Question of the Week: Do you have any New Zealand family?

Question

Kia ora!

Do you have any ancestors or family members from New Zealand?

Tell us about it with an answer below! You could also answer on Facebook or use the question image to share your answer with friends and family on social media.

You may also be interested in our New Zealand Project.

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Answer 1

I have quite a couple of Kiwi cousins, given where I live! One of my favourites is Jacinda Ardern, who is my 7th cousin one time removed!

Comments

Same here, She is my 1st cousin 3x removed of wife of brother-in-law of 1st cousin 1x removed of wife of 2nd cousin 2x removed.

I was born and raised in NZ

Any other burkes here?

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My 2nd Great Grandmother is Catherine Burke (Burke-8254)

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Hello, I cant seem to find that name in my tree :(

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She is at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Burke-8254.

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Yip thanks i did look before but found none of those names in my tree :(

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We may be related I am told I am a cousin of Jacinda from the retired detective that helped me with my DNA search for my father - but all the Ardern trees in my DNA matches on Ancestry are private so can't confirm the connection.

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Hello, I tried finding a connection between us but it says...
Sorry, Edwards-7254's family tree is not public and you are not on their Trusted List. 

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PM sent to you - will hopefully catch up in couple of days.

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Thank you, I replied with my email :)

Answer 2

I have Gregg paternal cousins scattered across both islands.

Aye !! despite them !! LOL !! 

'While there's leaves in the forest, and foam on the river, MacGregor despite them, shall flourish for ever!' 

Answer 3

I was born and raised in New Zealand, although I have since emigrated to Canada.

My family still lives in New Zealand.

All 4 of my grandparents were born in NZ.

Only 2 of my 8 great grandparents were born in NZ.

The rest were born in England, Ireland and Tasmania  (Australia).

Comments

hi Robynne, we are connected via the Meiklejohn family which i have mentioned in my list of immigrants from the U.K. - Lanarkshire, Scotland

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I don't know the Meiklejohn family, but one of them married a Mathias, and I do know the Mathias family and they are definitely connected to me (by marriage) but not related to my family.  The Mathias Family were in Australia before moving to New Zealand.

Thanks for the comment.

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John Meiklejohn has a very interesting biography including his participation in gold prospecting at Gabriels Gully.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Meiklejohn-206

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Gabriels Gully and Mornington are also part of my family's history as well.

In fact I used to live in Mornington while I was in high school!!  Of course we are talking 40 years ago now!!

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Meiklejohn family settled in Matakana, north of Auckland, New Zealand. They were ship builders. James Strange Meiklejohn arrived in NZ in the 1800s.  I am not related to this family but my WANN family were settlers in the area too.

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Hi Allan, Then that means Robynne & you are connected to me via the OMOND family (wife of John Mieklejohn) from Orkney. In my research on NZ Mieklejohn families I have identified 3 different lines & not been able to connect them: john who came via Tasmania to Dunedin area; the shipbuilding family of the north island; & a very small family of graziers inland south island for whom I found no descendants.

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Hello Pip,

my grandfather's sister-in-law Florence Irving Peace

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Peace-1092

was an OMOND descendant.

The majority of the links to persons replying to this post are via the

Edelsten - Askew families

I do have a copy of the book "The Edelstens" by Patricia Jean Clement ( published 1991, ISBN 0473011999 )

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Hello ‘Cousin’ Allan, WikiTree tells me that Florence & I are third cousins twice removed. Christian (Hourston) Omond being Florence’s gggrandma & my gggggrandma. I do love the WikiTree Connection Finder..

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Hi Allan. My great great grandfather was John Meiklejohn, his wife was Johanna Omond. Their grandson (my pop) was Omond Meiklejohn, he was known as Mick.

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Hi Pip. You are correct that there are a few Meiklejohn families in NZ. To be honest I only knew of two of these families. John Meiklejohn is my great great grandfather. When I was in primary school at Mt Maunganui there was a Peter Meiklejohn that was not related to me as well as my older brother Peter Meiklejohn.

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Hi Steve, That makes us distant cousins. Johanna (wife of John) and my G-g-grandmother were sisters. Johanna came to Tassie with MaryAnn & her newly wed husband Peter Miller in mid 1850s. Great to make contact! I love how WikiTree makes that possible. In 2018 I spent 5 months in Orkney & loved it!!

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John & Johanna met on the boat to Tasmania. They were apparently married in Johanna's sister and brother in-laws home.

I haven't made it over to Scotland as I left NZ to live in Australia in the mid 80s. My travelling has been back & forth between Aus & NZ over the years.

Answer 4

All my three of my great uncles on one side, emigrated to New Zealand, my grandfather being the son that remained on the family farm in Ireland.

Answer 5

Yes, both parents, all four grandparents, four great grandparents and one great great grandparent. Other ancestors are mostly from Scotland and Ireland with a few from England.

Answer 6

I (GEDmatch kit #KB2675787) share DNA with Alise Smith-209324 (GEDmatch kit #A808526).  We've tried for years to find the connection, with no luck.  The connection is through my mom, Ruth Denning-536 Tiedeman, whose family has been in the United States since the 1700s.  Alise's family has been in New Zealand for 4-5 generations.  Any help in trying to find the relationship would be appreciated.

I have checked to see if anyone who has answered this question already shares any DNA with either Alise or me.  In Robynne Thompson-31031 Lozier's WikiTree profile is Margaret Stewart-22600, GEDmatch Kit#A399379.  Alise and Margaret share DNA on C5 and C13, for a total of 14.7 cM.

Comments

I have a first cousin Phylis McConnell who married a Raymond Denning (now deceased) who had 3 or 4 brothers. I have a family tree with Wikipedia but very little information about Raymond. His funeral service was held at Purewa cemetery which would be a good place to start any enquiry.

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Hello, we might share also a little amount of DNA.  JK1423310; If you have an idea. Regards

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Thanks, Robert.  I'll see what I can find out.

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Yannick, you do not share DNA with either Alise or me.  Even without sharing DNA, we could be related.  If I find out any more information, I'll try to remember to let you know!

Answer 7

To my knowledge, I have no blood relations with a New Zealand connection. However, my doctoral supervisor (whom in German I'd call Doktormutter) was Miriam Meyerhoff, a notable Kiwi linguist (alas!, without a WikiTree profile yet). So, I'd proudly count her as my New Zealand family member in spirit! ;-)

P.S.: To celebrate this New Zealand connection, I just created a profile for her father, notable philosophy professor Hans Meyerhoff. Here's to the giants on whose shoulders we stand!

Answer 8

I have 2 first cousins 1 R who emigrated to New Zealand from England in the 1950s and their many children and grandchildren.

Plus a 3 x Great Uncle Charles Wootton from Staffordshire England and his family who originally arrived in New South Wales, Australia on 15 Jan 1878.

By 1881 he and the family were living in Otago, New Zealand, he has a huge number of descendants most of whom I knew nothing about.

But through the wonders of WT, a descendant of his contacted me, and now I do know some information about many of them.

Comments

My family comes from Otago in NZ.

The Name Wootten does sound familiar, but I cannot remember for what reason. Sorry. I think I have been away from NZ for too long.

Answer 9

My wife’s Mother was born in Wellington and was stationed in Tonga during WW II.  Her Grandfather served in the NZ forces at Gallipoli and on the Somme.  Her families emigrated from Scotland to NZ.  Family names include Campbell, Murchie, Glass, Admore, Foster and others.

Answer 10

I don't believe I have any relatives in New Zealand, but a good friend of my parents moved there shortly after I was born.

Her name was Iris Hodson, and I don't remember her husband's name, but Iris was my Godmother.  I don't know if I ever saw her again.

Comments

This answer stirred my interest so I checked out the NZ online index to death registrations. It is searchable by maiden name for deaths in the last 30 years or so. There was one death recorded of an Iris Alice Hodson, dob: 7 Dec 1919, died 7 Nov 1997; Reg. no: 1997/46379. I wonder if this is her?

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Well, thank you for looking at that.  I see she was born in 1919, and was just a few years older than my father, so it's certainly possible.  She worked in my father's office and and was friends with my parents.

Answer 11

One branch of Welburn’s from my maternal side left England several generations ago and emigrated to New Zealand. My branch (my great grandfather, his parents & his siblings) left England but instead stayed in Pennsylvania for a few years before settling on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River in Canada.

Answer 12

I have several families that emigrated from the U.K. to New Zealand

Ashworth - Ashworth-746 : John Arthur Ashworth (abt.1843-1884)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ashworth-746

Cromwell, Otago, New Zealand

Blue - Blue-2118 : Elizabeth Blue (1875-1973)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Blue-2118

Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

Edelsten - Edelsten-8 : James Samuel Edelsten (1828-1900)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Edelsten-8

Motueka, New Zealand

Gifford - Gifford-715 : Jacob Gifford (1792-1860)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gifford-715

Appleby, Waimea East, Marlborough, New Zealand

Longton - Longton-60 : James Longton (1851-1908)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Longton-60

Wellington, New Zealand

Mieklejohn - Meiklejohn-206 : John Meiklejohn (abt.1836-1925)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Meiklejohn-206

West Taieri, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

Sherran - Sherran-12 : Wilfred Sherran (abt.1925-abt.1980)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sherran-12

Soeberg - Soeberg-37 : John Arthur Stanley Soeberg (1899-1976)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Soeberg-37

Wanganui, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand

Answer 13

I have quite a few! Of the nine brothers and sisters of my maternal grandfather, Reginald Robinson (Robinson-32172), six emigrated from England to New Zealand either before or following the First World War.

In 2018 my wife and I visited NZ and met four of my relatives in Auckland. If I had been a member of WT at the time I would have had a good chance of making contact with others as well.

Answer 14

My second cousin 5 times removed, Anne (Stone) Prebble (Stone-7824  ) was one of the earliest civilian settlers in New Zealand.Her first husband died in 1838, and she married the recently widowed James Prebble.. In 1839 she, her new husband, his children, and her children embarked on the Aurora, one of the first ships bringing settlers to New Zealand. Their son, John Aurora Prebble, was born on board.   They settled near Christchurch, and the town of Prebbleton was founded by, and named after, two of her stepsons.

There is a detailed description of her story here

https://dcaldlan.com/the-whitehead-family/james-stephen-whitehead-1796-1838-and-ann-marie-stone-1803-1879/

Comments

I think you mean 1839?

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Yes!

Fixed.

Answer 15

5th generation to be born in NZ here! When I was young and found out my mother was English I joked to my dad was that the only way he could get out of marrying a cousin. When I went to boarding school as a 13 year old, he asked me the names of all my fellow boarders (80 odd girls), and he would reply back with what road in what area their family farm was on. So pretty much related to all of NZ it felt like at times!

Comments

Hi, i see that we are only 17 degrees apart via the Ings family from Hampshire, England

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Hi Allan, it seems most of my connections in DNA are also through the Ings, so not a huge surprise that's where we link through.

Answer 16

Born and raised here. Still live here, fantastic place to bring up our kids. Family in both sides came in from Scotland and England. Except my paternal grandmother, she's a gypsy, so no one really knows where she came from! My DNA test says Romania.

Answer 17

Yes! My family all still live in New Zealand. I left Christchurch, New Zealand in 2002 (22 yrs old) to seek my fame and fortune (LOL) and now live in Toronto, Canada. I am a direct descendant of Daniel Eyles & Jane Primmer (who are my 4th Great Grandparents) and some of the first people to arrive in New Zealand in 1842 when they arrived in Nelson on board the Marry Ann.

Some New Zealand Notables I am a blood relation include:

Ex All Black Capt - Kieran Read (4th Cousin 1x Removed)

Ex New Zealand Cricket - George Cresswell (3rd Cousin 2x Removed)

Ex New Zealand Cricket Coach - Denis Aberhart (4th Cousin).

My mother is a 1st Generation New Zealander as her father came from the Shetland Islands in 1920 as a child with his parents. Her mother came from Australia, a descendant of a long line of Copper miners in South Australia (originally from Cornwall) and Irish Immigrants (her Father) to New Zealand in 1874.

My Father is a 3rd and 4th Generation New Zealander as his father's family came from Dundee, Scotland in 1880, and his mother's family came from England throughout 1842 to both Wellington (Children born and raised in Pipitea Pa and only spoke Maori) and Nelson (including the Eyles). Her Mother's family came across from Tasmania and the Channel Islands/Dorset early 1900's.

Comments

Hey I left NZ (a long time ago) and also moved to the GTA  as well.

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I see we are 15th cousins 1x Removed :)

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Hi, we are 5th cousins - Daniel Eyles & Jane Primmer's family is quite prolific! Also see you were at Lincoln Uni too.

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Hi... Cousin! Yeah,... finished Lincoln in 2002.

On my Ancestry.com Tree, we have down to Arthur Win (Your Great Grandfather).

Thanks for reaching out.

Matt

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A Wilton cousin 8C2R, and I was at Lincoln in 1997

Answer 18

Several of my husband's relatives went from Ireland to New Zealand in the 1880s - having seen pictures of the boat they sailed in they were very definitely braver than I am. Having recently seen some pictures of these folk it is striking how some facial features don't change over the  generations ...

Comments

I just managed to buy a 95yo old book all about the ship (and passengers) that one of my ancestors came to New Zealand on. My gg-grandfather (who was a child passenger with his parents) became the vice-president of the association that wrote the book. That book has the only photo I've ever seen of him and his daughter, my g-grandmother. I was so stoked to find the photo and then be able to buy the book the photo came from!

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Wow You'll have to scan the pics in so we can all see them!

Answer 19

The first of my family to arrive in New Zealand were my two times great grandparents - Welch-2300 and Read-1529 - in January 1840. They and many of their family are on WikiTree, those that came to New Zealand, those that stayed behind in England and those who went to other countries. Other ancestors and their families followed during the 19th century mainly from Scotland or Ireland. All are being added to our tree.

Answer 20

On one side of my family, I'm a first generation New Zealander and on the other side, I'm the 5th generation to be be born here.
Interestingly, we have tangata whenua whakapapa (Māori ancestry) from Te Arawa - my tangata whenua 5th g-grandmother had a son who left Aotearoa and went to Samoa. It was his great-great grandchild (my grandmother, born in Fiji) who came back to Aotearoa, bringing that whakapapa back.