November 2014
Vol. 29 No.10
7.30pm on Wednesday 12 November 2014
This month is a Members’ Night on the theme of
Family History computer programs
Three members will give presentations: Fiona Lees will present Personal Ancestral File [PAF]; Betty
Campbell will demonstrate Legacy; and Kathy Hill will show GedIt. If you use a different program feel free
to bring along any charts, reports, etc for display.
ARCHIVES NZ CHRISTCHURCH OPENING HOURS IN 2015
When the office reopens after the Christmas-New Year break it will only be open from 9.30am until 1pm
Monday to Friday in order to allow the staff to process the backlog of newly accessioned archives and to
prepare for a possible move in 2016.
MEETINGS PROGRAMME FOR 2015
Although I have already arranged speakers or topics for some of the monthly meetings for 2015 I would
welcome any suggestions from members. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you. Alan
Tunnicliffe, phone 358 48 38 or e: alant@snap.net.nz
Meetings: 7.30pm second Wednesday of each month, St Ninian’s Church Lounge, Puriri Street, Riccarton
Postal Address: Riccarton Branch NZSG Secretary, 32 Townshend Crescent, Halswell, Christchurch 8025
Riccarton Branch Committee:
Convenor: Kathy Hill 322 6183
Secretary: Judith Pay 322 6367
Treasurer: Betty Campbell 343 2834
Committee: Heather Pearson 347 2558
Jean Sharfe 349 8366
Alan Tunnicliffe 358 4838
Win Loach 338 4316
Research Advisor: Alan Tunnicliffe 358 4838
Magazine Circulation: Win Loach 338 4316
Librarian: Gaynor Phillips 343 0443
Project Officer: vacant
Auditor: Keith Sharp
Archivist: Jan Sharp 351 5951
Editor: Alan Tunnicliffe alant@snap.net.nz
Please note, than if anyone wishes to get in touch with our branch by e-mail, the official e-mail address to
use is: riccartongenealogy@hotmail.com This e-mail address is monitored by our Secretary and Convenor.
From the Convenor’s Back Home Desk
Continuing my theme of writing stories, I have cribbed this month’s comments from Robert Barnes, the
founder of Famnet.
His brother Ted died recently but had written his own story.
“I circulated it around the family and his friends. It was much more than something useful to help me prepare
my eulogy: it gave everyone a good picture of his life, and the things that mattered to him. Many of his
friends commented that it was really great to have it. Ted’s story inspired me to write my own version.
Databases of remote ancestors are of only academic interest, the things that really matter to people are their
immediate family. Who are you? What are/were you interested in? I found that writing my story was fun,
even if it did take more time than I’d anticipated, and it was lovely to share it with my family. For my
children these stories of their immediate relatives, particularly their parents, are the only part of genealogy
that they are really interested in. Some of them are now starting to write their own stories.
I hope you will create your stories too. The sort of stories that exist in Ted’s and my bios don’t exist
anywhere else and are the most important things that your descendants want to hear from you. Ted and I
have written our stories as life narratives from our earliest memories to today. You might prefer to talk about
one or two incidents or periods. That’s fine, there are no rules except, DO IT NOW. You might prefer to use
video rather than write something. That’s OK too. As long as you do it! We all have a story to tell and each
of us has a life that matters. Don’t let your story be lost!”
Kathy
ANCESTRY.COM NEWS
Recent additions include:
on 14 October:
Wigan, England Parish Registers
Images covering Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1580-1812 (134,000)
then separate Baptisms 1813-1911 (226,000); Burials 1843-1979 (133,000); Marriages 1754-1926 (180,000).
FINDMYPAST NEWS
During the past 5 weeks several new databases have been added (at the rate of one or more per week):
* 2.5 million records from 1,500 National Schools in England, being Admission Registers and Logbooks
covering the period 1870-1914. These give the date of birth of the pupils, the name, occupation and abode of
the father an date of starting school. At present the schools included are only in the 13 counties of Devon,
Kent, Lancashire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex,
Huntingdonshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, and Glamorgan; plus Westminster. More counties will be added next
year. I was lucky enough to find several of my Devon relatives here with previously unknown dates of birth.
* 4 million records (indexed transcripts plus images) of baptisms, marriages and burials from parishes in
North, East and West Yorkshire, covering the period 1588 to 1989.
* 20,000 Monumental Inscriptions from 3 cemeteries in Eastbourne spanning the period 1610-2005.
* Half a million London Apprenticeship Abstracts for the period 1442-1859.
* Somerset and Dorset Notes & Queries periodicals for the period 1890-1980.
* Somerset Electoral Registers covering the period 1832-1914
Riccarton Branch NZSG Newsletter, November 2014, page 2
FAMILY SEARCH NEWS
Recently added was a new database relating to Australia, rather confusingly but comprehensively and
accurately entitled “Australia Cemetery, Military and Church Record Transcripts 1816-1982”. This is not
indexed but may be browsed. The images are from a microfilm of the card index compiled over many years
by a keen genealogist, the late Clarice Cubbins (1916-2014). Of the 161,880 images most are actually cards
relating to cemeteries in NSW and a few elsewhere and there are actually only a very small number of
Military or Church Records.
REPORT ON OCTOBER MEETING
This was a members’ night on the theme of World War One and the first speaker was Garry Jeffery who
gave a presentation on those in his and his wife Beverley’s families who served, including his Aunt Minnie,
a nurse. An interesting artefact shown was Queen Mary’s Gift Box given to soldiers. Garry also spoke about
those at home in New Zealand, including his very patriotic grandfather. Kathy Hill showed images provided
by several other members who then spoke about them: these included (in addition to Kathy herself) Jean
Clifton, Heather Pearson, Fiona Lees, Alan Tunnicliffe and Graham Dunbar. Colin Watson and Mary Clark
also spoke.
WEBSITES for NZ and USA Research
www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/DigitalLibrary/resourcepages/heritageimagesonline.aspx
This section of the Auckland City Libraries website has a huge number of photographs from various sources,
including the Auckland Weekly News. All of the photos from the photograph supplements of the Auckland
Weekly News have been scanned for the period 1898-1943 and images can therefore be viewed relating to
the Boer War, World War One and half of World War Two. The photos for 1944 and 1945 appear in the
index but images are not available at present. It was usual for photo to appear of servicemen and women
from all over New Zealand whenever they were wounded, taken prisoner or died. I suggest that you use
advanced search when using this when you can put a surname into the Caption box and a decade or one year
in the Years box.
digital.liby.waikato.ac.nz/indexes/ladiesmirrorindex.pdf
Waikato University Library has an online index, which can be downloaded, of this New Zealand magazine
for women. The file has 188 pages and is divided into 3 sections, all in alphabetical order: Subjects; People;
Adverts & Products. Note: the actual magazine is not online.
www.waikato.ac.nz/library/resources/digital-collections
Waikato University Library’s website has a number of databases with images related mainly to the Waikato
area. Some of the most useful are of old postcards and photos and of old maps.
www.libertyellisfoundation.org
This is the new name of the Ellis Island website for searching for passengers and crew on ships to New York
for the period 1892-1924. The period from 1925 to 1957 will be added early next year. There are over 51
million records here. Images of passenger lists can still be viewed free.
Website of the Month
100nzww1postcards.blogspot.com
This is the website of Glen Reddiex, a Wellington postcard collector, amateur WWI historian, and
genealogist whose grandfather and two great-uncles served in WWI. He is uploading images of 100
postcards relating to WWI, with additional background information about the person or scene (e.g. hospitals,
ships). The website can be searched by any word. Well worth taking a look at.
OCCUPATION CODES USED IN THE 1911 CENSUS OF ENGLAND & WALES
Go to the website www.1911census.co.uk and on the Home page click on Help & Advice, then from the
menu at left select Occupation Codes. This is a list of the codes and what they mean. These are the numbers
that you see on 1911 census images in green ink written by census clerks over the occupation of a person.
Riccarton Branch NZSG Newsletter, November 2014, page 3
CENTENARY OF WORLD WAR ONE: PART 10
In Part 8 I wrote about some of my maternal grandfather’s Australian cousins. This time I will mention a few
of his New Zealand cousins. These all had the surname of LAW and there were 9 of them who served in the
NZ Army, 3 of whom died overseas during the Great War.
The first of these to join up was Edward Henry Law,
who was born in Marlborough on 16 December
1889. He was working for his father, a farmer at
Shannon when he enlisted very soon after the
outbreak of war, on 15 August 1914 at Palmerston
North when he was 24 years old and unmarried. He
had been a member for 3 years (1910-13) of the
Shannon Rifle Club. He was 5ft 9½in tall and
became Private E H Law, No.11/73, in the 6th
(Manawatu) Squadron of the Wellington Mounted
Rifles. A fortnight later, on 1 September 1914, he
was promoted to Lance-Corporal. Six weeks later he
sailed to Egypt with the Main Body on Transport
Ship #10, “Arawa”. After 7 weeks at sea he
disembarked at Alexandria on 3 December 1914.
Henry (he was known by his 2nd name) remained in
Egypt until being sent to Gallipoli in Turkey in April
1915. He was at Anzac Cove when promoted once
again, to Corporal on 28 July 1915. In August he
took part in the offensive at Chunuk Bair and there
he was killed in action on 9 August 1915, aged 25.
The above photo of Cpl E H Law appeared in the Auckland Weekly News on 21 October 1915. His body was
not recovered for burial so, like many others, he is commemorated on the NZ Memorial at Chunuk Bair
Cemetery (on panel 5).
Henry was the second oldest of his father Edward Law’s 12 children (9 sons and 3 daughters by two wives).
Henry’s mother had died in 1910. His older brother, who was a married man with children, did not serve but
two of his younger brothers enlisted and served overseas. These were Archie Morrin Law and Wilfred
Thomas Law and they both survived to return to New Zealand and become farmers at Thornton near
Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty.
Archie Law was the elder of these (born 9 January 1894) and he joined up on 24 January 1917 (aged 23 and
single) at Levin, nearly one and a half years after his older brother Henry had been killed. Archie was an
inch shorter than Henry, being 5ft 8½in tall. He sailed on Transport Ship #91, “Mokoia” in August 1917 to
Glasgow as Gunner No.50217 in the NZ Field Artillery, as part of the 29th Reinforcements. During the
voyage to UK he was fined 4 days pay for absenteeism. He proceeded immediately to Aldershot in England
and was based there until going into the field at Etaples in France in January 1918, where he served
unscathed until the war ended in November 1918. He returned to England and spent from December 1918
until February 1919 in hospital with bronchial catarrh. Five months later he returned to New Zealand on the
“Briton” and was finally discharged on 20 August 1919.
The younger brother Wilfred Thomas Law was born on 26 December 1897 and enlisted at Palmerston North
on 7 February 1918 aged 20. At 5ft 7in he was the shortest of the 3 brothers. Wilfred served as Rifleman
No.81231 in the NZ Rifle Brigade but did not arrive in England until 4 October 1918, only about 5 weeks
before the end of the war. He had to wait until July 1919 when he sailed on the “S.S. Mamari” back home.
While waiting in England he was absent without leave many times and forfeited a lot of pay. His final
discharge came on 17 September 1919.
Of the other six Law cousins who served in the Great War, two were brothers who died in action. I shall
write about them all in a later part of this series.
Riccarton Branch NZSG Newsletter, November 2014, page 4