovering vying to assume the name, three of them Polish Jews; Louis Susser (Leibel Zysser) in the north of England, David Hyam (Louis’s brother-in-law), and Saul Warszawski in the south, who all toured Britain as Signor Boscos for several years until the first two headed to America. And there were also two female “Madame Boscos” – “lady magicians” were a novelty for the time but not unique. We know the real name of one of them, Marian Ball, “the American Enchantress”, as a judge demanded her husband and manager reveal it when brought up in court in 1860: “James Bosco is not my real name, but is the name I have used for years” / “Is it not the name of a celebrated actor in the necromantic line that you have seized on?” / “It is.” / “Now, for the benefit of posterity, let us know what your name is.” / “Ball”.

The other “Madame Bosco” is rather interesting. Millar after his split with Epstein briefly toured a diorama but when Epstein broke his leg horse riding on the Isle of Wight he himself performed as “Signor Bosco”, but was spotted as an impostor (of the impostor). He now had the idea of turning his wife into a magician. Annoyingly we do not know her first name or maiden surname, or when or where they married. After her death she was said to be from Yorkshire, implying they probably met and married in Britain after Millar’s arrival in July 1855 (and before March 1856 when she is mentioned as his wife in Dublin), but there is no record of a marriage that matches. Perhaps they had previously married in America; perhaps they were never legally married at all.

“Madame Bosco, the Wonder of the Age” is first sighted in May 1857 and her career was on the whole a success. Audiences were consistently good, helped by “Monster Gift Nights” and good reviews — “Madame Bosco, as a female magician, is herself a novelty, but her experiments are still more novel, many of them being her own introduction, and never performed by any other magician … the orange tree feat … placing a small tree upon a table before her audience she contrives by some wonderful mechanical process to conduct it gradually through the various stages of the bud, blossom, and the full ripening of the fruit, and finally plucks and distributes the oranges among the astonished spectators…”[2]. But by 1858 Millar decided that the novelty had worn off and it was time for greener pastures. This “Madame Bosco”, Mrs Millar, and her husband now headed to his native U.S.A. and settled in New York state. Later that year she opened in Connecticut and was soon billed as “Madame Bosco, The original, World-Renowned and Only Magicienne … Mad. Bosco will make selections from the most ‘recherche’ of her experiments, many of which are entirely new...”. The orange tree trick was popular and she was only the third woman known to perform the gun trick, catching a bullet fired at her (the first was the lamented Madame De-Linsky, accidentally shot dead by her husband in 1820). Her advertising included the false claim that she, not Epstein, was the Bosco who performed for Queen Victoria at Balmoral (also falsely claimed by Susser and Warszawski). She toured widely but on Friday July 29^th 1859 she failed to appear as advertised in Ottawa, Illinois, arriving on Saturday 30th, “very much indisposed — indeed in a dying condition … she lingered until Sunday morning, when she died ... She was buried on Tuesday in the Ottawa Cemetery”. A newspaper report stated: “…She was for years a great sufferer from paroxysms of the spine; to allay or deaden this intense pain, she resorted to great doses of ether and chloroform, which at times so worked upon her to make her nearly crazy…”; an obituary described her as “inhaling sulphuric ether for temporary relief”, and stated she was a native of Yorkshire, England.

Millar (his name sometimes misspelt “Miller” in newspapers but not in official records) later remarried twice and we have the records for those and his several children (one given the name Flora Telula Leighton Lauderdale Rossiter Millar), but finding details of his first marriage and of his first wife’s death and burial (of which we have the exact date and place) would tell us the birth name of “Madame Bosco”. Any help welcome.

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Wheeling, West Virginia, 1889 Cincinnati, Ohio, 1859

1. Born as slaves in North Carolina in 1851 they were joined back-to-back, shared several body parts with one heart and one nervous system, always referring to themselves as “I” not “we”. They had been exhibited as a curiosity since before their first birthday under a succession of owners and managers. By taking them first to Canada and then to Britain Millar avoided the Refugee Slave Act in the northern states of America. Reunited with their mother they enjoyed a long and successful career, later billed as “The Two-Headed Nightingale”, fluent in five languages and accomplished pianists, singers, and even dancers, performing until the 1890s; they died in 1912.

2. An old trick; Houdini dates it back to 1730.

Rowan Gibbs

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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 Council Libraries

Photographers Database on Kura

Auckland Council Libraries’ Digital Research Collections team is pleased to announce the launch of the Photographers database on Kura: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photographers

The Photographers Database is a listing of photographers operating in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands from the 1840s through to the early 2000s, with their studio addresses, years of operation, and includes the names of studio assistants, colourists and retouchers, together with some chemists and photo-stock dealers.

This is an invaluable and unique resource that is used by researchers across the country. It is the fruit of many years of in-depth research by Photographs Curator Dr Keith Giles.

There are 5,570 records, of which there are listings for 566 pioneering women photographers: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photographers/search/searchterm/female/field/gender

45 in-depth essays: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photographers/search/searchterm/Keith%20Giles!Bruce%20Ringer/field/all!all/mode/exact!exact/conn/or!and

Curious about which photographers were operating in Timaru?: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photographers/search/searchterm/timaru/field/locati

... Or Tonga? https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photographers/search/searchterm/tonga/field/locati

Many thanks to Keith Giles and Samantha Doherty for their hard work on migrating these records to Kura.

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Auckland Council Libraries HeritageTalks | Waha pū -taonga

Please note: Due to some recent changes in our department, we are reviewing our HeritageTalks programme of events.
The 2024 HeritageTalks programme is on hold after 6^th March while we conduct this review.

If you attended a HeritageTalk in 2023 could you please assist us with some feedback:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5SG57ZK

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2024 Auckland Family History Expo

Tāmaki Huinga Tātai Kōrero

Friday 9 August to Sunday 11 August 2024

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Come Celebrate our 10^th Anniversary!

Auckland Council Libraries and the Genealogical Computing Group (an interest group of the NZ Society of Genealogists) proudly present a weekend-long event covering a wide range of topics on researching genealogy and family history.

2024 is the tenth anniversary of our first Expo and we plan to make it an extra special one in celebration.

Join us on Friday 9 August to Sunday 11 August 2024 at the Fickling Convention Centre, 546 Mt Albert Rd, Three Kings, Auckland – under Mt Roskill Library.

Friday 9 August 2024: Opening event $30 per person to cover catering expenses.
See programme and book tickets at Eventfinda
https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2024/2024-auckland-family-history-expo-tamaki-huinga-tatai-korero/auckland/three-kings

Saturday 10 August 2024: FREE entrance. All welcome. Programme to come by 1 May.

Sunday 11 August 2024: FREE entrance. All welcome. Programme to come by 1 May.

Take advantage of our FREE seminars, from beginner to advanced, computer-based tutorials, ask-an-expert sessions and research assistance on Saturday 10 August and Sunday 11 August. No booking required. Bring your laptops to take full advantage of the workshops and tutorials.

Speakers and sessions

Awesome international speakers appearing in-person at the Expo. Plus many speakers from our favourite family history Vendors.

Come along and learn about Ancestry’s “Know your Pet DNA” kit and watch the big DNA reveal of some cute pups!

Bring your children and grandchildren for some fun activities!

Please keep an eye on this page for additions and updates.

www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/AFHExpo

Venue information

Fickling Convention Centre is adjacent to Three Kings Reserve and has some on-street parking on Mt Albert Rd and in side streets. If you are able-bodied we suggest public transport or street parking in surrounding streets. This multi-functional venue is wheelchair-friendly and has accessible toilets.

Over the weekend there will be a coffee van with snacks onsite. There are a couple of cafes and a supermarket nearby, but you may wish to bring a packed lunch with you.

Collect an Ancestry lanyard when you arrive from the Information Desk and go into the draw for a free Ancestry subscription and DNA kit!

Raffles: Three tickets for $5 – prizes include subscriptions to your favourite genealogy websites, DNA kits, magazine subscriptions, membership fees, and research tools and services.

Would you like to sponsor or donate raffle prizes?

The Auckland Family History Expo committee is still interested in hearing from potential sponsors, raffle donors, and exhibitors .

Please contact us if you want to support our Expo. Email the Auckland Family History Expo committee: afhexpo@gmail.com

Thank you to our 2024 sponsors

Thank you to the sponsors of the 2024 Auckland Family History Expo.

Platinum sponsor: Ancestry

Gold sponsors: FamilyTree Maker , Genealogical Computing Group and Auckland Council Libraries

Other sponsors: NZ Society of Genealogists, Family Tree DNA , MyHeritage , FamilyTree UK magazine (FamilyTree Plus) , IHGS (The School of Family History)

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Nga mihi | Kind regards

SEONAID

Seonaid (Shona) Harvey 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

Hokianga Museum and Archives Centre.

Hokianga Museum is home to objects and records from Hokianga, including written and photographic histories from many of the families who have lived here, history of the local communities, schools and the natural geography of the area.

There are also displays featuring Mangungu Treaty signing, 1893 Suffrage featuring Hokianga women who voted that year, The Dog Tax Rebellion, the 1918 Influenza pandemic, the timber and dairying industries, the 28^th Maori Battalion A Company and accounts of shipwrecks, including the SS Ventnor. The Museum also houses Russell Clark’s original statue of Opo the Dolphin.

14 Waianga Place, Omapere, Hokianga

Open Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 10.00 -2.00pm.

09 4058498

https://www.ourhokianga.com/MuseumArchives.htm

From the Editor

This is a museum and Research Centre I am closely associated with. I have donated photographs, books, articles and historical items to this organisation. They do a brilliant job and, if you are in the area, well worth a visit. It is staffed by many volunteers and if you are brimming with spare cash they are a worthy organisation for a donation.

Take a look at their webpage – click on the html above.

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Group News

News and Views

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.

The best free genealogy websites

These free genealogy websites will help you start your British family history research without costing a penny

Drinking, bribery and rotten boroughs: The turbulent history of Britain’s elections

With the 2024 general election now announced, we may think politics is turbulent today — but for our ancestors, elections meant free drink, blatant bribery, riots, and more...

How to research Scottish ancestry

Scottish ancestry expert Chris Paton picks out the key records for tracing your Scottish family history

How to find old orphanage records and records from children's homes (UK)

British Army records: Where to find them online

GRO increases prices of birth, marriage and death records

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

A blonde gets a job as a physical education teacher of 16-year-olds.

She notices a boy at the end of the field standing alone, while all the other kids are running around having fun kicking a ball.

She takes pity on him and decides to speak to him.

‘You ok?’ she says.

‘Yes.’ he says.

‘You can go and play with the other kids you know’ she says.

‘No, it’s probably best I stay here.’ he says.

‘Why’s that sweetie?’ says the blonde.

The boy looks at her incredulously and says,

“Because I’m the Goalie!”

A screenshot of a text

Description automatically generated

TWENTY-NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.

2. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

3. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

4. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

5. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.

6. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me

7. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

8. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.

9. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.

10. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

11. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

12. God must love stupid people; He made so many.

13. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

14. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

15. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

16. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!

17. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.

18. Procrastinate Now!

19. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?

20. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

21. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.

22. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!

23. They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.

24. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.

25. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.

26. Ham and eggs... A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.. (how true)

27. The trouble with life is there's no background music.

28. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.

29. I smile because I don't know what the heck is going on.

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Copyright (Waiver)

Feel free to redistribute this newsletter. If you publish a newsletter yourself you may include material from this newsletter in yours provided that you please contact the particular author of the article for permission, and acknowledge its source and include the FamNet URL. https://www.famnet.org.nz/

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Contents

Editorial

Do you want to receive this newsletter every month?

Contributors

The Nash Rambler

I Hate Being Ethical

DNA Testing for Family History

Chinese Corner

Hainamana History

More Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of

Ken Morris

EPSON FastFoto FF-680W (Wi-Fi enabled) PHOTO SCANNER – a REVIEW

Robina Trenbath

Rowan Gibbs

An Invitation to Contribute:

From our Libraries and Museums

Auckland Council Libraries

Photographers Database on Kura

Auckland Council Libraries HeritageTalks | Waha pū -taonga

2024 Auckland Family History Expo

Hokianga Museum and Archives Centre.

Group News

News and Views

In conclusion

Book Reviews

Letters to the Editor

Advertising with FamNet

A Bit of Light Relief

Copyright (Waiver)