Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, 1-W1814

Was your ancestor an engineer in NZ? If so, here are some sources of possible interest for you to explore. 

The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (known to its friends as IPENZ) operates an excellent website on NZ's engineering heritage. It includes a small database of biographies of significant engineers.

If you know the engineering field your ancestor was involved in, some of the works in the 'recommended reads' section may also prove of value as background material.

Auckland Libraries has both reference and loan copies available of Early New Zealand engineers by F.W. Furkert; revised and edited by W.L. Newnham. This work is a collection of alphabetically arranged mini-biographies of engineers who were born prior to 1866.

Along with some other sources on engineers, the names from Furkert's book have been indexed into the New Zealand Card Index; for example:



The New Zealand Card Index was closed in 1996 when Index Auckland started. As the name implies, this index has a strong emphasis on Auckland, but also contains references to places and people from further afield; it is worth checking for engineer ancestors even if they are not Aucklanders.

Among the items indexed are obituaries and other biographical mentions of engineers appearing in selected issues of the Proceedings of the Institution of Professional Engineers 1938-1952 and the journal New Zealand Engineering, 1946-1972 (indexing not yet complete).

Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A15208

If your ancestor was already a qualified engineer when they migrated to NZ, or spent part of their working lives in the UK, then they may have joined one of the professional engineering societies in the UK. Some membership records of these are now available as searchable databases on Ancestry.com.

The contents vary, but some have considerable detail, such as the Institution of Civil Engineers’ collection of applications to join the society 1820-1930. Entries often include date of birth, nationality, and summary of education and career, sometimes with supporting correspondence and certificates. Engineers are a highly mobile occupational group, so such information might well include details of service all over the world.

Janelle

Auckland Libraries collection.

Bridget

Their daughter Tonya shared with me the family's story about these birth notices ...

My Grandmother (Jean nee Foote Bellingham), tore the original clipping of the birth notice out from the paper after Mum (Helen Bellingham) was born, making sure that she had the entry for her daughter's birth.

Alot of years later someone (probably my Grandmother --Jean Bellingham), was going through all her old newspaper clippings, had a look through and saw that the birth notice not only included Mum (Helen), but Dad (Tony) as well!  Interesting as they were both born in different places in NZ, and on different days (my mums parents were late getting their birth notice in the paper) -- throughout the years us kids were told of the story but the original newspaper clipping has been mislaid.

Their birth announcements were published in the Monday, 9 April 1934 edition of the New Zealand Herald and indeed it was true -- they were together in the birth announcement column with just one other entry between their family names.


Helen and Tony met at teachers training college, became engaged and were married on 25 January 1958 in Auckland at the Onehunga Presbyterian Church. 

The couple on their wedding day.

It is quite a nice thought that perhaps they were destined to be together since birth.

Mr & Mrs Dunn kindly gave us permission to post their story on Kintalk and thank you also to Tonya for supplying us with the lovely family photographs.

Karen

Sometimes in family history, you come across a story that sounds more like the plot of a sweeping historical saga than a real life event. Such is the case of the story of the Spaniard, Manuel Jose.

Māori Children on a North Island East Coast Farm, 1937 Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19370630-51-3

The story began in 1840 when Manuel - reportedly tall, red-haired, and green-eyed  – settled on the East Coast of the North Island in the Waiapu Valley north of Gisborne – Ngati Porou land.  His background was cloaked in mystery, and still is. He came to New Zealand as a whaler, set up business as a trader, and subsequently married five times –folklore has him as being an attractive man, and liked by women ( probably not liked quite as much by the men!)  All his wives were Māori, and all the marriages resulted in children. You can imagine the descendants of these Spanish-Māori unions now number in their thousands.


More information is available at www.manueljose.org.nz

Joanne

For those of you with an interest in Scotland, you may have noticed in recent months an increase in material appearing on the shelves in the family history section at Central Auckland Research Centre. However, those of you who may not visit the Research Centre as frequently or the check the catalogue regularly from afar will have missed what we have been adding to the collection.

Auckland Libraries, Sir George Grey Special Collections, 601-2835A.

A number of local histories have been added to the collection which range from picture books to stories about a street in a town, a guide to closes, squares, lanes etc in old Dundee and a small work on the Kirk Yetholm gypsies are among the works added to local histories.

We have also purchased transcripts of parish registers, amongst which is the Lady Glenorchy Free Church baptisms 1843-1856; monumental inscriptions (gravestones), several family histories, items relating to occupations such as two on fishing in Fife.  There is also the Records of Glenprosen [Glenprossan], Angus which includes christening extracts, monumental inscriptions, entries for marriages and deaths, communion rolls and a list of subscribers to the library from 1841.  Not to be outdone, there is also the two volume work of Scottish Studio Photographers to 1914 which gives details not only of different addresses the photographers worked from but potted biographies that can include other members of the family, census returns and value of estate on death.

So if it has been a while since you checked out our Scottish collections (call number - 4 SCT) take a little time to do so and you may be lucky and find that entry that has been eluding you.

Marie 

We have a lot of delicious family histories that have been donated to us, or purchased by us, in our collection. They come in every shape, size and format.

When we receive a new family history we pop the details of it into our family history database. In this database we input the family names of generations of a family. It’s a wonderful tool for searching for a surname that may be found in someone else’s family history - that also happens to be yours!

At the moment I am inputting a door stopper of a family history called From River Thames, England to peninsula waters, Canterbury, New Zealand : the story and history of Arthur and Louisa Waghorn, 1850-2000 onwards.

                                                
In her forward, the author Virginia Mayo writes, “I make no apology for mistakes and the lack of much background history – our elder generations did not keep diaries and so the recording of their lives and the early happenings are lost – we can only piece together with a lot of guess work their early days and times in New Zealand.”

As shown on page 244.

At 690 pages there has been a lot more than guess work in this family history. Full of clear illustrations, maps, genealogical trees, portraits, memorabilia (including autograph books and a photo of Louisa Waghorn’s best black satin hat) the book is much more than the history of a family.

Bridget

This book on the “What’s new?” shelf  at the Central Auckland Research Centre caught my eye the other day  –  “Family Secrets: Living with shame from the Victorians to the Present Day” by Deborah Cohen.

The issues covered – divorce, illegitimacy, homosexuality, adoption, interracial children - barely raise an eyebrow today but they have been huge causes of distress in the past.

It’s a fascinating book to dip in to as it traces real people and gives an understanding as to why they did what they did – why adoptee parents feared their children finding out they were adopted,  the stories behind the “bachelor uncle”, the stigma of being a “bastard” child. A fascinating chapter is devoted to the children who disappeared – mentally disabled institutionalised boys and girls and how attitudes differed Victorian to early 20th century times.

The author concludes the book by discussing how getting all these “shameful” secrets out in the open has become something of a badge of honour, with the growing popularity of celebrity-featured entertainment shows like “Who Do You Think You Are?”  This is a book that may well provide breakthroughs for the family historian in the brick walls of their sleuthing - well worth a dip in to. "Family Secrets” is in the Research Centre under 4 GBR FAM but there are borrowable copies in the Auckland Libraries collection.

Joanne

Easter Weekend brings with it the beginning of April, which also means that ANZAC Day is drawing ever nearer.

This is the day, that is a national day of remembrance for Australian and New Zealanders who died during armed conflict.

Do you have a story to share about an ANZAC? We'd like to hear about not only their sacrifice, but the way it shaped their family history. Maybe you want to blog from the perspective of those that were left behind?

Your story doesn't have to involve a serviceperson who lost their lives - during times of war, all sorts of loss unfortunately are experienced. 

And you can write about those who served in other wars.

To participate:

• Write a blog post about an Australian or New Zealander serviceman or woman's family, and the impact war had on their family history
• Post a comment with the URL to your blog on the comments section of this page. Or if you don't have a blog then email us your story at kintalk@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
• Publish your post by 25 April 2013.

Heritage Images database Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC265

Showing the grave and tombstone of Michael Gallagher in Symonds Street Cemetery.

The inscription reads:

In affectionate remembrance of Michael Gallagher who died May 26 1894 aged 38 years.

Erected by his widow, H K Gallagher.

In charity with all men.

The grave and headstone of his mother Mary Gallagher is partly visible to the left.

The Central Auckland Research Centre in Auckland’s Central Library is open until 8pm on weekdays and until 4pm on the weekends. Access is free and membership is not required to browse our collections.

Bridget