The Newsletter
Te Awamutu
Branch
NZ Society of
Genealogists
No 183
May 2008
Convenor: John Graham 871 8986
Email: jmrg@xtra.co.nz
Secretary: Karen Glew 871 7778
Email: kglew@xtra.co.nz
Treasurer: Sandra Metcalfe 871 3250
Email: Metcalfe@wave.co.nz
Editor at large: John Graham
Te Awamutu Website:
Email: jmrg@xtra.co.nz
www.teawamutu.net/genealogy
New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. www.genealogy.org.nz
Meetings are held in the Parish Lounge at St John's Anglican Church, Arawata Street
(parking off George Street), Te Awamutu, at 7.30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each
month – February to December. Visitors are most welcome.
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Next Meeting: Tuesday 6 May - Geoff Lawn a retired civil / structural engineer, who
did much writing of a technical nature during his career. With the advent of computers
and word processors, Geoff started writing for 'pleasure' around 1988, writing mainly
comic verse recalling family events (for his father's amusement as he was nearing his
90th birthday.). His topic will be: "Writing your Family Story". Notes will be
available for those attending.
Do come along and pick up some writing tips and then we will all look forward to
hearing your story.
Looking ahead:
Tuesday 3 June – This will be an in house session whereby members can help one
another out. Laptops will be available to look up information from our extensive CD
library. Also a short session on accessories, on the computer, to aid your research and
computer genealogy program e.g. TreePad, Legacy Charts.
Saturday 21 June - We will be holding a workshop day. Pauline Coman is coming over
from Whakatane to run a series of workshops, more details will be available closer to the
time (see poster on final page).
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Convenor’s Corner: It was a pleasure sharing my Burma story with you last month and
hope it was informative. It obviously pays to advertise (Courier front page) as a couple
attended the evening had similar experiences to me whereby his father was in Burma
roughly the same time. After the presentation Alan was flicking though my father's diary
and saw his family name mentioned, and for all we know it could have been his father.
(subsequent note from Alan told me it wasn't)
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 1
Comments from Sandra on the April meeting
What a fascinating trip we were taken on at our last meeting as John Graham recounted his
father’s experiences in Burma in the lead up to the Japanese occupation in 1941/42 and then
in the days prior to independence from Britain. The old 16mm cine film (which has a
miraculous story of survival in itself) added atmosphere and a sense of history to the talk.
John used maps and photos to illustrate his father’s 1700 mile trek up the length of Burma
with the Japanese in hot pursuit, and the tales of his experiences were chilling – the stuff from
which films are made!
But for one local couple the evening had a special poignancy. Not members of the genealogy
group, they had read about John’s talk in the Te Awamutu Courier & decided to attend on the
spur of the moment. This man’s father was in Burma during the same period as John’s dad
and hearing of his exploits brought back memories of places he heard about from his own
father. On thanking John at the end, this man wondered out loud whether their father’s knew
each other. During supper, while he was reading through John’s father’s diary, this man
found a possible reference to his own father. It is indeed a small, small world.
Thank you John for the preparation and energy you put into your fascinating talk.
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New & returning members
Welcome back to Sue Tervit and a warm welcome to Terry (Teresa) Rogers
Terry’s interests are:
Danagher – Limmerick, Eire & Portsmouth, England
Partrick – Chichester, England & Isle of Wight
Milburn – Middlesborough, England
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Morning Group:
A reminder that these are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, Time 9.30 - 12 30 at
228 Longs Rd. (2nd house on left from Puahue Rd end.) Bring a problem and let's see
if we can help sort it!! For branch members only
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☺Smile a while – Romance
An older couple were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the
wife was in a romantic mood and wanted to talk. She said:
"You used to hold my hand when we were courting." Wearily he reached across, held
her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.
A few moments later she said: "Then you used to kiss me. "Mildly irritated, he reached
across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.
Thirty seconds later she said: "Then you used to bite my neck." Angrily, he threw back
the bedclothes and got out of bed. "Where are you going?" she asked.
"To get my teeth!"
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 2
FINDMYPAST.COM COMPLETES ANCESTORSONBOARD PASSENGER LISTS
Leading UK family history website
findmypast.com has completed its
project to scan and index the complete
set of outbound passenger lists for longdistance voyages from all British ports
between 1890 and 1960.
Working in association with The
National Archives of the United
Kingdom, the project took a team of 125
people over a year to scan in the 1.1
million full colour individual pages some handwritten, some typed. In total
24 million passengers are recorded
travelling between these dates. Their
reasons for travelling varied from
emigration to diplomatic missions, to
business trips or purely for pleasure.
The final decade to go live covers the
years 1950 to 1960 and includes the socalled "Ten Pound Poms" travelling
under the Australian government
assisted passage scheme. In most cases
the old UK address of the passenger is
given, enabling family historians to
trace back the roots of their British
ancestors. Accompanying some of the
1960 lists are scans of the handwritten
departure cards completed by each
passenger. These show the full date of
birth of the passenger as well as their
UK address and occupation, with the
names and dates of birth of any children
travelling with them on the reverse - a
goldmine for the genealogist.
There are also a number of famous
people recorded travelling in the records
during the 1950s. Former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair can be found listed
as Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
travelling on the Iberia to Adelaide on
24 December 1954, aged one, while on
5 August 1958 the young Bee Gees are
recorded emigrating with their parents
on the Fairsea to Sydney.
All seven decades of the passenger lists
are free to search at findmypast.com.
The images and transcripts can be
viewed with either a 12 month Explorer
or a 1 month Voyager subscription to
findmypast.com, or alternatively with
pay-per-view units or vouchers.
Notes to editors: For further
information, please contact: Paul Yates,
Head of Product and Services
findmypast.com 020 7549 0990
paul.yates@findmypast.com
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Something to think about from the March 2008 Practical Family History magazine
“We’ve Never Had It So Good”
According to the author, Richard
Morgan, we are currently in the golden
age for family history research with
more & more records becoming
available online & communication with
fellow researchers getting faster &
faster, but he asks, what about the years
to come?
“Today is probably the best time ever to
be a genealogist. Our predecessors had
no internet, no Google, GenesReunited,
Genuki, familysearch.org or the host of
other sites, not to mention email or the
ability to send text & pictures to fellow
researchers on the other side of the
globe. For genealogists of an even
earlier generation, there were few
transcribed parish registers and a limited
number of county record offices.
Genealogy research meant having to
visit the parish church or record office.
We genealogists in the 21st century have
much to be thankful for, but have you
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 3
stopped and reflected how precarious it
all is? Future generations may look
back in awe at our opportunities as they
grapple with far less helpful conditions.
The “enemies” we need to watch out for
fall into two groups:
 Obstacles to the preservation of
records and
 More limited (or more
expensive) availability of such
records as do exist
Electronic records
Electronic records are more easily
destroyed than paper records. It is fair
to assume that many of today’s
electronic records will never be put on
paper, other than temporarily. When the
records are no longer needed they will
be deleted at the single click of the
delete button. The wealth of paper
which was the 19th century civil
servant’s pride & joy as tangible
evidence that he was doing his job (in
fine copperplate) will never again be
created.
Preserving paper records
Modern paper, high in acidity, turns
brown & brittle in front of our eyes.
This applies not only to records but also
books. A similar problem arises with
ink & printed records. Faxes fade in
about 6 months and photocopies on
some machines have a short shelf life.
Can we be sure today’s records will last
for 50 or 100 years?
Data protection
Then there are the legal obstacles put in
the way of access to records. In the UK,
the Data Protection Act encourages
people, rightly or wrongly, to delete
records at the first opportunity. Even
solicitors now keep records for no more
than 20 years.
Impact on future genealogists
The effect of all this on future
genealogists may be dire. It is no good
having the internet if the records that the
internet might have brought to a wider
audience are no longer in existence. If
all records about you have either
decayed, been erased or are withheld,
how will your descendents know
anything about you?
Even when records survive, it is
becoming harder to gain access to them,
apart from those made available on the
web. Many UK record offices now
close on Saturdays and several have also
started closing for one or more days in
the week. In addition to closing more
often, record repositories are now
becoming more expensive to consult.
Some UK record offices are
implementing user charges, with visitors
being asked to pay to use microfilm &
fiche readers.
Gone are the days when the UK
government was content to let the LDS
microfilm records and make them
available to everyone free of charge.
Now census records must pay their way.
The British Library was recently asked
to comment on the effect of a possible
cut in its funding. Their spokesperson
said this could mean charging for access
to reading rooms and shorter opening
hours. Such discussions seem to be part
of a trend. How long before this
question is asked of The National
Archives?
So make the most of your genealogical
resources while you can in the present
golden age of family history. In the
future it looks as if records will be more
sparse, harder to get at and far more
expensive to use. We may at present be
better off than our ancestors with the
sources available to us but our children
and grandchildren could be infinitely
worse off, both regarding the survival of
records and their availability.
Sobering food for thought……
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 4
Because so many of our ancestors were ag labs and with the National Field
Days fast approaching, it seems timely to look at rural practices of
yesteryear. – Thanks to Sandra
www.ruralhistory.org
The website of the Museum of English
Rural Life based at Reading University.
The Collections & Catalogue section
provides access to the online catalogue
of the main collections at the museum
and of its Bibliography of British &
Irish Rural History.
www.ruralmuseumsnetwork.org.uk
This network, initiated by the Museum
of English Rural Life, exists to bring
museums of farming & the country side
closer together for mutual benefit &
includes the national collections of
England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland. It
has links to the websites of its members.
www.movinghistory.ac.uk
An excellent guide for getting a taste of
past agricultural life. The collection
includes films of everyday life in small
villages & communities. Farming or
church related group activities, farming
families in the regions, changing
agricultural practices & disappearing
folklore & traditions
www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/peelhome.
htm
This website includes much useful
background material on some major
political & economic events which
affected agriculture & its workers from
1760 – 1850. It features many primary
sources.
www.ukagriculture.com
The Living Countryside website shows
a history of the countryside &
agriculture from the Ice Age to the
present day in 3D images
www.farm-direct.co.uk
Farm direct gives the history of barley,
wheat & other topics such as water
meadow management
http://myweb.tiscall.co.uk/hstchg/farmin
g.htm
An illustrated overview of the farming
year in the past from the Holme St
Cuthbert History Group
www.applebymagna.org.uk/appleby_his
tory
Appleby’s History in Focus has an
article on “High Days & Holidays”
which includes information about hiring
fairs and other festivals. The “Days
Gone By” section has personal
recollections by Leicestershire locals
which include much about farming life.
www.pocklingtonhistory.com/archives/
people/other/pocklingtonhiringfair/index
.php
An account from 1892 about the hiring
fair at Pocklington, Yorkshire
For those who are interested, further
websites are available in the Practical
Family History magazine, March 2008
www.archiveshub.ac.uk
The Archives Hub is a database containing catalogue descriptions of archives held by
universities & colleges in the UK. It provides a single point of access to nearly 20,000
descriptions of archives held in 160 UK institutions, mostly in the higher education
sector – just think about the resources held at the University of Waikato library and you
will have some idea of the rich source of material available.
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 5
A Workshop for People
Researching their Family History
The Te Awamutu Branch of the New Zealand Society
of
Genealogists warmly invites you a workshop run by
Pauline Cowan, an experienced family researcher,
on:
Saturday 21 June 2008
at
St John’s Anglican Church Hall
George Street, Te Awamutu
Off street parking available
Programme:
9.30 am – 10.00
10.00 - 12 md
12.00 - 12.30
12.30 - 1.30
1.30 - 2.20
2.30 to 3.00
3.00 – 4.00 pm
Registration and a cup of tea.
Accurate Sourcing & File Management
combined with
Now you have it, what do you do with it?
Lunch
How can Maps help in research (includes use of
Directories & Gazetteers)
Census & their usefulness (includes where to find them
free & pay per view)
Afternoon tea
In depth look at the GENUKI website.
Bring your own lunch. Tea, coffee, water etc supplied.
There will be a $10 meeting entrance fee.
Please ring Karen 07 871 7778 for further information and to express
your interest.
You are welcome to attend any of our regular meetings on the 1st Tuesday of the month,
7.30 pm, in St John’s Anglican Church lounge
(more details on our website www.teawamutu.net/genealogy )
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 183 – May 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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