Family History Month 2020

The Kusabs family of Rotorua

August is known as Family History Month so this year I thought, why not select a family that had deep and wide connections in Rotorua. I'd noted the Kusab building on the corner of Arawa and Tutanakei Street, and of course the beautiful big house at the top of Fenton Street, once the Landmark Restaurant, that had connections to the Kusabs family. Then there are the street names, Kusabs, Edmund, Nairn, etc. So I began searching and looking to see what I could uncover about this family. And isn't that the way it is with even your own family research - certain things jump out at you, and then it draws you on. My apologies to the present day Kusabs family members for any mistakes and gaps, and thanks to Andrew Kusabs who filled in some of my gaps and provided interesting snippets of the family. So, let's begin our journey back in the 1800s. 

I'm starting with Henry and Emily Kusabs. Born in the 1830's, Henry Edmund Kusabs was from Eastern Prussia. Part of the German Navy, Henry traveled to China where he left the navy and sometime in 1858 came to New Zealand. Naturalised in 1863, for some years he was involved in coastal shipping. Henry settled in Ohaupo where he milked 50 cows and established sawmills where he processed local trees and sold the timber. He was involved in local body matters, business, education and the Anglican Church. 

Article supplied by Andrew Kusabs

His wife, Emily Prentice came to New Zealand with Bishop Selwyn. Whether to be governess to his children, or to teach at the school he established, I'm not sure. They met at the Cathedral, fell in love and eventually married. When she and Henry moved to Ohaupo, she taught her sons and other local children in her home. Eventually a school was built and she was appointed the head teacher.

Photo from Winds of change: a history of the European settlement of 
 Ohaupo by Valerie Millington for the Ohaupo School 125th Jubilee Committee

All the books I checked talked about the three sons they had, George Arthur, Andrew Ernest and Charles Edmund.  However, in the Historic Birth, Death and marriage records, I discovered the birth of a fourth son, born between Andrew and Charles, Michael Herbert. He died of tetanus aged 7. Then I discovered a fifth son, Frederick William, who died as a three year old.

Waikato Times 18 January 2014

Sons Andrew Ernest and Charles Edmund leased land in Mamaku where they had a saw-milling business. However, by 1901 the company had been sold with the tramway being sold in 1905. A timber yard was established in Hinemoa Street for genuine dry land timber. Henry and Emily followed their sons to Rotorua in about 1905.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, 13 November 1895, p 3
Papers Past

George Arthur, an accountant, married Phoebe Emmeline Hardwick had 3 daughters, and eventually moved to Auckland. One of his daughters, Lillian, married an American serviceman and moved to the States. When she died another daughter, Phyllis, went to the States and brought the children back to New Zealand where she raised them.

Andrew Ernest, timber merchant, married Lucy Ngamihi Dansey, daughter of Roger Delamere Dansey, who was the postmaster during the Tarawera eruption, 1886. When they married in 1898 Andrew presented Lucy with Moeranga Villa in Pukaki Street as a wedding dowry.  This building was added on to overtime, passing out of the family and eventually becoming the Regent Hotel.

Regent Hotel (original Kusabs house) north east corner Rangiuru/Pukaki streets, circa 1940,
Photographer unknown, Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa (CP-2729) 

Unfortunately Lucy died in 1906. leaving two young boys, Roger and William (Billy). Andrew later remarried, Louisa Lillian Phipps who managed the tea rooms in the Government Gardens, and they had another son, Samuel. It was Andrew who built the Kusabs building on the corner of Tutanekai and Arawa Street. Andrew also owned a launch business, the Rotorua Oil Launch Company. 

Kusabs Building on corner of Tutanekai and Arawa Streets

Photo of launch on Lake Rotorua early 1900's, supplied by Andrew Kusabs

Charles Kusabs married Cora Amelia Penn, and they had one son. After Cora died, Charles married a widow, Mrs Dorothea Nairn (where Nairn Street comes from). Charles moved into the car business. He ran tours, taking tourists around the Hot Lakes district and also owned a garage. His son Arthur was one of his drivers and eventually took over the business. Charles was also responsible for building the beautiful house at the top of Fenton Street. His love of golf drove him to be involved in the establishment of the Golf Course, where he was practicing on the day he died. 

Charles Kusabs, wife Cora and son Prentice in car outside their house, south east
corner Fenton and Meade streets, circa 1906, photographer unknown, Rotoura
Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa (CP-2729)

During 1918 Prentice Arthur trained as a pilot but he did not go overseas. He expanded the car tourism business to include buses running from Rotorua to Opotiki.  Arthur, went on to become the Mayor of Rotorua during the war years, 1942-43.

Arthur Kusabs and mates. Arthur sitting on left side of plane
Photograph supplied by Andrew Kusabs

Rotorua Borough Council, 1946, Panora Studio (Moore & Thompson), 
Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa(OP-6426)

Thank you for reading this brief blog about an early Rotorua family. I hope you'll come into the library, and visit the 2nd floor where we have a display on the Kusabs family, including a family tree which I know is incomplete. However, family stories are always growing, often waiting for another member to provide a link.  We also hope you will be able to attend some of our Family History Events during the month of August.

With thanks to Papers Past, Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa, Peggy Allen, Bryon Somervel and the Don Stafford Collection. Many thanks to Andrew and Hazel Kusabs for sharing some family stories and photographs with me. 

Written by Trish

Recommended Reads - Family History Month 2019

I'm Adopted / by Alex Gilbert

Alex Gilbert was born in Arkhangelsk, Russia. At the age of two he was adopted from an orphanage by Janice and Mark Gilbert and brought to New Zealand.

This book tells of Alex's childhood growing up in Whangarei with his brother Andrei, who was also adopted at the same time. It focuses on Alex's decision to search for his birth parents and the process. He describes finally meeting them at the end of 2013.

He also covers other significant events in a young person's life, such as moving from small-town Whangarei to big-city Auckland, his grandfather's passing, his relationship and break-up with his girlfriend, and pursuing his career in the television industry.

The book also includes a section in the middle with colour photographs from Alex's childhood. At the back of the book there are photographs from his visits to Russia in 2013, 2015, and 2017, and from the I'm Adopted meet ups and events.

Alex writes with simple prose that is easy to read. It is as if he is speaking directly to the reader telling his story.

This book can be found on the 1st Floor,
Adult Non-Fiction at 762.734 GIL NZ.

This book review is written by Graeme.


Our tree leaves, Book 1: how to create a family treasure with a new and less complex approach / by Catherine Pacheco

This book can be found on the 2nd Floor,
Genealogy Lending at 920.1072 PAC

This interesting new book encourages the recording of stories and details of family members. Once upon a time, the family Bible recorded the births, deaths and marriages of a family but that happens less and less today.  This book helps those who have been gathering snippets of information from all over to begin transferring that information into files. The book contains templates, steps and encouragement to put all the information into a logical format.

This book review written by Trish

This book can be found on the 2nd Floor,
Genealogy Lending at 929.1 SAS

Keeping chronicles: preserving history through written memorabilia / by Rosemary Sassoon.

This book highlights the importance of keeping letters, diaries, travel records, memoirs, professional or personal scrapbooks and more. 

The author writes in her introduction ‘genealogists trace the dates of their ancestors, the written trace, of itself, illuminates the character of past generations, as much as the letters, diaries and other lists chronicle their daily life’.

In keeping these items which may seem pointless to some family members, to others this is a link to the past for the elderly as their memories fade or disappear through illness. Diaries also give family an insight into why an ancestor did and said the things they did, often we wonder why a parent or grandparent says certain things or became a difficult person to deal with, maybe they were children during the Great War and lived through bomb raids or being shipped off to the countryside or worse to another country as those from England did.  

Handwriting also brings back a much loved, long dead relative as I discovered for myself recently when I found letters to my great grandmother from her mother. Those letters gave me an insight into life for my great great grandmother.  This means she is not just a name on the family tree, but a living breathing part of who I am.  

This book also has some great tips for what type of ephemera (newspaper cuttings, postcards, envelopes, travel records, maps, recipes etc.) to keep and how to preserve them for future generations.

For those who like to use scrap-booking techniques and those who want to keep stuff forever and those who would normally throw stuff away.

This book review written by Alison

This book can be found on the second
floor in the Rotorua Heritage Collection

Galvanised to succeed: a story of fortitude / Victoria Dansey, 1934

A story about Roger Delamere Dansey and his descendants. The story follows his arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand and the life he forges here. During his time in the armed and mounted constabulary he faced many challenges and taught himself to use the trigger of his carbine to produce morse code. He met his future wife Wikitoria, who saved his life. The story follows his descendants who also faced many challenges and faced them with fortitude. The story is moving, empathetic and gritty.

This book review is written by Ani

Interview with Alex Gilbert - author & founder, I'm Adopted

Alex Gilbert. Image courtesy of Alex Gilbert | imadopted.org

Sasha Alexander 'Alex' Gilbert, whose birth name was Gusovskoi Alexander Viktorovich, was born in Arkhangelsk, Russia and placed in a local orphanage. In 1994, at age two he was adopted by his New Zealand parents.

In 2013, Alex did a search for his birth parents using social media. He eventually found them and met his birth mother and father for the first time at the end of 2013. Since then Alex has formed I'm Adopted, an organisation that helps adoptees find their biological families, and connect with other adoptees for support and advice.

Alex has written two books My Russian Side (2014) and I'm Adopted (2018). He also produces a weekly podcast I'm Adopted: The Podcast.

Alex Gilbert signing his book I'm Adopted at Rotorua Library, 10 August 2019. Photo: Ani Sharland.

Rotorua Library Heritage and Research Specialist Graeme Cash spoke with Alex Gilbert about his search for his birth parents, publishing his story and forming I'm Adopted.

What led you to search for your birth parents?
I have always wanted to know about my birth parents in Russia. Growing up I have always had an interest in where I came from. My parents were always open and honest about it too with both my brother and I. It was never something that was a secret in our family. I am grateful for that. I wanted to do a search for them when I was 21. I felt like this would be a good time to do a search myself. I thought about doing a search back in High School which I did try, but I had no luck. The timing when I was 21 seemed to have worked perfectly with me.

How did you make contact with your birth parents?
At the start of 2013 I did some research on Russian social network websites, which I didn't really know about. After I pulled out my adoption documents, I was able to try and do a search. I managed to find information on my birth mother first. I found a contact of hers through a community group who had the same last name as hers. My birth mother herself doesn't use social media, but people who know her did and so I managed to get in touch with them. With my birth father I wasn't able to find information on him. I learnt later that he didn't know about me and the name on my adoption papers was not real. He only knew about me when I sent him a message for the first time when I did a search in 2013.

Can you talk about the use of social media and the Web as tools for one finding their birth parents?
For social media it is very useful. It's helpful with this day and age as there are contacts out there that might know someone. It is different for everyone of course, every story is different. With I'm Adopted its helpful because it's mostly run through social media. People that might want to do a search can reach out to the community or if they want to talk to other adoptees, they can also reach out. It's important for that. Social media and the internet plays a huge role.

Alex (far right) with his parents Mark and Janice Gilbert and brother Andrei (also adopted). Image courtesy of Alex Gilbert | imadopted.org

Can you describe the experience of meeting your birth parents for the first time?
I was extremely nervous. I got in touch with my birth parents at the start of 2013 to then going to Russia at the end of 2013. The year had a lot of planning involved and for me, I had never been back to Russia and so I didn't know what to expect. Meeting them for the first time was an incredible experience. I got to Moscow first, then driving to see my birth mother the next day. It all still feels like yesterday. We were both nervous about the entire meeting. Even though it was a lot of planning, it all went very fast. It was a life changing experience. Meeting my birth father was again another surreal experience. It was a special moment for me. He was soon meeting this son of his that he never knew existed. It changed his life and mine, not to forget his entire family.

How do you maintain contact and develop a relationship with your birth parents from New Zealand?
I don't keep in touch with my birth mother as much as I would like to, but I keep in contact all the time with my birth father. We use social media, phone call and skyping to keep in touch. It's incredible how much technology has improved over the last few years with communication. It has made things a lot faster in the way of reaching out to my birth family in Russia. I have also been learning the language as well as having friends who translate for me too which is useful.

Alex and his parents Janice and Mark Gilbert with his birth mother Tatiana and birth father Mihail. Image courtesy of Alex Gilbert | imadopted.org 

What inspired you to publish your story?
I had so much I wanted to write about from my story. A lot was all like a timeline in my head that I really wanted to put into a book. I wanted to write this book so that it can help others adopted or even parents who have adopted children themselves. Of course it talks about my own personal life and ups and downs that everyone gets from time to time. The book is me and its about my story of my adoption and how it really changed my life with meeting my birth parents to now creating I'm Adopted.

I'm Adopted (2018, Alex Gilbert)

Can you explain what the I'm Adopted project is and how it began?
In mid 2015 I wanted to create an online project that helps adopted people reach out to each other. Open a community online using social media so that we can all talk to each other with. It's all for anyone around the world who is adopted, inside their country or overseas, it's for all of us. I knew that if this project was around when I did my own search in 2013, I may have been able to prepare a little bit more before going to Russia. I didn't have a community like I'm Adopted around to reach out to. It's a support network and along with a beautiful community. People can share their stories or join private groups and reach out there. I also run a podcast weekly for the project that is published every Wednesday. It's overall an awesome project.

What have some of the challenges with running the project?
Where do I begin. I guess keeping it running is a big one. Keeping it going strong while I do have a full time job, I want to always keep helping with I'm Adopted. I enjoy doing what I do wit it but of course it's all my free time that I spend with it. But every moment is helping is important. I think it's most likely when I get the odd anonymous Facebook message from someone who is asking for my help but there is no information. I share the stories for people if they would like that or people can reach out to the group. Sometimes I also reach out to some of the contacts overseas who might be able to help specific people too. But it's a completely rewarding project and I would never change anything I have done with it. I am proud of what it has become.

Alex at first birthday celebration for I'm Adopted. Image courtesy of Alex Gilbert | imadopted.org

What has been the most rewarding moment for you?
The most rewarding moment is definitely when people reach out to me simply saying thank you. Or thank you to me for doing what I do. People who watch my YouTube channel reach out to me often, just thanking me. People have said that they have been able to find information with the help of I'm Adopted. I have a few adoption resources online that I have written that can help people with any searches that they might want to do. I have to keep the website and Facebook page running all the time, so I am always doing what I can with it. Overall I'm Adopted is a rewarding project.

Earlier this year you published a Russian version of your book I'm Adopted, can you tell me about that experience?
Back in 2017 I got to go to Russia to meet with an organisation in Moscow who help parents who have adopted children inside Russia. I know one of the organisations very well who actually let me to stay with their family in Moscow while I was there. I also revisited my orphanage for the first time at the end of 2018 (second time was at the end of 2018 for the gifts) too along with meeting the Children's Rights Minister in Moscow, who works with their President. I can say, it was a really productive visit to Russia. The organisation reached out to me who help parents and adopted teenagers when I got back from Russia. They asked if they could translate and publish my book inside Russia. It was more of a free giveaway for charities and organisations inside Russia, but overall, it was fully funded and printed. It was incredible. Took well over a year to plan, but seeing the finished translated version was something. I sent a signed thank you note to my birth mother with the book for them too.

Alex meeting Anna Kuznetsova, Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation. Image courtesy of  Alex Gilbert | imadopted.org

This year you have launched a podcast and currently have a TV show Reunited in development can you tell me about those projects.
I have always had an interest in podcasting and how that all works and so I wanted to create a Podcast for I'm Adopted. It's because with Spotify and music streaming services, it is a lot easier to create a podcast these days. I couldn't believe how easy it actually was. Of course I need to create the content, but I love what I do with this and so that was the least of my worries. It's called I'm Adopted: The Podcast. I interview adoptees and just talk about specific topics each week. It's an important podcast to listen to and what's great about Podcasts is, if you want to playback an old episode, you can at anytime!

For the TV show I can't talk too much about that unfortunately, but a small team of mine at work have been developing this new TV show that is based on the I'm Adopted project for awhile now and we will be starting production on it very soon. Something I would love to talk about more of course, but when we start the stories I can talk about that more.

What advice would you give to someone beginning their search for their birth parents?
Don't give up. Be patient and always prepared for anything. Be honest with your close friends and family and do it when you feel it's right in your heart. That is the advice I always give to those who want to search.

Alex speaking at Rotorua Library, 10 August 2019. Photo credit: Ani Sharland.

Alex Gilbert spoke at the library on Saturday 10th August 2019 as part of August Family History Month. A copy of his book I'm Adopted (now signed) can be found at 362.734 GIL NZ.

To learn more about Alex and I'm Adopted visit:

imadopted.org

facebook.com/imadoptedOrg

alexgilbert.co.nz

facebook.com/nzalexgilbert

Rotorua Early Settler Family : Family History Month 2019

Brief  History of the Woolliams Family

Woolliams is a well-known name in Rotorua as it seems two brothers Louis and Thomas Edwin moved to Rotorua in 1905. In c1903 their father had moved here from Tauranga, as his death notice in the NZ Herald suggests that, perhaps he retired here.

Louis Woolliams managed/ and or owned the Thirwell Guest House on the corner of Eruera and Tutanekai Streets while he was working there he had another Guest House built further up Eruera Street which opened in 1909, this was the Mansions Private Hotel which remained in business until it was given to Waikato Health Board – see Daily Post, 9.03.1964. It was then demolished c1965/66 to make way for the new T&G Building a three storey office block.  Louis was very active in the Rotorua Business scene and was a Borough Councillor from 1923-1928, returning in 1933-until his death in 1939. See his full obituary in Evening Post 13 July 1939. Source:  Papers Past.

Thomas E. Woolliams was employed by Mr R. Griffiths of Arawa House, on various contracts, which he did for two years. He moved on to be a driver for the Rotorua Transport Co., then worked in forestry and later the Borough Council. Thomas and his wife Henrietta left Rotorua to move to Hawera in c1934 for health reasons. See his full obituary in Bay of Plenty Times, 22 July 1938. Source: Papers Past.

On the corner of Eruera & Tutanekai Streets a building which incorporates several shops still has the name Woolliams Building on the façade and the date 1931. From an earlier news article printed in the Thames Star, 23 July 1923 - Mr T. Woolliams owned a block of shops which was destroyed by fire, on this same site.

This photograph shows the Woolliams Building, taken by Alison 7th August 2019.

Since this time there have been other well-known members of the Woolliams family also involved in Council, Mayor T. Ray Woolliams who also owned and ran Fairy Springs, Hells Gate and Waimangu Thermal Valley. Owned an IGA in Eruera Street and then opened the Foodlands Supermarket in Hinemoa Street.

Portrait taken for the Mayor's Hall of Fame at
Rotorua District Council 1979.

To read more about this family see Don Stafford’s history of  Rotorua books.  I also found members of the family in Births, Deaths & Marriages Historical Records, Archives NZ, The AW Cenotaph Database, and the Bay of Plenty/Rotorua Electoral rolls online via Ancestry.com,  these sources along with Papers Past have provided quite a bit of genealogy information.

This is just one family that have seen Rotorua develop as a thriving city.  There are many more which can be researched in the Heritage and Research collection of the Rotorua Library. Talk to our staff on the 2^nd floor for more help in tracing your family members whether from Rotorua or elsewhere in NZ.

This post written by Alison, with thanks to the Don Stafford Collection.

Family History Month at Rotorua Library

Every August we celebrate Family History Month, a time to promote the family research resources we hold in the library to assist with family research and to inspire people in the community to delve into their own family histories.

So what will we be offering this year?

Displays

There will be a photographic display of early Rotorua settlers. Do you have any connections to those early settlers? Come and check it out.

On the ground floor and also on the 2nd floor will be display cabinets displaying toys and memorabilia from the family histories of staff members.

Drop-in Assistance

As in previous years, members of the local Rotorua Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists will be up on the 2nd floor each Wednesday from 10-2 pm offering free assistance. This could be for someone just beginning to delve into their family history or for those who are stuck and don't know where to try next.

Ben Manley will also conduct a free drop-in session on Maori Land Court research on Monday 19 August from 10-2 pm.

Workshops

Each Friday from 10 am-12 noon there will be a workshop conducted by one of the Heritage and Research Team in the i-Mac Suite on the 2nd Floor. Topics covered will be Papers Past, Cenotaph database, Maori Maps/Maori Land Online, Maori Land Court Research and Ancestry.com. These workshops cost $6.00 each and can be booked on EventFinda.

On Monday 26 August 10 am-12 noon Ben Manley will conduct a Mapping Histories workshop in the i-Mac suite, cost $6.00. Again, this can be booked on EventFinda.

Free Events

This year we have six special events, all of which are free and will be held in the Discovery Space on the 2nd Floor.

We are very fortunate as on Thursday 8 August 10.30 am-12 noon. Raymon Naisbitt from Utah, USA will be presenting on Exploring FamilySearch.org from a British Isles perspective. Raymon works for FamilySearch.org. so will have many tips to share. He's an enthusiastic family researcher, and has been doing so for many years. Many thanks to the local Genealogy group for supporting this event.

Thursday 8 August 1-3 pm, the discussion will be on an Introduction to DNA. Jan heads the DNA group, and will share about the DNA research process, some things to watch for, some successes and will also answer questions.

We're very excited to have Alex Gilbert from I'm Adopted with us on Saturday 10 August from 2-2.30 pm. Alex was in a Russian orphanage until being adopted by a New Zealand couple. In his teens he located his birth parents. Since then he's written a book, done a documentary which screened on TV and set up an organisation helping other adoptees to find their birth parents called I'm Adopted.

On Thursday 15 August 1-3 pm a panel will be sharing on presenting family history. Once you've begun researching and gathering photographs, documents and sometimes memorabilia how do you store, manage and put it together so it's able to be shared with others? There will be examples shared by our panel on these aspects of family history.

Thursday 22 August from 5-6 pm, Ben Manley will give an introduction to Mapping Technologies. This lecture will introduce free, basic tools that combine maps with narrative text, images or video to create interactive, visual narratives.

Tuesday 27 August 1-2.30, we're Talking Adoption. Marianne and her team form the Oranga Tamariki Adoption Services team will share about the adoption process, how to go about finding birth family if you've been adopted or gave a child up for adoption, and the services their team offers.

So, we hope you come along, get inspired and hopefully we'll be able to offer you assistance on your family research journey in the months ahead. Check out the posters in the library, the library website, Facebook or EventFinda for further details.

Genealogy Book Reviews

Book reviews of new Genealogy books, Heritage and Research, Rotorua Library

Manorial Records for family historians: with examples of how to identify and locate your ancestor’s property by Geoffrey Barber (929.341 BAR). This fascinating little book gives an overview of the manorial system under which many of our British forebears lived. As tenants of the manor there were rules and customs expected of them, along with loyalty to the “Lord of the Manor”. The author explains, with examples from his own family, how Manorial records work and how they can be accessed. The advantage for genealogists is the wealth of information held, from church records to lines of descent and inheritances, along with a glimpse into a former way of life.

To trace or not to trace: a family history overview for the curious by Carol Baxter (929.102 BAX).  Particularly useful for those who are just beginning their family history search, this guide is full of humour and cartoons, along with charts and lots of information on how to get started. It discusses information we may already have, such as photos and anecdotal stories, along with discussions on sources family historians use to discover records such as birth, death and marriage certificates, migration records, census papers.

It’s all relative: adventures up and down the world’s family tree by A. J. Jacobs (929.1 JAC) When  Jacobs was approached via email by “an eighth cousin of your wife”, he began a journey delving into family tree building. His experiences lead to the interconnectedness of all humans, distant relatives and family reunions. Although not a how-to guide, it could be called a why-to guide. Touching on DNA, websites other than Ancestry.com, Jacobs also takes us on journeys meeting family and discovering connections in a readable, enjoyable way.

Further new titles that may be of interest include:

It’s not all online: a guide to genealogy sources offline by Shauna Hicks (929.1072 HIC)

Discover the Poor Law in England and Wales by Paul Blake ( 929.1072 BLA)

MyHeritage…my story: explore the lives of your ancestors and discover your family’s history by Rosemary Kopittke (929.1 KOP)

ScotlandsPeople: the place to launch your Scottish research by Rosemary Kopittke (929.3411 KOP)

Papers Past: New Zealand’s yesteryear newspapers by Coral Shearer (929.1072 SHE)

A beginner’s guide to British and Irish genealogy by Christ Paton (929.1072 PAT)

DNA for genealogists by Kerry Farmer (929.1072 FAR)

Australians in peril: tracing your World War Two Australian military ancestors by Neil C. Smith (929.1072 SMI)

The Genealogy do-over workbook: get your genealogy and family research back on track and still have fun by Thomas MacEntee (929.1072 MAC)

The Family Tree Cemetery Field guide: how to find, record, & preserve your ancestors’ graves by Joy Neighbours (929.1072 NEI)

Family Photographs for Genealogists

Portraits, Family Gatherings, Christenings...

These are all important items to keep and digitize wherever possible and NAME everyone in the photograph! In 10 years, 20 years whose going to know who they are or remember names? This is one of the most often things we hear at the Heritage & Research Help Desk, "this photo was taken sometime in the 1920,s or 1890,s  Mum/Dad are gone/cannot remember their names".

Family is how we figure out who we are and where we came from, and increasingly this means genealogy research is becoming our only way to find out especially as family members grow older and forget or in some cases choose not to pass on the family stories. With Ancestry.com and other genealogy resources growing bigger and better and privacy laws changing it means we now have access to millions of records from all over the world.

Family photographs are often lost or destroyed through house fires, floods and other natural disasters so now is the time to record these for future generations. There are many technology tools available to save these precious items, here are just a few...

• Use your smartphone as a scanner and save the image to the Cloud or pen drive, read this blog post by Dick Eastman for more ideas. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
• Scan to email at your local library Rotorua Library Services
• Use a digital camera and download all photographs to an external hard drive or USB, from there you can pay an online Photograph Book service such as SnapFish, Diamond Photo or PhotoBox, there are many to choose from, and this allows you to share with family via a password secured service or printed copy of the book.
• Use genealogy software to record your family tree. Again there are lots to choose from, a great resource to figure out which one is best see Eastman's Blog or Cyndi's List

• DON'T put precious photographs on Facebook or other social media, because when you read their fine print conditions you will find they own the digital image and can do what they or anyone on the WWW want to do with it.

Alan Lord kindly allowed Rotorua Library to add this photograph to
our online archive Kete Rotorua

Any one of the people in the photograph could be You! or your parents, brothers, sisters, cousins. Kete Rotorua and DigitalNZ are safe repositories for photographs like this one as they are secure sites which always give the copyright owners their rightful place.

Rotorua has had many professional photographers and here are a few that allowed their images, mostly weddings, engagements and coming of age photographs, to be published in the Rotorua Photo News 1963-1971.

Arawa Studios - Michael Burton
Bachelor Photographics - Alan Wilkinson
Camera Craft - Unknown
Fenwick Photographers - Peter Fenwick
Rotorua Home Portraits - Wyn Lambert
Michael's Portraits -  Mick Coebergh, Richard Krall & Russell Robinson
Modern Age Photography - Richard Krall
People Publishing Studios - B.J. O'Neill

Charles E. Jones ; Clarke Mahoney ; Louis Edwards ; Jack Lang as well as lots and lots of proud Mum's and Dad's  :)

The Rotorua Photo News can be viewed in the Heritage & Research area of Rotorua Library.

Family History Month in Rotorua

What did your ancestors get up to?

When you are researching your family member the basic details you might be looking for are : Birth Date, Death Date, Where they lived and where Buried, What did they do for a job/career, and who else are they related to.  

Something else to consider : What did they do for fun? or in the community?

To find out you can look for : Obituaries, newspaper articles and local history books, these are not always online for free.  

In NZ we have Papers Past which covers most New Zealand Newspapers and some journals dating from c.1839 to c.1948. One of those journals is Te Ao Hou "was a bilingual quarterly published by the Maori Affairs Department, and printed by Pegasus Press, 'to provide,' as its first issue said, 'interesting and informative reading for Maori homes ….. like a marae on paper, where all questions of interest to the Maori can be discussed" published 1952-1975.  There were often obituaries published in this journal.

Most Libraries have their own newspaper collections on microfiche or film. 

Hot Lakes Chronicle 1895

Rotorua Library holds: 

• Hot Lakes Chronicle 15 Feb 1895 – 20 Feb 1897, 4-5 Nov 1905
• Rotorua Chronicle 10 Aug 1931
• Rotorua Morning Post 24 Aug 1931 – May 1948
• Rotorua Post May 1948 – Dec 1960
• Daily Post Jan 1961 – Present (with some gaps, please ask staff on the Heritage Information Desk for details on 07 3517047 or email library@rotorualc.nz).
• Rotorua Review Oct 1984 – current year
• The Weekender 1993 – current year

We are also very fortunate to have an index done by Don Stafford up to 1987, which lists people that appeared in the newspapers above or in other research documents which Don used to write his 2 volume history of Rotorua.  We are also thrilled to have all of Don's research notes in subject folders and DVD's of Interviews he filmed with individuals who were long time residents of Rotorua.

A brief look at a club from 1940-c.1965  

The 30,000 Club was formed in 1940 and existed until c.1965 when Rotorua attained it's City Status.

The club did a lot of fundraising for worthy community projects. Foundation member, Hamilton Archie 'Dick' Spurdle, had his obituary published in the Daily Post in 1981, in which the reporter talked about his involvement in the community.  Included is the following information "He was Patron of Springfield Golf Club, Founding member of the Arawa Bowls Club, 25 year member of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, President of the Rotorua Lions Club, former Jaycee, played in City of Rotorua Municipal Band, the Rotorua Brass Band, and much more... all this information can be read in Don Stafford's Biography Folder.

Ask our experienced and helpful staff at the Heritage & Research area of the Library for advice and access to Don's folders.

Also for Family History Month the "Rotorua Branch of the NZ Society of Genealogists" will be available for free advice on each Wednesday of the month of August - Drop in from 10:00 am. They are also available on the 2nd Wednesday of every month (except December & January). 

Help for Family History at your Library

Rotorua Library Genealogy Collections

Rotorua Library has a selection of different sources to help you trace your ancestors :

How to books, like the following titles :

•  "A beginner's guide to online genealogy: learn how to trace your family history and discover your roots" by Michael Dunn. 
• "Unofficial guide to Ancestry.com" by Nancy Hendrickson.
• "Writing your family history" by Gill Blanchard.
• Tracing your ancestors through family photographs" by Jayne Shrimpton.

District Histories and School Jubilee publications. e.g.

Magazines

• "Who do you think you are", published monthly.
• "NZ Genealogist" 
• "Family Tree" 
• "Australian Family Tree Connections"

Local Newspapers,via Microfiche/film for past newspapers and paper copies for last 6 months, and access to historic newspapers via Papers Past

Online Access in the Library for the following :

Ancestry.com   (in Library use only)  
Find My Past    (in Library use only)
NZ Gazettes     (in Library use only)

Links to these can be found on our website :

NZ Births, Deaths and Marriages (Historic) ; Rotorua Cemetery Index ; Archway (Archives NZ).

For help of the personal kind : Come down to our Heritage & Research area in the new 'Temporary' Library at 1238 Pukuatua Street, see you there.

Also don't forget the Volunteers from the Rotorua Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, are happy to chat with you about your family history research queries, in the Library every second Wednesday of the month. 

August is Family History Month

Rotorua Library has Genealogy books and other sources

Have you thought of using old newspapers online to search for birth and death notices? 

National Library of NZ has a fabulous reliable online resource called Papers Past, although not all births, marriages and deaths are published this is still a very good place to start for all of New Zealand's newspapers that are digitised. 

Here are just a few samples of what you may find :

WAIRARAPA AGE, VOLUME XXXII, ISSUE 10697, 19 AUGUST 1912

Brief and to the point : Hastings Standard, 14 November 1898

Wedding of Miss Nora Curtis of Rotorua in
King Country Chronicle 15 March 1909

A Rotorua Silver Wedding in Evening Post 21 September 1939

For more information click the link to Papers Past at the top of this post.

Also check out previous posts for Family History Month

Genealogy Tips

Births, Deaths & Marriages 

There are a number of sources to find this information when trying to piece together you family tree.

• Newspapers through the ages have had notices published when the families have been able to afford it, so in some cases there won't be a notice. 

Rotorua District Library has the Daily Post and its predecessors back to 1895 (The Hot Lakes Chronicle) with gaps between 1905 & 1931 due to an unfortunate fire when the then Editor kept the back copies in a shed.

Papers Past is a free website where you can search across a wide range of New Zealand newspapers 

Papers Past contains more than three million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The collection covers the years 1839 to 1948 and includes 119 publications from all regions of New Zealand.

          Public Libraries have (most libraries) on microfiche lists of  Births, Deaths and                         Marriages 1840-1990, they only have the names and dates and a folio number which               you need to send away to the following  address to purchase a copy of the certificate :   
          Births, Deaths, Marriages and Citizenship, PO Box 10-526,  Wellington 6143 

          ** Note there are costs involved.

• Ancestry.com the Library Edition also has records, however the NZ records able to be searched on Ancestry.com have not been provided by Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) New Zealand.

New Zealand Birth, death and marriage records available on this website  BDM Online  are historical as follows : 

• Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
• Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
• Marriages that occurred at least 80 years ago
• Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.

Ask a Librarian on the 2nd Floor for any help you may need or come to the New Zealand Genealogists drop in session on the 2nd Wednesday of every month except December.

Family History Month

Ancestry Library Edition

This global website is available to search for FREE at Rotorua District Library.

Just getting started on finding out who you are? First pick up or print out a basic family tree, put your name on the tree and start by working back each generation that you know.  

Now the fun starts : Ancestry has learning guides with videos you can watch or you can ask a friendly Librarian to help.  

Ancestry covers the following New Zealand records :

New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981 ; New Zealand Birth, Marriage & Death 1800s-1964

New Zealand Military WW1 & WW2 ; New Zealand Immigration & Travel ; New Zealand 

Schools, Directories ; New Zealand Tax & Criminal, Maori Land Claims 1858-1980 ; 

New Zealand Reference, Dictionaries & Almanacs. New Zealand Stories, Memories & 

Histories (a select list) and of course they cover the rest of the World too.

A sample of what you can see from the Wises Post Office Directories

Wises Post Office Directory 1898

Electoral Rolls for Bay of Plenty 1905-06

See my Genealogy for Beginners blog post here