Lost in New Zealand

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Malcolm
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Location: Leeds. Yorkshire

Lost in New Zealand

Post by Malcolm » Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:59 pm

Hello
I’m in England and would like to trace the whereabouts of some long lost family members who went to New Zealand in the latter part of the 1900’s.
They were a couple and one son from Dundee. The mother had another son later in New Zealand but she is known to have died subsequently. I don’t know when.
I wrote to an old address I came across for the elder son in Upper Hutt, Wellington and also to the notional neighbours. One of these kindly replied saying my people had moved on but didn’t know where.
I write therefore to ask for any local knowledge as to how one traces folk in your neck of the woods. Here at home this can be done through the rating or polling records and I wonder if a similar system exists down your way.
One of my sons is travelling around your beautiful country as I write, I can't get him to come home in fact. Whilst there it would be so nice to put him in touch with family members who we have never known.
Any advice you can provide will greatly oblige.
Thanks.
M
Morris (formerly Morrice) of Fife and Geekie of Scone


Malcolm
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Location: Leeds. Yorkshire

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Malcolm » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:49 am

Thanks for the information Maureen which I have studied. However, the past papers archive falls outside my dating criteria and White Pages presumes knowledge I don’t possess.
This is also the case with Christchurch libraries but the government BMD might resolve things for me. However, to access the archive I need to set up a “real me account” with photographs and other hoops to jump through and from what I read this is exclusive to New Zealanders.
I have therefore written to the government body that run this show to ask them to point a way through the bureaucracy.
I can go to bed now knowing that I have made a start on something that’s been really nagging me for some time now.
Thank you again for your help.
M
Morris (formerly Morrice) of Fife and Geekie of Scone

momat
Posts: 704
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:50 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by momat » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:57 am

Hi Malcolm,

If you PM me with basic details I will see if I can help.
Maureen

Alan SHARP
Posts: 612
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:41 pm
Location: Waikato, New Zealand

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Alan SHARP » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:14 am

Greetings Malcolm.

Presumably "Momat" is helping you via Private Messaging, as you are enquiring about the living.

If the family you are trying to trace were / are enrolled to vote in our general elections, it should be possible to pick them up at the main libraries, in the electorate that they are residing in, as the rolls will be public documents therein, and now published every three years.

There are publications in NZ, happy to publish brief details about missing friends or relatives. Some will on forward replies, others will only publish direct contact details for replies.

Unfortunately the greater Wellington area, is a bit far south for my local patch of knowledge and contacts.

Alan SHARP.

Malcolm
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Location: Leeds. Yorkshire

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Malcolm » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:41 am

Hello Alan
Thanks for your reply.
Momat is indeed helping but I think my request is a tall order as I don't know where my people are in order to know which polling registers to peruse. Up this way I can commission a people tracing agency who can do this but such is not available in New Zealand as far as I can see.
I have however, been in in touch with the Salvation Army who can offer a tracing service to families separated by war which should qualify me. I understand they have access to contemporary antipode an archive material.
I think this is the best way for me rather than sit back and ask others to engage in upside down genealogy on my behalf.
Thanks again
Malcolm
Morris (formerly Morrice) of Fife and Geekie of Scone

JustJean
Posts: 2520
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:52 am
Location: Maine USA

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by JustJean » Fri Mar 27, 2015 3:42 am

hello malcolm

so nice to see a name from the auld days of TS! [cheers]

If it would not be overly nosey to ask, I for one would love to read of your outcome with the Salvation Army approach! Please do let us all read how you get on with the search.

I should warn you that Alan has been known to pick up a NZ telephone and cold call a prospective rellie contact on behalf of a TScotter.....with positive results!!!! =D> Sometimes those upside down researchers are quite effective :wink:

Best wishes
Jean

Alan SHARP
Posts: 612
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:41 pm
Location: Waikato, New Zealand

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Alan SHARP » Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:30 pm

Greeting Jean.

Have been very busy, so have not logged on for a while, but house sitting for a sick relative, so just took a look, and who's name should be at the top. Yes in deed, in my research I've cold called all over the place. Some time since we have shared a PM Jean.

In this case the Wellington province had been mentioned as a starter, which is not my local area.

We have a newish phone service here in NZ called 2 degrees, the claim being that, that is all the separation that there is in NZ, and at times I think so. Last weekend I got talking to a NZ resident, at a beach and he was surprised that in 2002, I had been in communication with the Deputy Director of the TOMSK STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY [Siberia]. A city that was in lock down until the late 1990's so residents could not leave without sanction from the authorities. The man did a double degree there.

If only I had contact with the likes of him, when I eventually scored from the library two papers in Russian totalling 11 pages, that I had been seeking for 40 years. First I had to learn that there are several key board ways of writing Russian so getting a printed out Cyrillic copy was a mission, then translation quotes in NZ and USA worked out at $NZ90 per page so I was forced to use an English/Russian dictionary, as best I could. Being a technical description of a new NZ invention it was not easy [new use for descriptive words in the language].

But with that research and others, I've learnt until you ask you never know who might hold the key to your investigation. What is pleasing is when we here in NZ can help with repatriation of personal effects from the other side of the world. I've been involved in a number of those now. Especially items from the fallen in war.

Malcolm if you PM me with a little more information [names & dates] I will see if I can help. I may have a contact, there is at least one distant cousin living in that general area. We have helped each other in the past.

Alan SHARP.

Malcolm
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Location: Leeds. Yorkshire

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Malcolm » Sun Mar 29, 2015 7:28 pm

Thanks Alan and hello again to Jean. How nice to know that you're still at large on Talking Scot.
Alan, I am preparing a detailed response and will reply with more while you're still sleeping.
I was still putting together my application to the Sally Army Jean when Sam's e-mail landed. I have been in touch with them before but declined their offer of help until I had exhausted my own enquiries. Recently they pressed me on the matter and I was in the process of responding to them.
For information, they do not undertake genealogy research but specialise in putting families in touch who have separated through hardship or war. They are a very nice bunch with access to international resources. http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/FamilyTracing .
Many regards to each
Malcolm
Last edited by Malcolm on Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Morris (formerly Morrice) of Fife and Geekie of Scone

Malcolm
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Location: Leeds. Yorkshire

Re: Lost in New Zealand

Post by Malcolm » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:20 pm

Dear Maureen and Alan
I’ll start with a short story. Some time ago the residents of a small Welsh village awoke to discover that the heads of all their garden flowers were gone. It didn’t take long to realise that they had been eaten by sheep. One of these found a way of rolling over the cattle grid in the road and the others followed on sheep like. This had never been known before but a few weeks later the same thing happened in the Yorkshire Dales one hundred and fifty miles away. Two years later it happened in Australia.
By now the thought transfer people were having a field day which brings me to the point of writing. Encouraging responses stressing your thoughts and offers of help have led to much progress with this missing link. Somehow these have been conveyed to one of my sons who as stated earlier is travelling NZ. Sam is in Wanuka at the moment and he is to genealogy what Ghengis Khan was to charitable causes. That’s what I thought anyway, but he has been following all this on line and been making some enquiries.
All I have done is to think about this matter, but collectively we have come up with a result I don’t know how, but he has made contact with the families concerned who are now all back in Wellington having moved around a lot. As I write every kind of invitation is being extended to get together.
I’m very pleased and thank you so much for your support and generous offer of help. There are many sad stories leading up to this moment but with huge thanks to yourselves and Talking Scot we can repair the past.
Thank you again
Malcolm
PS. If there is anything I can do for you up this way, please let me know
Morris (formerly Morrice) of Fife and Geekie of Scone

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