The Newsletter
Te Awamutu
Branch
NZ Society of
Genealogists
No 191
February 2009
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 3 February: There will be a presentation regarding the Te
Awamutu Library Online catalogue, which will be followed by an in house session
covering gedcom files & transferring the data between programmes and a general
question & answer time.

At the March meeting our guest speaker will be Lynne Blake who is a NZSG
councillor who will talk on the occupation of Publicans – more detail in March
newsletter.
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Convenor’s Corner:
I trust you are all refreshed from the holiday break and all fired up for 2009. We enjoyed
a special time with Wendy’s brother & family over from Johannesburg, a nephew from
Cape Town and another from Sydney. This meant that all her siblings and their children
were together for the first time ever. The cameras clicked to record the event for the
family researchers of the future, and yes we will name and date the photo!
Thank you to Alan and Glenyss for hosting our December meeting at the Pirongia
Historic Visitor Centre.
Advanced warning that the AGM will occur in May and it is likely a couple of the
current committee will be standing down. Please give thought to putting your name
forward. The current committee has been together for a few years now, with a couple
many years.
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 1
Microfiche readers (library) – From the minimal (one committee member)
feedback received it appears the best time to use the equipment is in the morning and
also some of the images are difficult to read due to aged fiche.
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Family Tree magazine – A reminder to members that the branch subscribes to this
magazine and is available to members. If you would like to read it all you have to do is
to put your name on the ‘round robin’ mailing list.
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IRD has granted donation status, in other words any donation over $5 qualifies for a
33% rebate.
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Dusty file holds lost chapter of Cold War
An interesting article was published in the New Zealand Herald on 31 December 2008,
written by Arthur Max and Randy Herschaft describing a German archive locked away
in an attic that goes back to the long forgotten chapter of the Cold War. It was marked
“Escapee Programme” which contains a list of thousands of names of people who
miraculously breached the Iron Curtain after World War II and found freedom in the
west.
Not directly related to the above, here is some chilling information:
“Cold cases – 17.5 million is the number of people listed in archives of the
International Tracing Service which is run by the Red Cross.”
“Also 60 years elapsed before the archives were opened to the public in 2007, after a
long campaign by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.”
On the net: www.its-arolsen.org
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Spotted in the Courier before Christmas
Trying to trace family
I wonder if your paper can assist me with tracking down my family.
Around 1912 my father's half brother Hubert (Bert) left Plymouth, England to live
in Te Awamutu.
He owned a hairdressing shop and his brother Charlie joined him within a few
years as did his cousin Harold MacKeating. I would be interested to hear from
anyone who knows anything of these people or their descendants.
Contact details are e-mail: j.hart@swansea.ac.uk, phone 07970119989
Jane Hart
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 2
Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry - John Wesley
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A collection of information from Europe
Europeana is testing newly configured hardware. The site is therefore open for you to
use but the user experience may not be optimal in this test phase e.g.: the number of
users will be limited in peak times.
www.europena.eu
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FREE BMD TIP from Roy Stockdill – Thank you to Sandra for providing this
information:
Here's a useful little tip for when you are
searching at the FreeBMD website for
the entries of births, marriages and
deaths of relatives, etc. This is
particularly useful for those running
one-name studies but it can also work
for ordinary family historians if they
want to identify possible relatives with
an unusual surname where it was used
as a middle name, i.e. possibly the name
of a mother or grandparent, etc. If you
enter nothing at all in the surname field
but enter in the first name field a
surname with a + sign in front of it, this
produces entries in which the name was
used either as a forename or a middle
name.
To give you an example..... Entering
just "Stockdill" in the first name field
produces only ONE entry, for a child
called Stockdill Middlebrook registered
in 1896 at Dewsbury. But if I enter
"+Stockdill" in the first name field,
nothing in the surname field and choose
All Types, this produces NINE other
entries for births, marriages and deaths
where Stockdill was given as a middle
name. I can then identify all of these as
being either relatives of mine or linked
to my one-name study. Remember, it's
important to put the plus sign before the
name and the more unusual the surname
the better the chance you have of
finding the entries. Looking for people
with Smith as a middle name will not be
very helpful.
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Are any members planning a trip to the United States of America? From
12 January 2009 New Zealanders will require online approval to enter
the country.
New Zealanders are currently exempt from visa requirements to enter the USA for short
visits, including transit, under the Visa Waiver Programme. However, instead of filling
out paper waiver cards on the plane, travellers must apply online at
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov
This is abridged from an article in the NZ Herald 12/1/2009
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 3
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS: A GREAT NEW FEATURE! - From a
Lost Cousins newsletter in 2007/08 – thanks to Sandra
Until recently the only people you could
enter on your My Ancestors page at the
LostCousins site were your relatives but in January we introduced the
'Neighbours' feature, to allow you to
make contact with descendants of your
ancestors' neighbours.
From today you can also enter servants,
apprentices, and other workers who
were living in the same household as
your relative(s). You can do this
whether your relative was another
servant - or whether it was your relative
who was the employer.
Click the Search button and we'll not
only look for your cousins, but also for
living relatives of the servants you've
entered.
If your relative was employed by
someone rich or famous there could be
records that have survived to this day.
But even if it was a humbler household
the opportunity to link with someone
whose ancestor lived with yours opens
up all sorts of possibilities.
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Genealogy CDs for sale
Bay of Plenty Times Births, Deaths and Marriages 1872 – 1910
This CD contains over 3,000 birth, death and marriage records arranged alphabetically in a pdf
file. The main source used is the Bay of Plenty Times notices and news articles. They mainly
relate to families from Tauranga, Te Puke and Katikati but include those from further afield.
Price $17 + postage and packaging Available in hard copy for $45 including postage (222 pages)
Nominal and Descriptive Rolls of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Waikato Regiments 1863-1867
This CD contains the Nominal and Descriptive Rolls of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments of
Waikato Militia. The records are in a pdf file which can be read using Adobe Acrobat. These
regiments were enlisted between 1863 and 1867 for the New Zealand land wars. There are
nearly 5,500 men named. Most men are listed with their name, number, date and place of
enlistment, place of birth, occupation, age, height and ship to New Zealand. Many have further
notes regarding their marital status, discharge date and other details.
Price $17 + postage and packaging Available in hard copy for $45 including postage (250 pages)
Waikato Births, Deaths and Marriages 1864 - 1900
The CD contains nearly 4,000 birth, death and marriage records arranged alphabetically in a pdf
file. Sources include notices and reports from the Waikato Times 1872-1900, birth, death and
marriage registers and other newspapers from the period. All the events relate to the
Waikato/Thames area.
Price $17 + postage and packaging Available in hard copy for $45 including postage (289
pages)
Please make cheques payable to Jeni Palmer, 140 Bethlehem Heights, Tauranga 3110 or deposit
into account ASB 12 3061 0181494 00. www.gencentre.co.nz Email JeniP@gencentre.co.nz
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 4
Letter received from ‘The department of Internal Affairs’ dated 12 January 2009
Births, Deaths and Marriages Index Sales
The purpose of this letter is to advise you that from 25 January 2009 the BDM Indexes currently
available on microfiche or electronically will no longer be sold or maintained by the Births, Deaths
and Marriages Registry, Department of Internal Affairs.
Sales of the Indexes will cease on that date.
The removal of indexes from sale is a requirement of the Births, Deaths, Marriages and
Relationships Registration Act 1995 (the Act), which comes into force on 25 January 2009.
The Act also provides that "historical information" (as defined by section 78G of the Act) may be
made available by the Registrar-General via the Internet. It is proposed that this service will be
made available as close to 25 January 2009 as possible. This service will offer enhanced
information that is not currently available on the indexes.
A fact sheet detailing what is defined as "historical information" is attached to this letter.
While the indexes are being removed from sale, individuals and organisations who currently hold
index information will be able to continue using that information - subject, of course, to the Crown
copyright and New Zealand Privacy Act restrictions that currently apply.
However, please note that as of 25 January 2009 it will be an offence for any person to publish
index information unless the information relates to the person publishing it, or if the person to
whom it relates has given permission for it to be published, or the information is "historical
information" or could not reasonably be expected to identify any particular person, due to its form.
Please also note that these restrictions apply to any information published on "member-only"
websites or internal "Intranet" sites.
Index information that is currently published on the Internet, and that does not comply with the
requirements above, must be removed within 14 days of Act coming into force - in other words, it
must be removed by Sunday 7 February 2009.
Any breach of these new legislative requirements is punishable, upon summary conviction, by a
fine of up to $50,000
Historical Births. Deaths and Marriages Information - as defined by Section 786 of the
Births. Deaths. Marriages and Relationships Act 1995
Historical Information is:
> Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
> Still-births that occurred at least 50 years ago
> Marriages and Civil Unions that occurred at least 80 years ago
> Changes of name for overseas born people - if they were born at least
100 years ago
> Deaths of people who died at least 50 years ago or who were born at
least 80 years ago
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
Page: 5
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE 1911 CENSUS?
The release of any new census is exciting,
but the 1911 Census is an especially
valuable resource - it offers the most
information we've ever seen. The main
addition is a section on the form headed
Particulars as to Marriage which has
columns headed Completed years the
marriage has lasted, Total Child Born Alive,
Children still living, and Children who have
died. This was intended to be completed in
respect of each married woman, but in
practice many husbands (including all 4 of
my
great-grandfathers!)
wrote
the
information alongside their own name.
Why is this information important? Because
it will in many cases tell us about children
who never appeared on any census - the
ones who died in infancy. I've so far
discovered two in my family tree, little
brothers or sisters of my grandparents who
sadly were forgotten when the verbal history
was passed down through the generations.
I've also discovered that both of my
maternal grandparents had brothers recorded
on the 1911 Census who died in their youth
- that makes four new great uncles and aunts
I've discovered thanks to this one census,
and that's just on my mother's side of the
family. How many will you find, I wonder?
Of course, the information about children
who have died can also help with the
relatives you do know about. No longer will
you waste time searching the census for
someone who was already dead - or the
death indexes for someone who was still
alive!
The employment information is also more
informative. Instead of one column there are
two: Personal occupation and Industry or
Service with which worker is connected. In
some cases the additional information - in
conjunction with trade directories - may be
sufficient to enable you to track down
precisely who your ancestor worked for.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE COST?
Whilst the cost of the census is in line with
many of the other records released by the
National Archives over the past few years, it
is more expensive than the 1901 Census was
on release in 2002.
The main problem seems to be the vast
number of individual households schedules
that need to be scanned and transcribed - by
my calculations this one census involved
more scanning than ALL of the previous
censuses added together! That's because
instead of simply scanning the enumerators'
schedules, each with an average of 4 or 5
households, this time they've scanned the
individual forms
householders.
completed
by
the
At the official census site there's a blog
where you'll find lots of useful information.
The most important announcement - as far
as serious researchers like me and you are
concerned - is that later this year it will be
possible to access the 1911 Census with a
findmypast.com subscription. This enables
us to plan our research accordingly: my
strategy is to look up the most important
households now, and explore the remaining
twigs and branches later.
Thank you to May for providing this information
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 191 – February 2009
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Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate