Hutt Valley Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. News & Views. June 2017 Issue 356

Transcription

1 Hutt Valley Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists News & Views June 2017 Issue 356 View of Petone, including the Roman Catholic cemetery in Korokoro Road (in foreground), the Railway, the Empire Carriage Factory, Baker Bros, Brown & Allen and F.G. Reid. Photograph; taken by Sydney Charles Smith. circa Ref: 1/ G Evening Meeting: 7.30pm 2 nd Thursday, February to December Day Meeting: Venue: 10.00am 3 rd Thursday, February to November Petone Library, Meeting Room, 7 11 Britannia Street Postal Address: PO Box , Lower Hutt 5040 Website: Convenor: Secretary: Editor: Helene Philpott bhdk.philpott@gmail.com Anne Martin HuttValley@genealogy.org.nz Helene Philpott bhdk.philpott@gmail.com

2 Branch Meeting Programme for June & July 2017 Thursday 8 June Clark Stiles Heritage Specialist, Hutt City Libraries; Bellevue Gardens: from its inception in the 1840 s to its demise in the 1920 s.note: this is a repeat of Clark s presentation given to the February Morning Meeting Thursday 15 June Ganesh Cherian; Glover Memorials Care of Headstones Thursday 13 July Rob & Muriel Ewan, Wahine 50 Charitable Trust. Rob & Muriel Ewan are two of the trustees who represent the survivors and rescuers from Wahine Day. Their overriding aim is to ensure the story of the Wahine and the lessons learnt from its demise are not lost. Thursday 20 July Lynly Yates Upper Hutt Street names & their Origins, Note: this is a repeat of Lynly s presentation given to the April Evening Meeting Heritage Centre Volunteers Available At Petone Library 10am 12pm On duty for: July, August & September Wednesday 21 June: Deb Beban & Lois Bartlett Saturday 1 July: Janet Ketchell & Helene Philpott Wednesday 5 July: Diane Stinson & Susan Wilson Wednesday 19 July: Ian Fyfe & Philippa Woolf Wednesday 2 August: Cheryle Dreaver & Avril Roberts Saturday 5 August: Jennifer Flynn & Terry Stock Wednesday 16 August: Marie Perham & Leanna Menchi Saturday 2 September: Janet Ketchell & Helene Philpott Wednesday 6 September: Deb Beban & Lois Bartlett Wednesday 20 September: Diane Stinson & Susan Wilson For those new to genealogy and/or who want help knocking down those brick walls, this is an excellent time and place to have our experts help you. Our helpers can show you what is available in the library and how to go about finding what you are looking for.

3 2017/2018 Committee: Convenor: Helene Philpott Secretary; Anne Martin Treasurer: Wayne Church Christine Edney; Diane Stinson; Cheryle Dreaver, John Fraser; Susie Fraser Helene Philpott (reappointed as Newsletter Editor) Committee: Hutt Valley Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists Convenors Report for the year to 31 March 2017 Convenor Helene Philpott; Secretary Anne Martin; Treasurer Suzanne Sutton Cummings; Other Committee Members: Diane Stinson; Wayne Church and Cheryle Dreaver; Susie and John Fraser were co opted on to the committee during the year. All members have worked well together throughout the year with a high level of attendance at meetings. I thank our Secretary Anne Martin for her great work during the year managing the minutes, s, correspondence that this position generates. Our financial positon is strong and has been managed well thanks to Suzanne Sutton Cummings efficiency. My thanks to Diane Stinson for carrying on her dedicated work coordinated various speakers since Graeme McVerry stood down from the committee and making sure the meetings are advertised in the Hutt News. She ensures that we always have refreshments at our events; this includes organising the kitchen roster.

4 Thank you to Wayne Church for taking over the library from Graeme McVerry, for organising the survey sent out to all members, during the year and compiling all the results. This has been a great help towards planning future meetings and workshops. My thanks to Christine Edney for her work managing the membership list, subscriptions and distribution. The Newsletter is our main communication with members and continues to be well received. Contributions from members during the year have been much appreciated. I am happy to continue if the branch wishes. Membership: As at 4 May 2017 our membership was 126 including 2 life members. We gained a number of new members this year but also lost some of long standing. Sadly one of our members, Des Thorne, passed away recently. Website: I would like to acknowledge Susan Wilson for her work as our webmaster, ensuring that our website is kept up to date and relevant. Relationship with Petone Library: We have continued to benefit from a good relationship with Petone Heritage Centre & Library management and staff, and meet with them regularly. I thank our Branch Library Volunteers who staff the family history help service that we provide at the Petone Library on a regular basis. This is an important means of reaching out to the public, and is regularly used by our membership. Marie Perham and Diane Stinson have managed the roster of volunteers during this period. Regional Meetings: Our branch has been represented at most of the quarterly meetings where NZSG matters have been discussed. NZSG Family History Month 2016: We combined with the other three branches to present four weekly evenings on the theme of Sharing our Stories Family History in the Age of Technology. Suzanne Sutton Cummings presentation on behalf of the Hutt Valley Branch was Publishing your Family Stories. Arrangements are underway to mark the event this year, with the Kilbirnie Branch convening the 2017 Wellington Organising Committee. Kilbirnie Branch is also coordinating the NZSG 50th Anniversary Lunch at the James Cook Hotel on 15 August 2017.

5 Committee Members who are standing down: Suzanne Sutton Cummings as Treasurer and member of the Committee. Terry Stock as a member of the Committee, previously our Secretary. Suzanne Sutton Cummings joined the branch in 2002 and in her words, did a few speakers reviews which is how she ended up being roped in to the newsletter job. She joined the committee 13 ½ years ago when she became Newsletter Editor, then taking on the role of Treasurer 3years later in She was Newsletter Editor for 9 ½ years until handing it over to me. During her time as Treasurer she had an overlap of 6 ½ years when she did both jobs. Her presentations on Publishing have been very well received. Terry Stock joined the branch in He was the Secretary for Lynly Yates committee that organised the NZSG AGM conference in Wellington in Suzanne Sutton Cummings was also Treasurer for that group. While it was a Wellington conference, the organisation was very much a Hutt Valley Branch affair: also including Carol Ann Mason, Dawn Chambers, Mike Guest & Jenny Martin. Terry then joined the branch Committee as Secretary in 2010.In 2016 he stepped down from that position which had also included picking up research inquiries from out of the area. He has been involved in a number of transcriptions for the NZSG, including for the Chocolate Fish Team and supplementary research for the WW1 CD, travelling to Trentham weekly for months facilitating with Lynly Yates the access and photocopying that was involved. Terry said that he joined the committee and contributed to the transcriptions as that this was the way our NZSG predecessors had made reams of material available, notably the cemetery transcriptions that had been found to be so useful in the early days of his research.

6 I particularly want to thank Terry for his knowledge and wise advice at Committee meetings and for opening and closing up the meeting room in his role as holder of the keys. Summary: It has been a busy year and I thank all those who have contributed to branch activities. Helene Philpott Convenor NZSG Hutt valley Branch May 2017 Can You Identify this School Photograph? Taken by R J Thomson Photographer, Wellington, date could be 1937 Contact: Frank O Leary; Phone

7 Melling aka Stillingfleet Written & Published by Sandra Greig Melling aka Stillingfleet is a story of the history of the people and the river from the first settlers in the 1840 s. In 1843 Melling did not exist. The area was part of Aglionby and the other part became Stillingfleet. It s an area with a history of flooding but it wasn t until almost 60 years after the settlers arrived that the first stop banks were installed. The goal for the 2020 s is to complete the last section of flood protection with stop bank strengthening on the Hutt River, called the City Centre Stop banks flood protection between Melling and Ewen Bridges Lower Hutt. The Wesleyan Cemetery on Bridge Street Melling Lower Hutt still exists making the cemetery, although a considerably smaller version today, almost 180 years old. Its history is fascinating. Early this century 117 Melling properties are to disappear for further flood protection of the Hutt City. This book covers Melling s history, the streets, the people, the cemetery and the river. Sandra has brought together the social and historical records and rolled one suburb into a story making it also a record of the people, their lives, struggles, achievements in the place they called home. Sandra Greig is a former Wellington Regional Councillor and Chair of the Hutt Valley Flood Protection Committee. It was during her time as a Councillor that her intense interest in the region began, and being a genealogist in her spare time, she had the skills to dig further.

8 She has unearthed some interesting and little known facts about the history which will make this book a fascinating read for a range of people. Sandra has lived on the hills above Melling since 1982 where she and her late husband Norman, raised their family. Sandra s own family are among the many citizens covered in this book. John Bell and his baby granddaughter Jane Bell lived on the Hutt Road near the first bridge at Aglionby, Melling. John and Jane were buried in 1855 at St James Churchyard over the bridge in Lower Hutt. Scottish Interest Group of Greater Wellington Saturday afternoon, 10 June, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm in the meeting room at the Petone Public Library, Britannia St, Petone If you want a local Scottish Interest Group to continue, do come and support our AGM at 2 pm, with some shared Scottish family history research, and Koha. John Dods, Convenor Pen Brown, facilitator, penbrown@globe.net.nz Apology to: the member who donated the book Southland Boys High School Register. Your name was not recorded. Please contact the Convenor/Editor. Helene Philpott bhdk.philpott@gmail.com Latest additions to Papers Past Newspapers (April 2017): Manawatu Times ( ) Patea Mail ( ) Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate ( ) Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus ( ) Southern Cross ( ) Waihi Daily Telegraph ( ) Western Star ( )

9 Wellington Family History Open Day Saturday 5 th August 9 4 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Karori $10 entry fee / under 18 yrs free tinyurl.com/fhm2017 wgtn #WgtnFamilyHistoryMonth Programme Stream 1 Beginners Upstairs Common Room am am pm pm pm pm NZSG Member Services Q&A Robyn Williams Starting Your Family History Stream 2 Family History Cultural Centre Stream 3 DNA* Auditorium DOORS OPEN 9.00am Cultural Centre Welcome/NZSG Member Services: What are you missing? Robyn Williams Chair, NZSG Board In their own words: a DNA: The Fourth brief introduction to oral Vital Record history methodology Judith Fyfe Michelle Patient Sarah Hewitt Starting Your Family History (repeat) Sarah Hewitt Papers Past: Digging for gold! Emerson Vandy Navigating Archway: Searching Archives NZ resources Donal Raethel LUNCH Discovering a paper son from digital fingerprints Richard Foy National Library Great War Stories Anna Cottrell Your DNA results have arrived now what? Michelle Patient DNA Breakthroughs, Surprises and Skeletons Michelle Patient DNA Useful tools and tips Michelle Patient Stalls South Studio & North Studio/ i centre 9.00am 4.00pm NZSG Interest Groups and Exhibitors, including Archives NZ and National Library

10 *DNA: You can choose to do all the DNA sessions or pick one or more. 1) DNA The Fourth Vital Record Using DNA for Family History, an introduction for those who want to know what it is and how testing DNA can help their genealogy research. 2) Your DNA results have arrived now what? For those who have tested more recently, covers the first steps in looking at your results including Ancestry, FTDNA, Living DNA and My Heritage. 3) Breakthroughs, Surprises and Skeletons Who to test, ethical considerations and other issues to think about when you use DNA testing for Family History 4) Useful tools and tips A range of tools and tips to help you to extract the most genealogy evidence from your test results and be better organized. Hawkes Bay Knowledge Bank: 10am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday 901 Omahu Road Hastings Ph: (06) The Hawke's Bay Knowledge Bank is a living record of Hawke's Bay and its people. It combines a robust, secure and widelycompatible digital archive with a new generation of multimedia and social tools. We want to enrich our stored material with the knowledge of the community through user comments, tagging and sharing of information. Click here to find how you can contribute. Also includes Hawkes Bay Photo News 1950 s & 1960 s. For anyone with Hawkes Bay connections this is well a look or worth a visit if in Hastings. Thanks to Jennifer Flynn.

11 NZSG Wellington Combined Branches 2017 Family History Month Raffle To be drawn 5 August 2017 Tickets $5.00 Each or $10.00 for Three Prizes: Ancestry UK Heritage Plus Subscription (value about $ * ) Find My Past Subscription (value about $ * ) Living DNA Testing Kit (value about $ * ) Ancestry DNA Testing Kit (value about $ * ) NZSG National Membership for one year (value $102.00) NZSG Local Branch Membership for one year (value varies) Six prizes will be awarded: 1. First prize winner may choose one from the above list. 2. Second prize winner may choose one from the remainder (after first prize winner has chosen). 3. Third prize winner may choose from the remainder after 2 above. 4. Fourth prize winner may choose from the remainder after 3 above. 5. Fifth prize winner may choose from the remainder after 4 above. 6. Sixth prize winner gets the last prize remaining. * Please note: prizes are valued in NZ dollars. Values may vary because of exchange rate with Australia.

12 National Luncheon 2017 Celebrating 50 Years INVITATION Dear Members of Wellington Region NZSG Branches: You are warmly invited to join a very special celebration of NZSG s 50th Anniversary at a luncheon on Tuesday 15th August, pm at the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, 147 The Terrace Wellington. A unique event, our National Luncheon exemplifies the NZSG 50 th theme: From the Past into the Future as all venues across the country will be linking into a live web cast from Auckland featuring Robyn Williams NZSG Chair and a guest speaker. We will also highlight various local branch members who have given outstanding service over the years. Our Guest of Honour is Hon Russell Marshall NZSG # 94, former Minister of Education and High Commissioner to the UK, who started Porirua Branch in April 1993 and was their first Convenor. 100 $40 each are available on a first come first served basis. You will then receive a Ticket and venue directions. The event is being organised by Kilbirnie Branch on behalf of the Wellington Region Branches. We look forward to seeing you at our luncheon, where you will enjoy a Wellington wide genealogy group gathering linked into a nation wide celebration. Mary Shadbolt NZSG Board Vice Chair On behalf of the Wellington Region NZSG Branches Note: This invitation & RSVP forms have been ed to all members of Hutt Valley Branch, please reply by 20 July

13 What s on at your Local Branches? Kilbirnie: Wednesday 7 June Self Publishing Family History Colin Boswell and Suzanne Sutton Cummings Time/Venue: 10am The Park Bowling Club, Kilbirnie Crescent, Kilbirnie Kapiti: Tuesday 27 June DNA for Genealogy; Share your stories of how DNA has expanded your family tree Time/Venue: 7pm Kapiti Community Centre, 15 Ngahina St, Paraparaumu. Wellington: Wednesday 28 June My Berlin Wall or Researching my German Ancestors from Pomerania; Suzanne Sutton Cummings Time/Venue: 6pm Connolly Hall, Guilford Tce, Thorndon Porirua: Wednesday 14 June Charting Family Trees; Gerald Twiss, Time/Venue: 7.30pm Helen Smith Community Meeting Room, Pataka Cnr Norrie & Parumoana Streets, Porirua NZSG Branches who have their Newsletters on their Websites: Kilbirnie Branch Wellington Branchwww.genealogy.org.nz/Wellington_153.aspx Kapiti Branchhttp://kapitigen.org Porirua Branchhttp:// New Plymouth Branch Gore Branch Otaki Branchhttps:// Riccarton Branch Papakura Branch Nelson Branchhttps://

14 Call for Volunteers NZSG Funeral Records Indexing Project The NZSG has asked branches to consider indexing funeral records in their area. Although many funeral directors retain their records voluntarily, they are not required by law to keep them beyond seven years. With the consent of a funeral director, an indexing team extracts specific details from each deceased person's records and records these into an index worksheet. These details include the name of the deceased, age, date and place of death, cemetery, names of mother, father and spouse, and the name of the funeral director. Once the work is completed, the original records are returned to the funeral director along with a bound printed copy of the index they have produced. A second printed copy is lodged with the NZSG Library. An index of the names is then published in the next version of the NZSG Kiwi Collection so that members can either obtain a "look up" of the record held at the Library, or contact the funeral director directly. The Privacy Act does apply to these records, so NZSG deals with this by only publishing the names of the deceased on the Kiwi Index, and only making the names of the remaining family members available to NZSG members doing personal research. We are keen to know if anyone in our branch is interested in participating in this worthwhile project for the Hutt Valley area, either by leading the team or becoming an indexer. The NZSG has developed resources for the project and can provide ongoing support. If you are interested, Please contact Wayne ( nelsonhaven@gmail.com) for more information. Light Relief: I was listening to talkback the other day and the subject of genealogy was raised. A woman listener phoned in and the host of the show asked her Do you have a skeleton in the closet? To which she replied, Ha, in our family we have one of those really large walk in wardrobes. From Matamata Newsletter

15 FAMILY HISTORY MONTHLY TALKS 2017 Find out more about the resources and services at the National Library and the Alexander Turnbull Library that can help with your family history research. Two of my Great Uncles were mortally wounded during The Battle of Messines As part of the Library s World War One centenary commemorations, Gillian Headifen will explore the Turnbull Library holdings for The Battle of Messines 7 June Using her own research into the lives, and deaths, of her great uncles she will give an insight into the resources available to find out about this significant event in New Zealand s history. Gillian is the Turnbull Library s Research Librarian Oral History. Leonard Headifin William Diggle Photo Weekly News Alexander Turnbull Library Tuesday 20 June :10 1:00pm Venue: Ground Floor National Library building, cnr Molesworth & Aitken Street, Wellington There will be a Conservation Clinic following the talk. Get preservation advice on the care, handling and storage of your treasured family items from Field Conservator Vicki Anne Heikell. Please note that conservators are not able to provide valuations. Bookings essential preservation@dia.govt.nz Watch the national Library website for information about future talks and events