PROGRAMME FOR 2011 BIG · PDF fileAll photographs must be sourced i.e. JOE BLOGGS PERSONAL...

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.

Issue 46 Oct 2011

PROGRAMME FOR 2011 Unless otherwise stated meetings start at 7.30 pm

St Peter’s Church Hall, Hillside Road, Dunedin.

Wednesday 12 October 2011 CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS

HOW MUCH PROOF IS NEEDED BEFORE YOU CAN ACCEPT GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION AS BEING

ACCURATE.

This talk will take the form of a case study into the life of one New Zealander. Members will have an opportunity at the end

of the meeting to discuss what is fact and what is possible fiction.

The talk will look at illegitimacy, court records, newspaper documentation, police records, prostitution, the Benevolent

Institution in Dunedin and orphanages.

Please note this talk replaces the previous advertised talk on

photographs. Our guest speaker is unable to speak due to

illness (World Cup Fever) but will speak at a meeting in

2012.

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Wednesday 9 November 2011 MY FAVOURITE ANCESTOR AND HOW I RESEARCHED

THEIR LIVES - MEMBERS PARTICIPATION NIGHT

If you would like to participate in this meeting please contact [email protected]

One of our speakers this evening will be Amanda Dickson author of

“West Otago - 150 Years, Farming and Families, Book One 1850 - 1875 Runholders, Managers and Shepherds”

We are hoping for four speakers to speak for 20 minutes each

but smaller presentations are most welcome. Help can be given to any member wanting to put their talk onto a

Powerpoint presentation.

Wednesday 14 December 2011 CHRISTMAS BREAKUP SURPRISE

BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS

CENTRAL OTAGO HEADSTONE TRANSCRIPTS INDEXES

The Dunedin Family History Group now hosts all of the Central Otago headstone transcripts indexes on our website

http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/dfhg/moodle/ By the end of this year we will also have the photographs to accompany the transcripts. The transcripts and photography has been prepared by Bert and Pauline Miller of Alexandra and the Dunedin Family History Group has agreed to host the indexes for the benefit of all researchers in the Central Otago area. This Central Otago headstone transcript indexes on-line was launched at a One-Day Seminar in Alexandra on 3 September 2011.

This is exciting news for researchers with relatives buried in Central Otago.

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SOUTHERN CEMETERY, DUNEDIN Photographs of all headstones in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin are now on-line at

http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries_search

Congratulations to Stewart Harvey and his team on this magnificent achievement.

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CROMWELL BRANCH ORDER OF SERVICES Thank you to Lesley Miller from the NZSG Cromwell Branch who has supplied the group with an index to Order of Services held by her group. We did not have a lot of Central Otago Order of Services so this was a much welcomed boost. In appreciation we have given the NZSG Cromwell Branch a copy of the full index for their library. This now brings the total of Order of Services on our website to 3276.

http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/dfhg/moodle/

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FACEBOOK PAGE The Dunedin Family History Group now has a Facebook page. If you wish to be part of it visit the page and click “like”. We are hoping this will be another way to keep our members updated on all the latest activities in our group.

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/

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.

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.

TWO PUBLICATIONS IN 2012

A SCOTTISH MOTHER To be published in May 2012

All entries must be received by 31 March 2012

A SCOTTISH FATHER To be published in September 2012

All entries must be received by 31 July 2012

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY FOR THESE BOOKS

The Dunedin Family History Group is publishing two books in 2012 in relation to the lives of Scottish born mothers and fathers.

The criteria is that the articles must involve a mother or father born in Scotland who immigrated and died in New Zealand.

We are able to accept submissions in any format - i.e. hardcopy, via an email attachment or on CD. Submissions can be in almost any Windows compatible format. The article can be as small or as large as needed but for space we have set the limit as 20,000 words (on average 750 words are usually 1 page so this allows a maximum of 26 pages). Graphics, photographs and maps can be in addition to the 20,000 words.

Photographs, graphics and maps help enhance an article. All pictures should be 300 dpi (dots per inch) and high quality. The published size is usually about a column width (83mm) by the relative height of the picture which also needs a caption.

All photographs must be sourced i.e. JOE BLOGGS PERSONAL COLLECTION or PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE HOCKEN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS, DUNEDIN.

All articles must be received by the dates shown above. Entries which arrive after this date may not be able to be included in the final publication.

All articles accepted for submission provides the author with a 10% discount on the final cost of purchasing the book.

Any questions please contact [email protected] or write to 28 Milburn Street, Dunedin.

NEVER ASSUME SOMEONE IS DEAD In our September 2011 newsletter we printed an article entitiled “never assume” in regards to genealogical information. Pat McGregor of Wellington sent us the following

piece of information from the Evening Post newspaper in Wellington dated 31 March 1924. Pat felt this article highlighted some of the aspects mentioned in the article on “never assume” -

CLAIM FOR INHERITANCE That truth sometimes is indeed stranger than fiction was proven to a certain extent at the Supreme Court on Saturday before his Honour the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, when Walter Neilson, a seaman, who has been absent from the Dominion for almost sixty years, applied to have revoked an order that had been made declaring him to be dead. This course was necessary to enable the applicant to claim an inheritance consisting of cash amounting to £4402 4s 2d in the common fund of the Public Trust Office and bearing interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. The applicant was represented by Mr G. G. Watson, Mr. E. P. Hay appeared for Neilson's wife and family, and C. G. Rose watched proceedings on behalf of the Public Trust Trustee. According to Mr. Rose, Catherine Lockart Neilson, of Wanganui, died on 12th June, 1905, and by her will she

bequeathed the residue of her estate upon trust to pay the income to her four children, Christina Carey, Janet Hunter, Walter Neilson and Bella Hall, in equal shares, provision being made for the children of any deceased child taking their parents' share of the income. One of the children of the testatrix, named Walter Neilson, had at the date of the will been absent from New Zealand for several years, and his whereabouts was unknown to the testatrix. He had left New Zealand for Melbourne, but thereafter could not be traced. He was a married, man, and had four children, who remained in New Zealand, and were now of full age. He was separated from his wife, and had never communicated with her or the children since leaving New Zealand in 1888. Under these circumstances, the testatrix made special provision for her son, to the effect that if he had not communicated with her trustees within two years from her death, the son's share should be paid to two other daughters. In 1909, the trustees, not having heard from Walter Neilson, approached the Supreme Court for an interpretation of the will, and as to whether they were to presume that he had died before the testatrix. On 24th April, 1909, the Court made an order that the death of Walter Neilson must be presumed from the expiration of seven years from the date he was last heard of, and that he therefore must he presumed to have pre-deceased the testatrix. After this order was made, the Public Trustee became trustee of the estate. In 1918, however, a sister received a letter purporting to be from Walter Neilson, her brother, and recognised his handwriting. The discovery was somewhat novel in that a nephew named Walter Hunter, while on active service, met a man in England who claimed to be his uncle, and turned out to be Walter Neilson. Neilson had produced evidence as to his identity, and the Public Trustee was satisfied that a strong case was made out. The man was now a ship's cook in South Shields, Durham, England, and had not sufficient means to enable him to come out to New Zealand. In 1921, the Public Trustee approached the Court for directions as to whether he was justified in treating Neilson as being alive, and treating as cancelled the order made in 1909 presuming him to be dead. The wife and children of the man would not admit the identity. On 12th April, 1921, an order was made authorising the Public Trustee, pending further order, to retain the share of the income which would belong to Walter Neilson if alive, and not to pay it to his children. The Court also ordered that notice be sent to Neilson in England that if he wished to prosecute his claim and have the order made in 1909 presuming his death cancelled, he must instruct some person to take proceedings in the Supreme. Court. In 1922 a Westport solicitor who was in England interested himself, in the matter, and the present application before the Court was the result. By affidavit, Neilson had sworn in England, said Mr. Watson, that he was the son of the testatrix, being born at Wanganui in October, 1856. He was married at the Registry Office, Wanganui, and had four children, all residing in New Zealand. In 1887 he left New Zealand for Melbourne, then joined different boats trading on the Australian coast, then to Mexico and San Francisco. At the latter port he met a schoolmate of Wanganui, who had been informed that his people understood that Neilson was going to New Zealand. He left the vessel and worked ashore it Oakland for twelve months, after which he joined a sailing ship bound to France. He then followed a general seafaring life, touching at ports all over the world. From 1903 to 1910 he was on no fewer than 13 ships, and from that date until 1919 he served on 18 vessels. He had remarkable luck during the war in being survivor of four wrecks, namely, Rosalie (Sunk 12th August, 1915), Wilston (sunk 15th February, 1916), Hindustan (sunk 21st March, 1917), Annie Sofie (sunk 23rd July, 1918). In the affidavit Neilson described how he was eventually identified by his nephew while in hospital in England during the war. His Honour granted an order revoking the previous order of the Court presuming the man to be dead.

OUTRAM For those readers who do not know the area, Outram lies on State Highway 87 between Mosgiel and Middlemarch. It is located 27 kilometres west of Dunedin (11 kilometres north-west of Mosgiel) at the edge of the Taieri Plains, close to the foot of Maungatua. The Taieri River flows close to the southeast of the town and its flood banks form a boundary on the east side of the township. Outram was given its name by Otago superintendent Sir John Larkin Cheese Richardson, after British Major-General Sir James Outram (1803-63) who assisted in the relief of the city of Lucknow in March 1858, during the Indian Mutiny. The decision to name the town Outram was due to a number of Outram’s early settlers having connections with imperial India. Although known as Outram, many referred to the town, in the early days, as “The Ferry”. Mainly settled by Scots immigrant farmers in the 1850s, Outram had an important river crossing that was proclaimed part of the public highway and given the name of Upper Taieri Ferry in 1857. The earliest known settler in the district was Donald Borrie who built a sod house close to the upper ford of the Taieri River, believed to be close to where the present town of Outram is now located. Before the ferry was built in 1857 Donald Borrie would row travellers across the river in his canoe. When the ferry came into service he acted as ferryman. The township of Outram did not develop until the early 1860s with the discovery of gold in Central Otago. Due to the increase in traffic heading to the Dunstan via Outram the ferry was replaced by a bridge built across the Taieri River in 1864. By 1865 Outram had several stores, a baker, a butcher, blacksmith, saddler, bootmaker, flourmiller and several hotels. At the height of the Dunstan “goldrush” the armed escort had its headquarters at Outram. The route from Dunedin to Outram via public transport in the mid 1860s involved taking one of Cobb and Co’s four-horse

coaches from Manse Street, through Caversham, over Lookout Point, past the toll-bar at Green Island, then up the northern slopes of Saddle Hill, down through Mosgiel, past another toll-bar, then over the Taieri River bridge. If you went by private dray or dogcart, the routes could vary through Kaikorai Valley or out over Halfway Bush and Flagstaff. A disastrous flood occurred at Outram in 1868, causing great destruction to property. Many houses were undermined, and others were washed away, including the courthouse, and parts of the constable’s residence. In the early 1870s a new township developed but this too suffered with another big flood in 1877. The main bank in Outram was the Bank of New Zealand which opened in October 1874. From 1877 until 1953, the town was served by a branch line railway that connected with the Main South Line. The Outram branch left the South Island Main Trunk just north of the Mosgiel Railway Station and ran parallel to the main line only some 4 kilometres away before veering north to stop at Outram. The railway line was built at the urgings of local residents in and around Outram, even though there was little promise of

Maungatua

Outram Railway Station - photograph taken in the 1930s

had conquered Mt Everest in the Himalayas at the time of the Queen’s coronation in 1953. The fire was the furthest in a chain which extended from London, throughout Britain and around the world. In 1994 Outram hosted the world ploughing championships.

Taieri Historical Park - Worth a visit if you are in the area. There is a small well presented museum full of memorabilia including artifacts, tools, clothes, books, etc which were used by the early settlers. Also found on the site is the Otago Vintage Machinery Club. The complex has on display various relocated historic buildings including the old Outram Courthouse (used during the gold-mining days), the local jail, the early Outram school, Berwick Presbyterian Church, and the old Mosgiel - Outram Railway engine shed, all of which have been shifted to the museum site from their former positions on the Taieri. Another museum on the site is run by the Otago Vintage Machinery Club, which collects all early stationary engines, tractors, farm machinery etc which was used by the early settlers.

School - The West Taieri School was opened in 1857 and the school was rebuilt in brick in 1880 serving as the main school in the district. The first school at Outram was established in 1873 and the first permanent building on the present Beaumaris Street site was erected in 1880. In 1893 a wooden building was built and remained in place until 1997 when it was moved to the Taieri Historical Park. Following a network review of schools on the Taieri Plains, the schools of Momona and Henley were merged with Outram on 1 January 2004. This has seen a rise in the school roll and a considerable expansion of the school's catchment. This extends to cover the communities of Henley, Momona and Allanton in the south and west and to parts east of the Taieri River. The West Taieri Schools 150th Jubilee was held in February 2008.

traffic to actually justify the line's construction. It was built as a result of an earlier failed scheme for a line from Allanton to Outram. A proposal to build a line from Mosgiel reawakened the Allanton idea and only when landowners along the Mosgiel route agreed to make land available free was the conflict resolved in favour of Outram. The agreement of free land was provided the trains ran six days per week. The work on the railway began in September 1875 but there were delays due to swamps. A solid base could not be found even at a depth of twelve metres. The problem was eventually solved by laying many layers of flax to provide a firm foundation for the line. Two bridges were required during construction, the 67 metre Taieri River bridge near Outram, and a 42 metre bridge across the Silver Stream. The actual line opened in October 1877. The Outram railway line was virtually flat. In its entire 14.5 kilometre length, it had only three curves. A one manned station and goods shed were built on the line, both at the terminus in Outram. The Outram Railway Station officially opened in October 1877. In its early years, Outram served as the railhead during construction of the Taieri Gorge section of the Otago Central Railway (now preserved as the Taieri Gorge Railway). However weight limitations on the bridge over the Taieri River meant that only small tank engines could use the line. The service to Outram ran for six days a week until 1930 when a Royal Commission recommended that the two trains daily each way was too many and that one each way daily would be quite sufficient. As more Outram residents obtained cars and a bus system was introduced to the district, the usage of the railway dropped considerably. The passenger line did continue to operate at a loss until 13 January 1950. From that date onwards only goods were carried on the line. By 1952 four goods trains each way per week operated with the Road Services provided passenger transport to Outram seven days a week. By the end of 1953 there were fifteen road transport operators licensed to Dunedin and it was no longer viable to keep the railway line open. It closed on 5 December 1953. When the railway had opened in 1877 it did however bring new business to Outram. New shops opened in the 1880s. Outram prospered so much that many believed it would rival Mosgiel and surpass it in growth. Post and telegraph offices were established at the railway station not long after its opening. The streets had been lighted by kerosene, but Outram become one of the first towns in New Zealand to obtain electric power in 1899. The Outram Dairy Factory, owned by the Taieri and Peninsula Company was situated about a mile from the railway station and was opened in 1891 by the Cuddie Brothers. The main hotel in Outram was the Terminus Hotel. This was a two storey building opposite the railway station. It was erected in 1878 and contained twenty rooms including a large dining room, several private parlours, single and double bedrooms and a billiard room and bathrooms with both hot and cold water. According to the entry for Outram in the 1905 Cyclopedia of Otago, Outram had, by the turn of the twentieth century, a population of approximately 500 people, two churches, a state school, post and telegraph offices, two banks, two hotels, two accommodation houses and was governed by a Town Board established in 1882. The entry described Outram as one of the finest and healthiest places in New Zealand and a favourite resort for excursionists from Dunedin. The Taieri Mounted Rifles was formed in 1901 and was known as F Squadron of the First Battalion, Otago Mounted Rifles. Drill was held once a month and the corps went into camp for instruction yearly.

Outram’s Claim To Fame - On 6 June 1977, during the celebrations marking the Silver Jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, a bonfire was lit here by Sir Edmund Hillary who

The old Outram School now located in the

Taieri Historical Park, Outram.

MAUNGATUA

Maungatua is a farming locality on the western edge of the lower Taieri basin about 8 kilometres south-west of Mosgiel. It is often incorrectly called “The Maungatuas” or “The Maungatua Range” but it should correctly just be known as Maungatua. It is a prominent ridge which rises 900 metres above the Taieri River, directly to the west of Dunedin's airport at Momona. It can be clearly seen from Dunedin 35 kilometres to the east, and from as far south as the outskirts of Balclutha, 65 kilometres to the southwest. Lake Mahinerangi is located on the western side of Maungatua. The name Maungatua comes from the Maori words Maunga-atua, meaning "Mountain of the gods" There was never a town at Maungatua but the area possessed a Presbyterian Church, a school, a Post Office, a dairy factory and a blacksmith’s shop. It was in the gullies surrounding Maungatua and on the Outram - Woodside - Maungatua road that the notorious bushranger, Henry Garratt (real name Henry Rouse), committed numerous robberies in the early days of the goldrushes. A creek close to Woodside became known as Garratt’s creek. Garratt was from Australia and, along with his associates, was well known for robbing the prospectors returning from the gold fields. Garratt had a long criminal record and his dangerous reputation had many residents living at Maungatua in fear. Fifteen known robberies had taken place at Maungatua before Garratt returned to Australia. He was captured there and brought back to face a trial in Dunedin where he was sentenced to several years in prison. He finally died in 1885 in Wellington Gaol.

BERWICK

Berwick is a small farming community on the banks of the Waipori River, 6 kilometres northwest of Henley and 16 kilometres southwest of Outram. Today it is mostly known for the neighbouring Berwick Forest which borders the township to the south and also as being the location of one of the Otago Youth Adventure Trust's campsites. A substation of the Waipori Falls hydro-electric scheme is situated near by. The district was originally known as Waipori Lake. This was due to a local lake, sometimes referred to as a lagoon, which was located near to the site of the current township.

School children

saluting the flag

at the Original

Outram School

Photograph

from the

Otago Witness

newspaper

26 December

1900.

The old Outram School is on your left and the Outram Court House is on

your right. In front of the two buildings is the old Outram telephone box.

Shennan Watson, a local runholder, is believed to have named the town and surrounding district Berwick after Berwick-upon-Tweed on the east Coast of Northumberland which was his birthplace. There are some theories which say the town was named after Berwick in Scotland but none of the early settlers connected with Berwick, West Taieri had any connections with Berwick, Scotland so most historians tend to favour the legend that it was named after the English Berwick. The first building in Berwick Township was the school and schoolmaster’s residence combined which was built in 1864. It was built on a vacant piece of land and, sometime after the school was completed, Watson Sheenan had the township surveyed. The school remained the focal point and all of the surrounding land was sold as blocks which were fenced into small paddocks. Despite the district being named Berwick from the mid 1860s, the school was known as the Waipori Lake School until 1911. When the Waipori Lake School opened in 1864 there were 28 pupils and one teacher, a Mr James Cameron. Local identities, the Shaw, Cameron, Robinson and Sheenan families had four generations of their families as pupils at the school. Two All Blacks, Les George (1938) and Hector Wilson (1949-1950) were ex pupils of the school. The Berwick Primary School finally closed its doors in 1997 when the school roll had dropped to 13 pupils. As well as being a runholder, Watson Shennan started a creamery and store combined at Berwick and with his partner, a Mr Thompson, started a butter factory at Maungatua and worked it for some years. They sold out when Watson Shennan bought property on the Maniototo. John Sheenan, brother of Watson, farmed at Valleyfield near Berwick. He was born in Galloway, Scotland and came to New

Zealand in 1858 aboard the Gloucester. He went to Central Otago to join his brother Watson, who also owned a large station there, but left the following year to farm at Woodside. Two years later he sold this property and moved to a farm at Berwick with his brother-in-law, Robert Charters. They bought out Watson Shennan and farmed in partnership for many years at Lake Waipori. This property was located halfway between Berwick and Henley. Finally the partnership dissolved and David McPherson bought the Lake Waipori property from John Shennan and Robert Charters. John Shennan then bought the Valleyfield property. This property became one of the biggest in the Berwick district. Another farmer in the district was Robert Robinson who farmed at Greenbank Farm. He was the first settler to start banking the Waipori river, and to use steam power in getting rid of the drainage water between Henley and Berwick. Robert Twelftree moved to Berwick in 1859 and was another successful farmer at Berwick. He was clerk to the Berwick Road Board for seven years and was for several years enumerator of the census for the district. Wilson J. Harker was a farmer at Rosebank, Berwick. First he ran sheep on his farm but eventually turned to cattle farming. Despite several large and successful farms in the district, Berwick did not initially attract settlers due to the land surrounding the town being prone to flooding. Improvement and embankments made under the supervision of a River Board reduced the occurrences of flooding and settlers began to move to the town in the late 1860s. After the school was built in 1864, the next building built was a small stone post office. A Mr Starbuck built the first hotel at Berwick but it only ran for a year before Starbuck allowed the licence to lapse. The hotel was then converted to a private residence and Starbuck became the local carter. The next hotel to open was the Royal Berwick Hotel followed by the Commercial Hotel. Its owner was a Mr George who also ran a coach to Outram until the railway formed a connection with Berwick. In 1877 T. Crossan, a baker from Milton, built an oven and started a bakery, general store and butchery all combined. Unlike some of the smaller ventures which failed in Berwick, Crossan made a success of his and it continued in the town for over thirty years.

The first Sports Day was held in West Taieri on New Year’s Day 1868 and continued yearly at Maungatua and Woodside depending on whose turn it was until 1878 when Berwick was formed into a Caledonian Society and the event was held at Berwick from then on. The Berwick public hall was built in 1886 and the Presbyterian Church in 1923. While Berwick is located in West Taieri, Berwick Forest which takes it name from the district is located in the Clutha district. Today Berwick Forest consists of three blocks; the main block at Berwick, the block at Maungatua and another at Waitahuna. The forest lies approximately 80 kilometres south of Dunedin and has a gross area of 13,141 hectares. The forest covers a diverse tract of land between the coastal plains and the Otago uplands which means the topography varies from flat through rolling to steep. Berwick is managed under a Forestry Right between Ngai Tahu Forest Estates Limited who own the land and Wenita who own the trees. A number of rare species are known to exist within Berwick Forest. These include the New Zealand Falcon and the recently identified Dusky Galaxias. Other indigenous fish have also been recorded. Parts of Berwick Forest are protected by way of Department of Conservation (DOC) covenants which include Browns Cottage, which is within the main block and was built in about 1888 for a pastoral run holder; and Hawkers Dam, in the Waitahuna block, which was built for gold mining in 1887.

WOODSIDE

Woodside is a farming locality about 5 kilometres south-west of Outram. Immediately to the north of Woodside is Woodside Glen, once a favourite picnic spot. Woodside was named by an early settler, Francis McDiarmid, when he brought land at the foot of Mount Maungatua. For a long time the township was known as Maungatua township.

LEE STREAM

Located on the banks of a river of the same name on a link road at a loop in S.H. No 87, 12 kilometres out east from Clarks Junction and 12 kilometres north east from Outram. Today all that remains of the township is the Lee Stream school and the remains of the old Lee Stream Hotel. Lee Stream’s history has been recorded in the history of Middlemarch and the surrounding area which was described

in the 1949 Otago Centennial Historical Publications, “East of

the Rock and Pillar: A history of the Strath Taieri and

Macraes districts” by Helen M Thomoson, published by Whitcombe & Tombs. Copies are available in the Dunedin Public library.

Above is the old Woodside Store and Post Office. It is located on the left

hand side at the junction of Woodside Road and McDonald Road. It was

built in the late 1890s and the original entrance to the store is still intact.

Above is all that remains of the original West Taieri School located in

Helvellyn Street. It was built in the 1870s but the school closed in early

1940 and the building is now derelict.

Above is what remains of the Woodside Mission Hall located on Woodside

Road along from the site of the West Taieri School.

The new foot bridge fording the stream at Outram Glen. This area has a

history of flooding and on one occasion a previous bridge was washed

away

Berwick Township today

The building on the left was the Berwick Primary School.

WEST TAIERI CEMETERY Often, incorrectly, referred to as Outram Cemetery

The Cemetery Reserves Management Ordinance of 1864 instructed the Superintendent of Otago, with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council, to reserve from sale and set aside land in the West Taieri District for the purposes of a Public Cemetery for the interment of the dead. The area set aside contained three acres and one rood less or more being the north part of section number 16 Irregular Block West Taieri District as delineated on the Record Map of the district. The West Taieri Cemetery is located approximately two kilometres south of Outram at the corner where State Highway 87 branches uphill from the Taieri Plains towards Middlemarch. The cemetery is clearly visible from the road and has two entrances. It is now classed as a closed cemetery. No more plots will be sold but burials will continue to take place in existing plots. There are about 515 sites in the cemetery although many of them are bare in the older part. It is a beautiful, historic, well kept cemetery and worthy of a visit, whether you have relatives buried there or not. The cemetery headstones and burial records have been transcribed from 1859-2008.

NAMES WHICH APPEAR IN THE HEADSTONE TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR WEST TAIERI CEMETERY

A selection of the surnames associated with the cemetery are: Adam, Adams, Ah Chin, Aitken, Alexander, Anderson, Andrews, Ashby, Ashley, Barker, Barry, Bathgate, Batty, Baxter, Beattie, Bell, Bewley, Birchall, Birrell, Bisset, Black, Blatch, Bohm, Bolitho, Borrie, Borthwick, Boyd, Bradshaw, Braithwaite, Brearty, Bremner, Brennsell, Briggs, Broadway, Brown, Buchanan, Burnett, Butler, Cameron, Campbell, Carnie, Carr, Carruthers, Cartwright, Cassey, Cattan, Cattanch, Chapman, Cheyne, Chisholm, Choie, Christie, Clark, Clutterbuck, Clyde, Cochrane, Colloty, Colquhoun, Cook, Cookson, Cooper, Craw, Crawford, Crocket, Crosbie, Cross, Crossan, Crossen, Cunningham, Currie, Cuthbert, Cuthbertson, Dalziel, Dark, Davis, Deans, Dick, Dickie, Docherty, Doherty, Doodeward, Dow, Downie, Drummond, Duff, Dugan, Duncan, Ede, Edwards, Elder, Elliot, Enright, Falconer, Farquharson, Ferguson, Findlay, Fisher, Flockhart, Foot, Forrester, Fraser, Frew, Fulton, Gamble, Gellately, Gennings, George, Gibb, Gibson, Gillies, Gilmore, Glendining, Godwin, Goldsmith, Goodlet, Gordon, Gorman, Gowan, Graham, Grainger, Grant, Gray, Green, Greig, Gridgeman, Gunn, Hamilton, Hannah, Hanson, Harper, Harris, Hartley, Harvey, Harvie, Hastie, Hay, Hayes, Headland, Healy, Heckie, Heenan, Henderson, Hendry, Hessey, Higgins, Hodge, Hodges, Howell, Hughes, Ireland, Jack, Jackson, Jamieson, Jeff, Johnston, Jones, Jonniss, Joseph, Josling, Junge, Kelly, Kempshell, Keppel, Kerr, Kiely, Kinlock, Kirkland, Laing, Lane, Langwell, Laurenson, Lawson, Leask, Leslie, Lewis, Light, Lindsay, Little, Lott, Lovell, Low, Lyall, Lyon, Mackay,

Mackintosh, Mann, Manson, Marchbank, Marshall, Martin, Mather, Matheson, Mathson, Meade, Melville, Meldrum, Millar, Miller, Milligan Mills, Milne, Mitchell, Monk, Monson, Moodie, Moore, Morgan, Morley, Morris, Morrison, Morton, Muir, Mull, Munro, Murray, McAndrew, McArthy, McBrearty, McBryde, McCammon, McCann, McCaw, McCulloch, McDiarmid, MacDonald, McDonald, McDowall, McEwan, McFarlan, McGeorge, McGown, McGregor, McHardy, McHattie, McIndoe, McInnes, McIntosh, McIntyre, McKay, McKellar, McKelvey, McKelvie, McKenzie, McLachlan, McLarne, McLean, McLeery, McLennan, McLeod, MacMillan, McMillan, McNeill, MacPherson, Neale, Neill, Nicolson, Nicol, Nidd, Nimmo, Norres, Obbard, O’Brien, Olive, O’Neill, Orlowski, Orna, Osbourne, Owen, Ownley, Panting, Parker, Parish, Parsons, Paterson, Patterson, Paul, Paulin, Pearce, Peat, Peen, Petrie, Pettigew, Phillips, Pogson, Pollock, Popham, Price, Proudfoot, Ramsay, Reade, Reid, Reynolds, Richards, Robertson, Robinson, Robson, Rollinson, Ross, Rundle, Russell, Ruthven, Sampson, Savage, Sawers, Scambler, Scannell, Scott, Seed, Senior, Shand, Sharpe, Shaw, Shennan, Shepherd, Sherriff, Shirlaw, Shrimpton, Sim, Simpson, Sinclair, Smellie, Smith, Smyth, Snell, Snow, Southgate, Spalding, Sparks, Sprott, Stanaway, Steele, Stuart, Stevenson, Stewart, Strean, Summers, Sutherland, Swan, Tapper, Taylor, Tily, Thomson, Thornton, Todd, Townrow, Tree, Tripp, Trumbland, Tunnage, Turain, Turnbull, Turner, Turpin, Twaddle, Tweed, Twelftree, Waddel, Walker, Wallace, Walsh, Warnock, Warren, Waterfall, Watkins, Watson, Watts, Weaver, Webb, Welham, Wells, Welch, Wheeler, White, Whitelaw, Whyte, Williamson, Wilman, Wilson, Wright, Wyer, Wyllie, Young, Yunge.

West Taieri Cemetery in the spring time with its beautiful display of daffodils.

Beautiful ornate stone bridge in the West Taieri Cemetery.

SOME INTERESTING BURIALS IN THE WEST TAIERI CEMETERY

There are many graves of historical significance in the West Taieri Cemetery but one grave in particular stands out. That is the grave of James Fulton and Catherine Fulton nee Valpy. Their grave is surrounded by a cluster of graves of other members of the extended Fulton family. Just reading the headstone is a history lesson in itself. Below are the transcripts from the headstone relating to James and Catherine.

JAMES FULTON - James was born on 27 June 1830 in Futtehghur, India (note the different spelling as to how it is recorded on his headstone). He was the eighth child of a major in the Bengal Artillery who died at the age of 47. Raised and educated in England he sailed, at the age of 18 years,

for Dunedin aboard the Ajax, arriving in 1849. Also aboard the

Ajax was his younger brother, Robert Fulton and the Valpy family. James Fulton married Catherine Valpy in 1852 and established

“Ravenscliffe”, a substantial property at 176 Woodside Road in West Taieri. Initially the property had been called Ravensbourne, but was changed to Ravenscliffe, to distinguish it from the West Harbour suburb of Dunedin. The following entries in the Otago Witness newspaper both record the residence as Ravensbourne.

Saturday, 8 December 1860 page 5 -

At Ravensbourne, West Taieri, on the 4th inst., the wife

of James Fulton, Esq., of a son. Otago Witness 9 May 9 1863 page 4 -

On the 6th inst., at Ravensbourne, West Taieri, Eliza,

widow of the late Major R.B. Fulton, of the Bengal

Artillery, aged 63. This death notice indicates James Fulton’s mother also came to New Zealand and died at his residence in West Taieri. Weekly church services were held for many years at Ravenscliffe and Catherine Fulton started and taught a weekly Sunday school and Bible class which continued to meet under her guidance for nearly 70 years. When James Fulton and his brother, Robert, settled on the West Taieri there were no roads only a small fern track, along which all goods had to be carried on foot. Over time the track was cleared so goods could be carried on horseback and eventually on a wooden sledge which was finally replaced by an iron sledge that the Fultons used to journey into Dunedin. During the gold mining days the Fulton property suffered damage caused by miners killing sheep and pulling out fencing to use as firewood. The Fulton family also built, in 1865, Lisburn House in Lisburn Avenue, Caversham as a city dwelling for the family. James Fulton’s second eldest brother also came to Dunedin to live and resided at Lisburn House. Other members of the Fulton family also came to Dunedin. Two nephews, John and Fred Fulton, sons of the eldest Fulton brother, George, represented Otago at cricket. Fred Fulton, lost his arm in an accident and moved to Napier to live where despite his handicap he scored the first century ever recorded in the district. James Fulton became resident magistrate in Outram and Dunedin, chairman of the Taieri County Council, represented Taieri in Parliament 1879-1890 and was involved in the founding of the Otago Early Settlers Museum. He was a member of the University of Otago Council, the Otago Education Board and the Otago High School Board of Governors.

CATHERINE HENRIETTA ELLIOT FULTON nee VALPY - Catherine was born on 19 December 1829, the third daughter of William Henry Valpy of the East India Company, and his wife, Caroline Jeffreys. William Henry Valpy, a wealthy Englishman, with an income of £2,000 per annum, arrived in Dunedin

aboard the Ajax in 1849. He brought with him his wife and five of their six children plus servants. He established a sawmill which employed 50 labourers and a flourmill on the

Leith stream. The area known as Forbury was named by Valpy after his father’s school near Reading, in Berkshire. Valpy owned 150 acres at Forbury (much of what is now St Clair) and the whole of the Caversham Flat, which he named after his Mother’s birthplace, near Reading. On 22 September 1852, Catherine Valpy married James Fulton, at a joint wedding with her sister Juliet Valpy and William Mackworth. The marriage took place at Forbury. Catherine Fulton's strong beliefs led her to become involved in various social, political and religious movements. She started the Band of Hope Coffee Rooms which she helped run with her sisters Ellen Jeffreys and Arabella Valpy (who in 1882, with Catherine’s support, made contact with William Booth,

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

JAMES FULTON MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE

COUNCIL THIRD SON OF THE LATE

MAJOR ROBERT BELL FULTON OF THE

H.E.I.C. BENGAL ARTILLERY. BORN AT FUTTYCHUR, INDIA ARRIVED N.Z. JANUARY 1849. MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES FOR TAIERI 1879-1890

DUNEDIN AT RAVENSCLIFFE, WEST TAIERI

20TH NOVEMBER 1891. AGED 61 YEARS.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

CATHERINE HENRIETTA ELLIOTT WIDOW OF JAMES FULTON

THIRD DAUGHTER OF JUDGE W.H. VALPY OF H.E.I.C.S.

BORN AT CHELTENHAM ENGLAND

DEC 19, 1829. ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF

WEST TAIERI ARRIVING IN THE

NEIGHBOURHOOD IN 1852 SHE LIVED AT RAVENSCLIFFE FOR NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS AND DIED THERE ON 5TH MAY

1919. “HER CHILDREN ARISE UP AND CALL HER BLESSED”

Lisburn House

Ravenscliffe

founder of the Salvation Army and put into action their establishment in New Zealand). Catherine Fulton was deeply concerned for the moral and social welfare of the young people in the Otago Benevolent Institution and the Otago Industrial School, which she and her husband supported. In May 1885 Catherine Fulton helped found the Dunedin branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and was its first president. She was the dominion president from 1889 to 1892. Catherine Fulton was also an ardent advocate of the women's suffrage movement. After James Fulton died in 1891, Catherine Fulton managed the stud farm at Ravenscliffe, and continued to pursue her many interests until her own death on 6 May 1919. James and Catherine had eight children - 1. Arthur Robert William FULTON (1853-1889) 2. James Edward FULTON (1854-1928) 3. Francis John FULTON (1857-1874) 4. Caroline Arabella FULTON (1859- ) 5. Herbert Valpy FULTON (1861-1927) 6. Catherine Juliet FULTON (1862- ) 7. Dr Robert Valpy FULTON (1865-1924) 8. Mabel Violet FULTON (1866- )

Arthur Robert William Fulton was a civil engineer and supervised the construction of the Kawarau Bridge. He died of typhoid in his mid 30s.

James Edward Fulton was also a civil engineer and supervised the construction of the first bridge over the Lower Shotover River and built the Wellington cable car system.

Both Francis John and Caroline Arabella Fulton died without family.

Herbert Valpy Fulton had two daughters and a son, Julius Herbert Fulton (1901-1973) who is buried in the West Taieri Cemetery.

Julius Fulton along with Robert (Bob) Hogan (1900-1992) formed a partnership and began trading as J.H. Fulton & Co. Fulton Hogan Ltd was officially created with the registration of the company on 30 December, 1935. Until the early 1950s Fulton Hogan had no central depot but stored equipment and supplies in widely scattered yards, quarries or gravel pits. From 1950 onwards Fulton Hogan established themselves at Fairfield.

Catherine Juliet Fulton married Rev Robert Rose McKay Sutherland in 1893 at West Taieri and they had six sons and two daughters. One of whom, Private Clair Nelson Sutherland, was killed in action on 17 October 1917.

Rev Robert Sutherland was a very highly respected Presbyterian minister at Kaikorai for over forty years during which time the Sutherland family lived in Sheen Street. He was very involved in the Temperance Union and was the first chairman of The Roslyn and Kaikorai Gospel Temperance Union. He laid down some strict rules and guide-lines and offered a huge reward of £5 to any person supplying information which would lead to persons being convicted of selling intoxicating liquor in the district. He was also one of the founders of the Roslyn and Maori Hill Prohibition League.

Dr Robert Valpy Fulton published a book in 1922 entitled “Medical practice in Otago and Southland in the early days: a description of the manner of life, trials and difficulties of some of the pioneer doctors, of the places in which, and of the people among whom, they laboured”. He had got information from descendants of pioneer physicians and wrote up his findings in the Otago witness. The articles were so popular they published it in book form. The book was reprinted in 1983. Robert Fulton had two daughters and four sons, three of whom became doctors - Roland, Noel and John, after whom Dunedin’s Fulton Home (now Radius Fulton Home and Hospital) was named. Robert Valpy Fulton wrote a family history dated 7 September 1894. For further information on the Fulton family genealogy visit http://www.richardsfulton.com/Lisburn-Hope.htm

Mabel Violet Fulton, the last of the Fulton children, married Sir Louis Edward Barnett CMG (1865-1946) who was a professor of surgery and founder of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He was professor of surgery at the University of Otago and his work, at the Otago Medical School, where he was one of the school’s earliest students, led to the recognition of hydatid disease, a potentially fatal parasitic disease. He also promoted the growth of the Otago branch of the British Empire Cancer Campaign. He also gave liberally to the Medical Library and towards the purchase of a university sports field. Dr Barnett was the first surgeon in New Zealand to wear rubber gloves and a gauze mask in the operating theatre. He retired in 1925 at the age of 60 and moved to Hampden where his home is protected today by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. He was knighted in 1927. Mabel and Louis Barnett had five children. Sir Louis Barnett establishing the Ralph Barnett Chair of Surgery in memory of one of his sons killed in action in 1917 during the First World War. Another son was Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Hensley Fulton Barnett, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C. Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Royal Air Force Near East Forces, and Commander of British Forces in Cyprus.

Herbert Valpy Fulton’s grave at West Taieri Cemetery

Dr Robert Valpy Fulton’s grave at West Taieri Cemetery

Julius Fulton

The above photograph is of the unveiling of the West Taieri War Memorial

at Outram. The unveiling took place on 8 October 1921.

A full report of the unveiling of the West Taieri War Memorial appears in the Otago Daily Times newspaper, 10 October 1921. The residents of West Taieri - the district covering from Momona to Maungatua, Lee Stream and around Gladfield resolved to erect a memorial to the local soldiers of West Taieri who had died in the First World War. Funds were raised and the memorial was unveiled in October 1921 by Mrs Sprott of Momona who lost three sons in the war.

The monument includes the names of soldiers from Lee Street, Momona, Maungatua, Woodside and Outram. Although the moment was erected in 1921 names of soldiers from the Second World War has been added to the monument.

The monument is located in the main street of Outram on State Highway 87. Also located on the same street is a second memorial to the servicemen of West Taieri who lost their lives in the Second World War.

MOMONA 1914-18

MITCHELL, George Alexander, Trooper 16107 From England, farm hand at Momona. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 15th Reinforcements New Zealand Mounted Rifles. Killed in action in Palestine on 9 January 1917.

SPROTT, Frederick Charles, Private 8/1641 Son of Robert and Margaret Sprott, Momona. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion. Died of wounds in Gallipoli, Turkey on 12 November 1915.

Note: appears on monument as Fred G.

SPROTT, George, Rifleman 23/289 Son of Robert and Margaret Sprott, Momona. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 33rd Reinforcements, E. Company Killed in action in Le Cateau, France on 8 October 1918.

SPROTT, Percy George, Private 8/1642 Son of Robert and Margaret Sprott, Momona. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action in Gallipoli, Turkey on 9 August 1915.

SWANSON, George, Trooper 9/596 Son of Elizabeth Warren, Momona. Otago Mounted Rifles. Killed in Action in Gallipoli, Turkey on 25 June 1915.

WARREN, James, Private 22385 Farm hand at Momona. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion. Killed in action in Belgium on 15 June 1917.

1939-45

LINDSAY, Thomas Shaw, Sergeant 74288 Son of William and Anna Lindsay, Allanton. 26th Infantry Battalion. Killed in Italy on 19 December 1944.

LEE STREAM

1914-18

BORTHWICK, James Robert, Trooper 11/976 Son of Mr and Mrs J. R. Borthwick, Lee Stream. New Zealand Expeditionary force, Wellington Mounted Rifles. Died of wounds in Gallipoli, Turkey on 27 August 1915.

WATSON, Robert Morgan, 2nd Lieutenant 9/799 Son of Samuel and Agnes Watson, Balclutha. Enlisted when working at Traquair Station, Outram. Otago Mounted Rifles. Killed in Action in Gallipoli, Turkey on 22 August 1915.

1939-45

MacDONALD, James Ninian, Sub Lieutenant

Note: appears on the memorial as McDonald. Son of Charles and Christina MacDonald of Waipori. Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve. Died in the English Channel on 14 June 1943. Name also appears on the New Zealand Naval Memorial, Devonport, Auckland.

WEST TAIERI WAR MEMORIAL

MAUNGATUA

1914-18

BIRCHALL, Alfred Urmson, Lance / corporal 53121 Son of William and Sarah Birchall, North East Valley, Dunedin. Enlisted at Maungatua. New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action at Somme, France on 28 march 1918.

CURRIE, Robert Malcolm, Private 8/1962 Son of John and Grace Currie, Maungatua. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion. Died of wounds at Gallipoli, Turkey on 9 August 1915.

McLAREN, James, Corporal 8/1788 Son of the late James McLaren of Ashburton. Enlisted at Maungatua, Otago. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 1 October 1917.

THOMSON, Walter, Sergeant 25/692 Son of Mr and Mrs William Thomson, of Anderson’s Bay, Dunedin. New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action at Somme, France on 15 September 1916.

WOODSIDE

1914-18

DOW, John William, Rifleman 32831 Son of Elizabeth and the late Peter Dow, Woodside. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 12 October 1917.

McKELVEY, William Albert, Private 11318 Son of Archibald McKelvey, Woodside. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Somme, France on 1 October 1916.

Note: Spelt as McKelvie on memorial.

DUNCAN, Ninian, Private 23/1038 Son of Margaret Duncan, Woodside. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle brigade.

Died of wounds in France on 30 July 1916.

1939-45

MORLEY, Roland (Rolly), Telegraphist Son of John and Winifred Morley, Taieri Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve. Killed in action in the Mediterranean aboard H.M.S. Neptune on 19 December 1941. Name also appears on the New Zealand Naval Memorial, Devonport, Auckland. For further information on the sinking of the HMS Neptune refer to the Dunedin Family History Group, September 2011, newsletter page 6.

OUTRAM

1914-18

CHISHOLM, James, Private 53145 Son of Alexander and Elizabeth Chisholm New Zealand Rifle Brigade Died of disease in France on 12 July 1918.

DOHERTY, Charles, Rifleman 42479 Son of Francis and Eliza Doherty of Balmoral, Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action at Somme, France on 7 April 1918.

DOW, Ernest Herbert, Sapper 55283 Son of Mrs Isabella Dow of Motueka. New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, New Zealand Engineers. No records of his death while on active service.

FLOCKHART, William Arnot, Private 8/3584 From Scotland, ploughman from West Taieri. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 3 August 1917.

GEORGE, Ernest John, Lance Corporal 22009 Son of Herbert and Elizabeth George, District Road, Dunedin. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Machine Gun Battalion. Killed in action at Somme, France on 22 March 1918.

GRANT, David Albert, Private 27498 Son of Francis and Eliza Doherty of Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion Died of wounds in France on 7 April 1918.

HARRIS, Henry John, Private 58877 From England, ploughman at Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion Killed in action at Bapaume, France on 25 August 1918.

HAYES, Daniel, Private 63153

On memorial shown as Sergeant Major but all his military details,

including his headstone, shows him as a private. Son of Ann and the late John Hayes of Outram New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, 43rd Reinforcements, A. Company Died of disease in England on 31 March 1919.

McLENNAN, Alexander, Trooper 9/863 Son of Betsy McLennan of Grantown-On-Spey, Scotland, enlisted at Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Mounted Rifles. Killed in action in Somme, France on 3 October 1916.

McLEOD, Campbell, Private 8/2680 Son of Mr and Mrs James McLeod, Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action in Belgium on 7 June 1917.

McLEOD, James, Private 8/763 Son of Mr and Mrs James McLeod, Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Died of disease in New Zealand on 8 March 1916.

MILLAR, Thomas, Private 8/74 Son of Mr and Mrs Charles Millar of Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Missing in action at Gallipoli, Turkey on 2 May 1915.

ROBERTSON, William James, Private 8/2718 Son of William Robertson of North East Valley, Dunedin. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Somme, France 14 July 1916.

SAVAGE, Percy, Sergeant 8/100 Enlisted at Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion Died of wounds at Gallipoli, Turkey on 10 May 1915.

SPROULE, Thomas, Private 41038 Son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Sproule of Mosgiel, Otago. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Entrenching Battalion. Died of disease in France on 28 July 1918.

TURNER, William, Private 8/3778 From England, farmer at Outram. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Somme, France, on 1 October 1916.

WHITE, Arthur, Sergeant 10283 Son of Janet White of St Clair, Dunedin. New Zealand Expeditionary Force Wellington Infantry Battalion. Killed in action at Somme, France on 16 April 1918.

WHITE, Reginald, Lance Sergeant 39379 New Zealand Expeditionary Force Otago Infantry Battalion Killed in action at Havrincourt, France on 2 September 1918.

1939-45

ANDERSON, George Stark, Private 3859 Son of Alexander and Mary Anderson of Outram. New Zealand Infantry. Died in Greece on 27 May 1941.

BATHGATE, John William MacNee, Private 438027 Son of George and Eleanor Bathgate, Outram. Killed in action in Italy on 28 November 1943.

BATHGATE, James Robertson Grant, Flying Officer (Pilot) NZ403932 Son of George and Eleanor Bathgate of Outram, Husband of Dorothea Bathgate. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Royal New Zealand Air Force. Killed on air operations in France on 11 December 1943.

CAMERON, Allan Barclay, Private 18835 Son of Angus and Jemima Cameron of Outram. New Zealand Infantry Battalion. Killed in the Western Desert on 24 October 1942.

CLYDE, William David, Able Seaman 0/7206 Son of William and Myrtle Clyde. Husband of Margaret clyde of Outram. Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve. Died in the Pacific on 13 July 1943. Name also appears on the New Zealand Naval Memorial, Devonport, Auckland.

DAVIS, Ronald Fraser, Flight Sergeant NZ403569 Son of C. A. and Elizabeth Davis of Outram. Royal New Zealand Air Force. Killed on air operation in Germany on 29 July 1942.

FERGUSON, Robert, Gunner 29228 Son of William and Mary Ferguson of Outram. Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Artillery. Killed in the Western Desert on 25 October 1942.

HAMILTON, Roy Alexander, Private 291192 Son of Matthew and Margaret Hamilton of Mornington, Dunedin. New Zealand Infantry Battalion. Killed in Italy on 20 December 1944.

McCANN, Hugh, Signalman 36593 Son of Charles and Ada McCann of Outram. New Zealand Corps of Signals. Killed in the Western Desert on 24 October 1942.

Thomson, Ian Melville, Private 19035 Son of William and Helen Thomson of Otautau, Southland. 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Infantry Battalion. Killed in the Pacific on 30 October 1943.

TOWNROW, Leonard Arthur, Flight Sergeant NZ415041 Son of Walter and Ruth Townrow of Dunedin. Royal New Zealand Air Force. Died of injuries in Holland on 24 April 1944 (prisoner of war). BUT R. not everyone who had a connection with West Taieri ended up appearing on the West Taieri War Memorial. In the West Taieri Cemetery is this headstone. FRASER, William Patterson, Lance Corporal 5/688

Army records record him as Paterson. Son of Thomas and Elizabeth Fraser of Dunedin. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Machine Gun Corps. Killed in action at Le Caeau, France on 23 October 1918.

Leonard Arthur

Townrow

1914-1918

JACKSON, Frederick, Private 6/2673 Son of Mr and Mrs A. Jackson, Blenheim. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Canterbury Infantry Regiment. Killed in action in Somme, France on 16 September 1916. SHAW, Robert Cyril, Private 63432 Son of Samuel and the late Mrs S.Shaw, Berwick. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Canterbury Infantry Regiment. Killed in action in Bapaume, France on 24 August 1918. SHENNAN, John James, Rifleman 45245 Son of Robert and Ellen Shennan, Berwick. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Died of wounds in France on 23 April 1918.

1939-1945

HAMILTON, James, Private 8488 Son of John and Flora Hamilton, Kaitangata. 20 Infantry Battalion. Killed in Libya on 27 November 1941. HARRIS, David Douglas, Gunner 81223 Son of Charles and Margaret Harris of Maungatua. New Zealand Artillery 32 Heavy Battery. Killed in the Pacific on 18 July 1943. JACKSON, William Harold, Private 32052 Son of James and Rosanna Jackson. Husband of Elizabeth Jackson, Mosgiel. 20 Infantry Battalion. Killed in Greece on 27 April 1941. MORRISON, Hugh, Sergeant (Navigator) Z404987 Son of Thomas and Jessie Morrison, Maungatua. Husband of Margaret Morrison, Dunedin. Royal New Zealand Air Force. Killed in an aircraft accident n England on 2 May 1942. MORRISON, William Douglas, Private 8482 Son of Thomas and Jessie Morrison, Maungatua. 20 Infantry Battalion. Killed in the Western Desert on 7 December 1941. WITHER, Douglas Anthony, Sergeant 41973 Son of Anthony and Mary Wither, Dunedin. Royal New Zealand Air Force. Killed in Wales on 23 November 1941.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

With Heather Bray The topic for our July 2011 meeting was “Problem Solving”. We printed the questions and answers in our August newsletter and since then we have been receiving a lot of further questions. We will try and answer these over the next few newsletters.

QUESTION: The Registrar General have done a five year search each side of my grandmother’s birth but cannot locate her birth

certificate. She was born on 10 May 1888 at either East Taieri or

Mosgiel and went by the name of Amelliah Anne Rhodes Guthrie. I

have no idea where the Rhodes comes from as it is not a family

surname. Her school records and her baptismal records confirm her

first name and birth date. She died in 1953 and I don’t believe she

would ever have had the need to apply for her birth certificate so she

may not have known one did not exist. She was child number seven

of eight children. My late mother never wanted me to do the family

tree and never wanted me to do her maternal side of the tree. She

said there was things in her family’s past which need not be

highlighted. Do you think there could be something about my

grandmother’s birth that has been kept from us ? - Alison

ANSWER: Firstly you need to look at all the possible reasons why she does not have a birth certificate: 1. The parents forgot to register the birth - it did happen

especially in isolated areas where a trip to the local registrar (which could be the local church, school house, post office) was not frequently made. Perhaps they asked a neighbour to register the birth for them on the next visit into town and he too forgot. There was no follow-up system and there are people who have had to register their own births when they have been adults. So the lack of a birth certificate could just be an oversight.

2. It was registered but the information was not forwarded to the Registrar General. Occasionally this did happen in rural areas. The law required the local registrar to forward copies of all the birth and death certificates to the Registrar General at the end of each quarter (i.e. every three months January - March, April-June, July-September and October -December). It is possible the copies did not get sent on to Wellington. As the certificates held by the Registrar General are based on these copies and, in turn, the index you use on microfiche or on their website, there is the potential for missing entries in the national holdings.

3. She was registered but under a different name. Have you tried looking for her as just Rhodes. Would you consider going through the whole of 1899 looking for a child named Amelliah - it is an unusual spelling so it may stand out. I know the Registrar General has checked unsuccessfully for a birth certificate but have you looked in the indexes under “Guthrie, female” or “Guthrie, girl” as she may not have been named at the time the birth was registered. And I hope you have checked under other spelling variations.

4. Finally your great grandparents could have been hiding something so her birth was not officially registered. Was she illegitimate, the child of a friend, possibly called Rhodes, and your great grandparents took her in and cared for her as their own. Dare I suggest that either of your great grandparents had a relationship outside of their marriage and she was the result. But she was kept and raised as their child. Perhaps they could not bring themselves to register the birth.

The possibilities are endless. Your mother appears to have known the family secret but did not want to share it with her children. But what about cousins, the children of your mother’s siblings. Or what about your second cousins, the children of your grandmother’s siblings. Do they know anything? Family secrets do get shared. What one family member may find as a shameful experience another member will feel quite comfortable talking about. Now if it was me trying to uncover this mystery I would be looking into the neighbours who lived near your parents in the year leading up to the birth. Is there a Rhodes family? If so was there anyone of the right age to have been either the mother or the father of the child? Check directories and electoral rolls and go back to the school rolls. Were there other children at school at that time with Rhodes as a surname? Was there a death of a Rhodes or, in fact, any death of a woman within days after your grandmother’s birth. Check the newspaper for a death notice or check the local cemetery. If your grandmother was illegitimate her birth mother may have died close to her birth. As I mentioned, anything is possible.

BERWICK WAR MEMORIAL

War Memorial on the school gates at Berwick. Lists three soldiers from World War One and six soldiers

from World War Two.

So ask around your family to see if there is a family secret. But be tactful and be aware that, like your late mother, there may be family members who are sensitive to events of the past.

QUESTION: Family history tells us that my grandfather’s eldest brother, William Massey Robertson, committed suicide. This would

have been in Manchester, England in 1878. He had been jilted and

fell into depression before he finally hanged himself in the barn. His

suicide was confirmed by his death certificate where there was a

Coroner’s Verdict of “self murder” which I thought was an unusual

phrase. On a visit to England last year we found all the family

graves but he is not buried in any of them. I was told he would not

have been buried in a churchyard but outside the walls of the

churchyard or near the entrance to the town at the cross-roads. Is

this true? - Deborah

ANSWER: A Coroner’s Inquest was held for all persons who died under suspicious or unusual circumstances. The result of this inquest was to decide if the person had committed suicide and, if so, were they sane at the time. People who were classified as “lunatics” (the horrid term used in the nineteenth century) could be buried with full rites in a churchyard or public burial ground. If, however, they were found to be in full possession of their faculties, a verdict of felo de se (which translates to mean “self murderer”) was passed. Until 1823, a felo de se suicide was buried at a crossroads, often with a stake through the body. After 1823, although the person could be buried in a churchyard, the burial had to take place between 9 pm and midnight and without a burial service. Until 1871 a suicide’s property was forfeited to the Crown. By the time your relative died the burial process was a little less barbaric. However the following scenarios could have applied: 1. He may have been buried without a funeral service 2. He may have been buried in the local churchyard on the dark

or damp side of the church 3. He may have been buried and not allowed a headstone to be

erected 4. He may have been buried in a family plot but his name was

not allowed to be included on the headstone. When you checked the graves while on your visit to England did you just check the headstone inscriptions? If so then you need to also check the burial registers. Also check for a copy of the Coroner’s Inquest, the newspaper account of the event and, if he was buried in a churchyard as opposed to a public cemetery, the actual church archives. Unbaptised children could also not be buried in the churchyards or if they were their names could not be added to the headstone. Thankfully, attitudes towards these types of deaths have changed in the past 150 years.

QUESTION: My 2x great grandmother was born in Tasmania in 1839. What information will I get on her birth certificate? - Paul

ANSWER: Compulsory registration in Tasmania was introduced in December 1838. Prior to the 1838 Registration Act there was no registration of births, deaths and marriages and these events for this period can only be traced through church records, some of which have been transcribed by the Registrar-General's Department. Unlike their interstate counterparts, Tasmanian registrations do not give all the data that many people anticipate. The following information is generally included: BIRTHS - Prior to 1896 particulars recorded were:

• Given name (if known at time of registration) and surname.

• Date and place of birth.

• Names of parents.

• Maiden surname of mother.

• Father's occupation.

• In 1896 the date and place of the parents' marriage were added.

• In 1902 the ages and birthplaces of the parents were added.

• In 1909 previous issue (children) were added. DEATHS - Prior to 1897 particulars recorded were:

• Name of deceased.

• Date and place of death.

• Age at death.

• Occupation.

• Cause of death.

• In 1897 the birthplace of deceased was added.

• In 1914 age at marriage and number of issue were added.

MARRIAGES - Prior to 1896 particulars recorded were:

• Names of parties being married.

• Date and place of marriage.

• Age at marriage (sometimes only whether "under" or "over" age, i.e. 21 years).

• Occupation and status (e.g. bachelor and spinster).

• Names of witnesses to the marriage.

• Names of parents, and places of birth, of the parties being married were not added until 1896.

QUESTION: I have a will from Tasmania, Australia dated 1810. It was administered in Sydney and has been passed down through the family for over two hundred years. But I am finding it considerably hard to decipher. It makes mention of my 8x great grandmother receiving twenty johannes. Do you know what a Johannes was?Thanks - Paul During the early years of Australian settlement there was no standard currency and all kinds of foreign coinage was in circulation. It was necessary to have some accepted rates of exchange, in comparison with the British sterling so that both traders and ordinary citizens knew what was recognised in fair trading. Money was in circulation from the Dutch, East Indies, Spain, India, China as well as Britain. An example of the currency was - 1 Johannes = £4 1 ducat = 9 shillings and 6 pence 1 rupee = 2 shillings and 6 pence 1 pagoda = 8 shillings So your 8x great grandmother inherited eighty pounds inheritance. It was not until the establishment of the Bank of New South Wales in 1817 that a firm local currency, based on sterling, was introduced.

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CAN YOU HELP?????? I am looking for information on a woman born to a George Anderson who worked for Speights Brewery. She was born in Dunedin between 1939 and 1948 and may live in Kaikorai. If anyone knows a women who might fit this criteria can they contact John Gordon <[email protected]>

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HELP NEEDED TO IDENTIFY CIVIL WAR SOLDIER Jim Gray from Australia found the following in the Wairarapa Daily newspaper

In the early days of the American Civil War Mr. A. Wilson was “mustered in” into a Texas regiment which formed a part of Hood’s Division of Longstreet’s Corps of the Confederate Army of Robert E. Lee. He participated in the seven days fighting around Richmond, Virginia in 1862. That same year Wilson was severely wounded in the face in the ‘Second Battle of Bull Run’; a scar he carried with him the rest of his life. Wilson fought and camped in the same army as ‘Stonewall Jackson’ for over a year; but never even once actually saw him. Wilson saw and participated in the exhausting struggle throughout Virginia and Maryland between the Confederate and Union Armies from 1861 through 1865. He stated he “carried the musket in Lee’s army as a ‘ragged rebel’” and remembered the stirring days when the Confederate brass band led the army on some daring advances and then led the inevitable retreat with the equally inevitable tune of “Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny”. After the war Mr. Wilson migrated to New Zealand where he made his home on the South Island; in Dunedin.

We are trying to identify the Christian name of A. Wilson. If anyone can help please contact [email protected] or write to 28 Milburn Street, Dunedin.

NOTES FROM OUR SEPTEMBER MEETING

Researching in the United States of America

For most of us our ancestry lies back in the United Kingdom - England, Scotland and Ireland. Our ancestors came to New Zealand between about 1840 and the present day. But for every ancestor who came to New Zealand there was another member of the family who may have gone to Australia, Canada, South Africa or the United States of America. We always tell members that if they struggle to find information on their family they should look sideways of their family tree for extended family members who may hold photographs, documents, certificates or family legends. Often to look sideways we have to look beyond New Zealand and United Kingdom research. A good place to start is in the United States of America.

Immigration to America began long before the 1800s so it is possible that immigrants to New Zealand had three, four or five times great uncles and aunts who had already gone to America. 1492 - Columbus sails from Spain to the Caribbean and stumbled, quick by accident, onto present day America.

1584 - Sir Walter Raleigh sent ships to explore part of the east coast of America and established, for the British a settlement that he called Virginia after the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth.

1587 - Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in America, was first explored in 1584 and was considered suitable for a colony. In August 1585, a colonizing expedition was sent out, but the immigrants encountered hostile native Americans and suffered from serious food shortages. The first attempt to colonize Roanoke proved unsuccessful and the colony returned to England. In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh organized a second expedition led by Captain John White, who sought to establish a permanent English settlement in America. White, accompanied by 121 colonists landed on Roanoke Island in July of 1587. Their original plan was to land on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but the sailors refused to take them further than the island. On August 18, Captain White's daughter Eleanor Dare, gave birth to the first English child born in America. She was named Virginia Dare. Captain White returned to England in 1589 for additional supplies, however, fighting between England and Spain delayed his return. When Captain White returned to Roanoke in 1591, there was no trace of the colonists. The only clue left to their whereabouts was the word Croatan carved into a tree, which suggests that the colonist left the colony with friendly Croatan Indians and were eventually absorbed into their tribe. This belief is reinforced by the fact that a group of Indians now living in North Carolina call themselves Croatans and often have English names.

1607 - Virginia Company establishes Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America.

1620 - The Mayflower transported English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. There were 102 passengers and a crew of around 30.

From 1620 nearly 20,000 English immigrants arrive over the next thirty years.

There were some key periods in emigration from the United Kingdom to America -

1718 - The British Parliament prohibits emigration of skilled workers from the British Isles and this halted United States immigration for a period. 1775 - An outbreak of revolutionary violence stops emigration from Britain.

1790 - Congress passes an act requiring two years residency in America before qualifying for citizenship.

1795 - The residency period required for citizenship is raised from two years to five.

1798 - The Alien and Sedition Acts consists of four laws, the Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, the Alien Enemies Act, and the Sedition Act. The Naturalization Act raised the time of residency for naturalization from five to 14 years and the Alien Act allowed the president to arrest and deport any alien considered dangerous. These two acts were aimed largely at Irish immigrants and French refugees

1892 - An immigration screening station at Ellis Island was opened.

The Scottish in America - Approximately 1.5 million Scots have immigrated to America since the 1700s. The surnames of Scots can be found throughout the United States on maps and in gazetteers. There are more than 100 place names that begin with "Mac" or "Mc" and eight placed named Aberdeen, eight named Edinburgh, seven Glasgows and many other places with Scottish placenames.

Several Scottish colonies, many of which were short-lived, were established in America in the 17th Century. Among these were East Jersey (1683), and South Carolina (1684). The latter two served partly as refugees for religious dissidents. East Jersey for Quakers and South Carolina for Presbyterians who at the time where liable to prosecution because the Church of Scotland had an Episcopal (Anglican) constitution.

A number of the Scots who came to America in the 17th Century did not come by choice. Some were deported as criminals, others as members of the losing side in civil and ecclesiastical disputes. Scottish armies were defeated by the forces of Oliver Cromwell three times between 1648 and 1651, and on each occasion several hundred prisoners were sent to America.

Most Scots settled in the Southern and Middle Atlantic states in the 17th and 18th centuries. The men who were transported as rebels or as criminals were sent mainly to Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas.

By the 1760s emigration from the Highland of Scotland increased and the reason often given was the raising of rents in their homeland. It is estimated that about 25,000 came between 1763 and 1775. A few went to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Canada, but the great majority settled in the 13 American colonies established at that time.

At the time of the American Revolution most Scottish colonists, especially the Highlanders, were loyalists. After the American Revolution, most Scots immigrated to Canada rather than the United States. However, many of them and their descendants eventually moved to America from Canada.

A total of 478,224 Scots entered the United States between 1852 and 1910 according to official figures.

The Scots are often credited with being the forerunners of the western migration of America for by 1773 there were Scots in Kentucky and by 1779 they were across the Ohio River. Descendants of the North Carolina Scot settlers were pioneers in Tennessee and Missouri. Some Scots settled in Texas as early as the 1820s. They also left the East to settle in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and the Mississippi Valley. Detroit and Chicago had large numbers of Scottish pioneers; with some of Detroit's Scots coming via Canada. They were among the first non-Spanish inhabitants of California with the gold rush of 1849 luring more of them to that area. Most of the Scottish settlers who came prior to 1854 came from the region of Glasgow, Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr or Argyll.

The Irish in America - At the beginning of the 19th century the main industry in Ireland was agriculture. Large areas of this land was under the control of landowners living in England. Much of this land was rented to small farmers who farmed with inadequate tools and used old fashioned methods. The average wage for farm labourers in Ireland was eight pence a day. This was only a fifth of what could be obtained in the United States and those without land began to seriously consider emigrating. In 1816 around 6,000 Irish people sailed for America. Within two years this figure had doubled.

In October 1845 a serious blight began among the Irish potatoes, ruining about three-quarters of the country's crop. This was a disaster as over four million people in Ireland depended on the potato as their main source of food. The blight returned in 1846 and over the next year an estimated 350,000 people died of starvation and an outbreak of typhus that ravaged a weaken population. Despite good potato crops over the next few years, people continued to die. The British administration and absentee landlords were blamed for this catastrophe by the Irish people.

A census carried out in 1850 revealed that there were 961,719 people in the United States that had been born in Ireland. At this time they mainly lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio and New Jersey. The Irish Emigrant Society tried to persuade immigrants to move to the interior but the vast majority were poverty-stricken and had no money for transport or to buy land. They therefore tended to settle close to the port where they disembarked.

However, on the outbreak of the Civil War an estimated 170,000 men, born in Ireland, joined the Union Army, whereas only 40,000 were in the Confederate Army. After the Civil War cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston had over a quarter of the population born in Ireland.

During the period between 1820 and 1920 over 4,400,000 people emigrated from Ireland to the United States. Only Germany (5,500,000) and Italy (4,190,000) came anywhere near these figures.

The English in America - In 1607 James I granted permission for a group of merchants to establish a permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown, Virginia. John Smith was elected president of the Virginia Colony in 1608 and soon afterwards explored the coast of New England.

In 1620 John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow and other Puritans from England who had been living in Holland decided to emigrate to America. One hundred and two people boarded the Mayflower in Delft Harbour and after crossing the Atlantic settled at a place they called Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay. The Separatists established their own government and Carver was elected governor of the colony. The plan was for the pilgrims to live on fish caught from the sea. However, they were not very successful at this, and by the spring of 1621 half of them had died of starvation or disease.

English immigration to Virginia in the 1640s grew steadily and by 1650 the population of Virginia had reached 15,000. The first settlers began arriving in Pennsylvania in 1682 and settling around Philadelphia at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers.

The early British arrivals in America were known as colonists or settlers. The term immigrant was first used in 1787.

After 1830 the numbers of people leaving Britain increased dramatically. This was particularly true of those farmers and labourers who had lived in counties that had been hardest hit by the agricultural depression such as Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Cumberland. Liverpool became the most popular

emigrant port in Europe. In 1830 around 15,000 people sailed from this port to North America. By 1842 this had reached 200,000, which accounted for more than half of all emigrants leaving from Europe. However these figures can be a bit distorted as many Irish came to Liverpool seeking passage to America.

Immigrants with the skills developed in the English textile industry tended to settle in mill towns in Massachusetts such as Fall River, New Bedford and Lawrence. Established by a group of capitalists in Boston in 1845, Lawrence was especially popular with the English. One visitor noted that so many of the manager, loom-fixers, wool-sorters, shopkeepers and saloon owners spoke with a Yorkshire accent that he felt he was still in England.

With the decline in mining industry in Cornwall, a large number of men from this county emigrated to the United States. Settlements of people from Cornwall were established in the lead-mining regions of Illinois and Wisconsin and the iron and copper ranges of the Michigan upper peninsula. Some trade unions in Britain helped to pay for members to emigrate to America. Union leaders thought that by reducing the number of workers available, they could increase wage-rates of those still in England. The Iron Founders' Union paid the fares of over 800 men who wanted to emigrate. The National Union of Mineworkers tended to concentrate on sending men who had been blacklisted for union activities and were having difficulty finding work in England.

In 1890 there were large numbers of English born immigrants in the states of New York (144,000), Massachusetts (76,000) and Illinois (70,000). There were also significant communities in New York City (36,000), Chicago (28,000) and the textile town of Lawrence (5,000).

GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN AMERICA

The LDS church has genealogical research guides for all American states. They can be visited at: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/frameset_rg.asp

These guides help with information on birth, death and marriage records in each state.

Another very useful source is the Wiki pages on the familysearch website. These pages provide free genealogical advice which has been compiled by members of the public and monitored by the webmaster.

https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page

Civil registration (known in America as Vital records) is the records relating to birth, marriage, death and divorce. Generally, in America, the individual states are the responsible authority for all vital records.

Many states, however, did not require birth, death or marriage records to be registered until late into the 1800s, and in some cases not until the early to mid-1900s. While some New England states kept town and county records as early as the 1600s, other states such as Pennsylvania and South Carolina didn't require birth registration until 1906 and 1913, respectively.

Some states do not allow access to birth, marriage or death information unless you can prove you are a direct descendant of the person whereas other states have their record databases available on-line. Some of these actually have the images of the death certificates free to download. Many of these are now being linked to the LDS website -

www.familysearch.org

United States Social security Death index This is an index to all deaths in America. It can be found at

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ www.familysearch.org

Free to search index. An example of the type of information

available is listed below.

Mary BRAY Birth Date:10 May 1884 Death Date:Sep 1963 Social Security Number: 011-09-9216 State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Massachusetts Actual Death Residence: Massachusetts

Census Census were taken in the early 17th century and people were counted in nearly all of the British colonies that eventually became the United States. A good place to start is: http://www.censusfinder.com/

Copies of decennial census forms from 1790 through 1930 (For archival purposes, information collected from individuals becomes available to the public after 72 years) are available, usually on microfilm, for research at the United States National Archives in Washington, DC, at Archives regional centers, and at many libraries throughout the United States, including the Library of Congress. Microfilmed census records can also be borrowed from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS - Mormon) Library in Salt Lake City through any LDS Family History Center around the world.

Indexes to census are available on-line through Ancestry.com.

In addition to the U.S. federal census, many local and state governments have taken censuses at varying times. Not all have done so, however. Again, many of these census records are available on microfilm at LDS family history centers, or in the archives of the city/county/state that took the census. Federal census are in years ended in 0 State census are in years ended in 5 So some states have census records every 5 years.

In April 2012 the 1940 US Census will be released and will be free on Ancestry.com until the end of 2013. It will also be available free on the website of the USA National Archives.

Census indexes are also available at Familysearch.org

FamilySearch’s website familysearch.org has gone through multiple changes over the past couple of years but has now settled down to one new website. However many people still like the original older version. This is still accessible. When you look at the right hand side of the page you will see the words “Use previous version” so click on that sentence. The older version allows you to do specific searches in such old familiar databases as the IGI and the 1881 census of England and Wales. To find these go to Search Records on the toolbar and then click on Advanced Search on the dropdown menu. Here you can also find Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File as well as, under Census, the 1880 USA census and the 1881 census of Canada.

Cemetery and burial records Burial records and headstone transcripts can be found through a free site called http://www.findagrave.com/

Immigration http://www.ellisisland.org/

Includes all the ships that entered the Port of New York from 1892-1924.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk Passenger lists leaving UK 1890-1960 The above is only a small number of sources available for American research. Further information on researching is being compiled and will be placed on our group’s website in the future.

PUBLICATION FOR SALE

West Otago - 150 Years,

Farming and Families,

Book One 1850 - 1875

Runholders, Managers and Shepherds

by Amanda Rodger Dickson

Covering early European settlement of West Otago it includes squatters, runholders and their families, mentioning where many of them migrated from, past lives, parents and challenges encountered establishing homes and runs.

Book One 1850 - 1875 is available for purchase prior to the book launch at Tapanui Community Centre

on 12 November 2011

$45 + $5 postage. Pick up at the launch will be $45.

Details and index at www.rootsweb.com/~nzlwo

or email Amanda [email protected]

Orders to 6 Mount St, Waikouaiti, East Otago, 9510.

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USEFUL WEBSITE HINT

Dick Donaldson advises that the following website offers a free tool bar which he has used for over a year. According to Dick it is excellent. He uses it with Firefox and never had any

problems.

It sets up an extra line across your browser heading which gives lightning quick access to genealogical sites eg Irish

menu has 30 sites Irish Wills, Irish Census, Giffith's Valuations, ...

http://www.mlfhs.org.uk/toolbar/toolbar.php

College Street School Community Closing Celebrations

Friday 18th November - School Performance 1pm & 7pm: Open to the public – to control numbers, entry may be via ticket. There will be no cost.

Saturday 19th November - School open to the public: Tours, Photos, Afternoon tea 1.30 – 3.30pm Social Function 7.30pm. Tickets required

Expression of interest for Saturday 19th function is currently being sought – to [email protected] or by ringing the school on 487 7241.

We are seeking photos, memories and stories in readiness for the creation of a book – we are very keen to receive your contributions to [email protected] or by ringing the school on 487.7241.

CAIRD, James Scott, Rifleman 65053 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Son of Ann Caird, Dundee, Scotland. Killed in action in France on 10 July 1918. CRAIGIE, James Colin, Warrant Officer 2/2392 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Field Artillery. Son of Thomas and Ann Craigie, Milburn. Died of disease in England on 14 November 1918. DALE, Hugh, Private 8/1963 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment. Son of Mark and Mary Dale, Milton. Died of wounds in France on 7 June 1916. FINCH, Donald McNaught Stuart, Private 32649 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment. Son of George and Jessie Finch, Stirling. Soldier was born at Milburn. Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 12 October 1917. GREY, William, Private 35017 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Son of George and Elizabeth Grey, Clarendon. Killed in action at Le Cateau, France on 23 October 1918. HARE, Robert, Private 61291 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Wellington Infantry Regiment. Son of Mr R. Hare, Milburn. Died of wounds in France on 22 May 1918. KNIGHT, Ernest Portal, Gunner 2/2176 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Canterbury Infantry Battalion. Son of Arthur and Margaret Knight, Milburn. Died of wounds in France on 16 September 1916. KNIGHT, Gifford Portal, Gunner 9/1313 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Mounted Rifles. Son of Arthur and Margaret Knight, Milburn. Died of wounds in Belgium on 21 June 1917. MARSHALL, David Miller, Private 53376 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Son of David and Isabella Marshall, Milton. Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 8 December 1917. McNEILL, William, Private 67954 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment. Son of William and Mary McNeill, Fairfield, Dunedin. Died of wounds in France on 20 November 1918. PILLING, Ewen George, Lieutenant 8/1601 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment. Son of Samuel and Mary Pilling, Milburn. Killed in action in Belgium on 7 June 1917. SOMERVILLE, William, Corporal 54164 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Son of John and Isabella Somerville, Milburn. Killed in action at Havrincourt, France on 12 September 1918. THOMSON, F. T., Private No further information on this soldier is available. TULLOCH, John Alexander, Private 45153 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Otago Infantry Regiment. Killed in action in Ypres, Belgium on 12 October 1917.

Milburn is a small settlement about three kilometres north of Milton in South Otago. It is located 52 kilometres south of Dunedin. The settlement was founded with the opening of the first road from Dunedin south in 1858 and a coach service was established in 1861. The town consisted of a hotel, general store and blacksmith. There was a Post Office at Milburn from 1909 to 1974. Milburn is known for its limeworks. Many thousands of tonnes of crushed limestone, used in fertilisers, was trucked out of the hills separating the Tokomairiro and Lake Waihola. The Milburn quarry was almost exhausted by the 1950s and the Milburn Lime and Cement Company closed its Milburn operation closed in 1967. However other lime companies still quarry in the area.

Whale and dolphin fossils can be found in a display at a lookout over the limeworks, Tokomairiro Plains and Lake Waihola. These were found in the local limestone and are about 24 to 34 million years old. The lookout also has on display a pictorial history of limestone and phosphate mining, in the Milburn area, dating from 1860. Situated at the McNeill Road Lookout, it is well sign-posted State Highway 1. Since 2007 Milburn has been home to the Otago Corrections Facility. This men's prison, at the northern end of Milburn, is the largest in the Otago Region, housing up to 485 inmates. MILBURN SCHOOL Milburn school opened in 1864 and was known as North Tokomairiro School until 1866. From 1867 to 1896 it was known as Waihola Gorge School and became Milburn School in 1897. In 1947 Circle Hill School closed and the pupils were moved to Milburn School. In 1996 Milburn school closed and the pupils were moved to Waihola School. The school records from 1879 to 1920 have been transcribed and are in the Hocken Collections, Dunedin. CEMETERY There are two cemeteries within reasonable distance of Milburn - Waihola Cemetery and Fairfax Cemetery at Milton. Both have been transcribed and are available to consult as part of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists microfiche collection. WAR MEMORIAL The Milburn War Memorial is two plaques on what was once the pillars of the gates to Milburn school. The school has long since been demolished and only the gates remain. The memorial lists the names of 14 men from the Milburn district who lost their lives in the First World War.

LOOK-OUT AT MILBURN

PROGRAMME FOR 2011 BIG · PDF fileAll photographs must be sourced i.e. JOE BLOGGS PERSONAL...

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