I thought I’d start this page to make it easier to see what I’ve been up to if you check back here regularly.
Coming Soon
I have two ideas going around in head which need writing up:
- “Winifred’s Bad Boys” – the story of my Gran’s uncles Gerald Charles O’Callaghan and Gordon Harcourt O’Callaghan – billiard hall proprietors!
- More about NZ militias – namely the East Coast Hussars (my gg-grandfather Robert Johnston) and the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry (my gg-grandfather Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan and his brother Thomas).
And I’ve also written a 22,000 word thesis on the Baker/O’Callaghan/Nicholls families so I need to get some updating done!
But I keep getting distracted! So we’ll see how long it takes me to finish my research and get them up!
Latest Updates
29 March 2024 – New Post– The Lost Sister
Finally tracked down my 2xgt-grandmother’s sister. The outcome was a bit unexpected.
29 December 2021 – Connecting with the Venn Diagram
An update on my research heading from London to Yorkshire.
29 December 2021 – The Elusive John Hewitt
Have found John’s first wife which has opened some more avenues of research on his origins.
28 December 2017 – Upping Sticks: The Baker Family
Came across a picture of Lyttleton in 1851 so added that a few updates and links.
20 April 2017 – New Post – Oh! The Bastard
Found a document which shows my 4xgt-grandfather James Goodman King in a very bad light, but gives a needed hint into his parentage.
22 February 2017 – New Post – East Coast Hussars
Finally got around to adding the story I wrote last year for the Genealogix on Robert Johnston and the East Coast Hussars. There are links to the newspaper articles to come.
22 February 2017 – Black Beattie & Co at the Criterion
The Lyttelton Times has been digitised for the 1880s so have found the missing letter about the stoush over the Black Beattie sign.
10 February 2016 – New Post – My Pride and Prejudice Moment
What happened when one of my 3x gt-grandmother Rachel Greacen’s sisters is “seduced”!
4 January 2016 – New Post – The Faces of War
A summary of the war services of my Gran’s 5 maternal uncles – proving that not everyone served in WWI.
4 January 2016 – A 19th Century Scandal: Bigamy?
My cousins in Melbourne have found new correspondence from Tasmania which sheds a very new and interesting light on this scandal! So I’ve updated the post with those details.
27 Nov 2015 – New Post – Upping Sticks: What happened to the Black children?
Following on from their trip to New Zealand and the lives of their parents, we have the children of Robert and Rachel Black.
19 Nov 2015 – New Post – Can Alien Ladies Vote?
Got distracted by the realisation that my gg-grandmother Emily Kinley Wilson was an alien. And it led me to the 1893 New Zealand election.
31 Jul 2015 – The Nicholls Family Bible
Having laid eyes on the Bible for the first time in over 30 years, I’ve added some information on where it came from.
25 Apr 2015 – Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan – Spanish Grandee
A trip to my Uncle’s has proved very profitable!! Found some photos of Jasper, his wife and some of his children!! Yay!
27 Jan 2015 – New Post – Six Degrees of Separation
Another wander off somewhere – detailing some of the times my paternal and maternal branches have come into proximity to each other here in New Zealand but didn’t “hook up”.
18 Jan 2015 – New Post – Black Beattie & Co at the Criterion
The history of my gg-grandfather Robert William Black’s business partnership with Robert Beattie and their shop – the Criterion.
13 Oct 2014 – New Post – Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan – Spanish Grandee
Finally! My gg-grandfather Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan who apparently looked like a Spanish Grandee. With help from some notes from my Gran and GR MacDonald.
12 Jul 2014 – The Hunt for Richard Black
Richard’s father’s will has provided a middle name and a whole new avenue of research – that doesn’t involve the US!
12 Jul 2014 – The Old Lady in the Garden
Have found Robert Black’s will and it hasn’t really helped much.
31 Jan 2014 – Upping Sticks: The Baker Family
Added in Charles Baker’s death notice confirming his birth year.
9 Jan 2014 – The Elusive John Hewitt
Have confirmed that John was a pawnbroker in Soho.
31 Dec 2013 – Hewitt Family Photos
Added a photo of Louisa Whitmore Mrs Stanley Hughes Hewitt.
23 Dec 2013 – New Post – Being Led a Merry Chase
The search for Mrs Philis Buxton (nee Kemp) of Norfolk. One year she’s there, the next she’s gone. Or has she…?
19 Dec 2013 – The American Connection
I’ve added a scan and pdf transcript of the October 2013 NZ Genealogist article about Emily’s Bible which I have in my possession.
2 Dec 2013 – A 19th Century Scandal: D.I.V.O.R.C.E
Added the photo of Fanny Keeling and her second husband Dr Ebbs in Wanganui in 1872 (previously just a link).
6 Nov 2013 – Myths & Legends: Viscounts Lifford
I’ve received the genealogical papers in the Hewitt Papers held at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. It shows more branches of the Hewitt family, but not ours.
26 Oct 2013 – The American Connection
My FMP subscription has yielded amazing results. Just discovered the William E Wilson died in Ireland, not in the US as always thought. His family returned via Glasgow in March 1859, days before he died.
25 Oct 2013 – New Post – Upping Sticks: The Black family on the Fiery Star and re-edit of Upping Sticks – Black family
Having found lots of new information on both the voyage of the Fiery Star and the Black family, I’ve split the original post into two so it’s not so long winded!
23 Oct 2013 – Death in Print
New items added regarding the deaths of Rachel C Greacen and Thomas Robert O’Callaghan.
15 Oct 2013 – New Post – Myths & Legends: Viscounts Lifford
Debunking the Hewitt family’s favourite myth.
11 Oct 2013 – Hewitt Family Photos
Remembered that Arthur Turner Hewitt is supposed to have inherited some portraits of the family so have added that in the hope one of his descendants might turn up and know about them?!!
My Family Annals 