The Otago Benevolent Institution Casebooks

During their research, most family historians will find a family who were not only poor but required the assistance of the parish or government in order to make ends meet.  Many of you reading this will be familiar with records available for such circumstances in the UK- but what about New Zealand?

Unfortunately, there aren't many records available in New Zealand relating to those who needed help for short or longer periods.  However, all is not lost.  Archives NZ is the first place to look for such records – the hospital, police and charity record series should be of use, as well as Department of Education, Social Security, Child Welfare and District/Magistrates Courts.  The Appendices of the Journal of the House of Representatives (AJHRs or A to Js) can also be fruitful and these are available on-line, up until 1954 and name searchable.

Outdoor Relief Casebook Nos 1-556

One of the earlier charitable agencies were the Benevolent Societies. The Auckland Benevolent Society is the oldest in New Zealand, and was formed to provide non-institutional aid to women and children through voluntary charitable work with an emphasis on personal visits, providing advice and sympathy as well as support in kind, clothing, food, blankets, rent, fares etc.  archives.govt.nz/sites/default/files/Fact_sheet_6_-_Charitable_Aid_-_July_2009.doc

Recently the records for the Otago Benevolent Institution Outdoor Relief casebooks 1889-c.1910 were digitised; they can be viewed for FREE through the Archway website https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/BriefDescItemSearch.do  Each volume is indexed although on volume is missing.

As I have family in Dunedin, I decided to have a look “on spec” and was duly rewarded. So what did I learn?  Quite a lot. Such as how much rent was paid, the amount of relief paid and when, where they lived, if anyone in the house was working, what they did, and how much they were paid, and the circumstances of application. For example: “Husband been in the Asylum for the last 14 months. She says she does very little work.” You also get insight into the character of those involved, such as this comment: “There is not a bit of reliance to be placed upon this woman's word.” Other information includes how long they'd been receiving assistance and any extras that were paid for, such as boots.

Outdoor Relief Casebook Nos 4447-5004

This has given me more of a sense of the character of the women involved and an insight into their living conditions. I'm unaware of any other Benevolent Society casebooks having been digitised so you'd probably need to visit Archives NZ to view those for the area of your interest but it will be a worthwhile exercise.

Marie Hickey -  Central Research

The Chinese have a rich history in New Zealand and are amongst our earliest settlers - with large numbers arriving in the 1850s for the gold rush.

Unfolding history, evolving identity, the Chinese in New Zealand by Manying Ip

There have been some awesome books written about early Chinese. On our Chinese history and family history pages we highlight the famous books Windows on a Chinese Past written by James Ng and Unfolding history, evolving identity, the Chinese in New Zealand by Manying Ip.

However, we also have several books in our collection written by other authors and researchers such as Helen Wong's In the mountain's shadow : a century of Chinese in Taranaki 1870 to 1970 = Zai shan de yin ying : yi ge shi ji han ren Taranaki 1870 dao 1970 and To be Jungseng in New Zealand : descendants of Jungseng villagers who migrated to New Zealand from 1890.

Search in our catalogue using keywords "Chinese" and "New Zealand" for many other titles.

At the Auckland Family History Expo in August, the Chinese community of researchers had their own table, where they displayed many of the books that they had published.


The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust has commissioned a project to research and produce a book about the history of Chinese owned and operated laundries in New Zealand, from the first laundries in the 1890s to the 1960s and 1970s when few remained.

They want to ensure that this significant part of New Zealand's social history is not lost. This project aims to preserve their memories of those times.



Happy hunting

Seonaid

Two academic staff at the University of Otago, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla, have edited this excellent book, Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific, tracing stories of those children born to Pacific Island women and American servicemen during the Second World War.  Making use of oral histories, the various authors interviewed children of these love affairs: relationships that took place in the South Pacific islands during the war.

There are chapters covering islands from New Caledonia, to Tonga, the Gilbert Islands and the Solomons, but a must-read is the chapter on New Zealand: "I don't like Maori girls going out with Yanks." Between the years 1942 and 1944, 100,000 American soldiers were stationed here, as the February 1942 Battle of Darwin made the threat of invasion frighteningly real. The Kiwi girls were taken with the American men, as Mihipeka Edwards remembered: We (would) gaze at these beautiful specimens of manhood, so handsome. Even the not-so-handsome are tall and beautifully turned out, smartly uniformed and very military in their stance. I am carried away. I forget I am married.

The book is about the children born out of these relationships: some relationships were short lived, while others were true love stories that existed amidst the social climate of the time, the difficulties in dealing with bureaucracy, and the reality of men serving in a world war, men who were always going to leave New Zealand. Some of those babies were raised under the Maori whangai system, with young mothers playing the part of aunt or even a much older sister. There are stories of the men who wanted to stay with their "new" family but were unable to, such as Raymond Gipe who served in the US Navy, fell in love with Vivienne, fathered a son, Leroy, but who had to return home. As his family recalls:
"He loved Vivienne. It was not just a one night stand. He married her. He had his son registered and he was named after his father...  I think he tried on several occasions to get Leroy and Vivienne to come over. We understood that she was fearful of the ugly side of America, being Maori." Raymond provided for Leroy and on his death, left his estate to him.

There are the stories of mothers and families who tried to keep the identity of the father secret, of men who promised to return but couldn't or wouldn't, and stories of those children anxious to learn the truth of their birth parents. In some cases, information was deliberately withheld; for some mothers, there was a fear the children would be sent to America to live. John, for example, went searching for his birth father, Don, but discovered he'd passed away some years before. Yet in finding his American family, he learnt his father had known all about him, that his birth mother had sent photos and news of him to America, that Don had told his wife he had a New Zealand son, and that up to his death, he carried a photo around of John - the son he had never known.

Rusty Floyd (US Navy) His niece has been searching for her Tongan relative. (p.173)

There are wonderful stories of reunions, although stories of sadness, too, from both sides of the "family." The descendants of Rusty Floyd who served in the US Navy, know he fathered (and abandoned) a child in Tonga but have no idea if the child was male or female, making the search for their relative near impossible. And in the chapter on the Cook Islands, Helen talks about having a pampered childhood as the only American in her family, and treasuring a photo of her USA grandmother that her father, Tom, left for her.  But there was grief for her mother, Ito. "When Tom learned he was being shipped out, he requested an army transport to bring Ito to the base to say goodbye. This request arrived too late, and Ito was so upset she refused to talk about this for many years. Helen believes her mother was traumatised by this experience of being pregnant, and not having the opportunity to say goodbye."
Might pay to grab a tissue for this one, people!
There are borrowable copies on the catalogue but be warned. This is one popular book, and you'll most likely need to place a hold/request, but there's no charge to do this, and you can pick the book up at any of our 55 libraries - whatever is convenient for you.

Joanne - Central Research