Feet Up; Time to Think

It's summer in New Zealand; Christmas and New Year have flown by. As summer holidays are the start of our year, I thought about how I spent it as a child. Summer holidays always meant a day-long journey from Wellington to Tauranga in a stifling hot car along windy, dusty roads; trips to the Mount (Mount Maunganui, a popular surf beach) and Nana. Nana-in-Tauranga was the only grandparent I ever knew as she had been widowed just before my younger brother was born. My other grandparents were shadowy figures: Granny-in-Scotland and Grandpa. In the 1960s, communication was by aerogramme and my only contact was writing two letters a year to thank them for the postal note they sent at Christmas and for my birthday in June. Arriving at Nana's was tinged with both excitement and relief. Heading inside the back door on the left hand side, the first thing I always saw was a large portrait of a white haired lady. And to me, she was a lady! She was dressed in black with a high-necked wh...

A 1904 All Black cap, a family bible with entries back to 1801, a Croix de Guerre for gallantry - there are many items owned by other family members that would be much more worthy of a post about heirlooms but my heirloom has a special connection. It is the powder compact given to me on my 16th birthday by my grandmother, Marcia Adeline Mary McMinn. It looks like a locket, but in fact is a very small powder compact. On the lid are the initials, MMM, for Marcia McMinn. When the lid is lifted, it is clear that it once held a small mirror. Like its original black velvet ribbon, that is long gone. It held face powder and a small power puff and was used at dances - just in case your nose got shiny after too much exertion. Marcia had been given this compact on her own 16th birthday. I'm not sure who gave it to her. Her father had passed away two years earlier under very sad circumstances, so it may have been a gift from her mother or either of her grandmothers, Mary Ann Edwards or mo...

Valentine's Day is a relatively new phenomenon for New Zealanders. I have no recollection of it growing up as a teenager  in the 1970s. As most of research is based on my local ancestors, that causes a problem. There is no-one who was born, was married or even passed away on 14 February. However, I did inherit my Scottish grandmother's engagement ring in its heart-shaped box and after a few sums, I realise my father's parents, John McMichael and Mary King, probably hold the record for the longest family marriage. Their marriage would be perfect for a Valentine's Day tribute. Firstly, the engagement ring. It is still in its original, tiny leather box lined with cream velvet and satin. Over 100 years later is starting to show its age. The box was originally navy blue, though the colour has faded and the gold tooling has worn off. The little hook on the side is quite bent, yet opens easily. The ring is gold with quite a complicated high chased bridge. Along the ...

Sometimes you see a name and it creates a picture of the life that person might have had. I always thought that my 3x great aunt Angelina Bliss would have had a wonderful life. However, when I started looking, frankly, I was shocked by uncovering things that hint at a life that belies her name. Angelina Lovell, the youngest surviving child of Benjamin and Hester, was born in 1852 in Motueka, New Zealand, probably in the middle of the town where I now live. Just behind her likely birthplace is Wilkinson Street. I assumed Angelina had married Mr. Bliss, he had passed away and she had married Mr. Wilkinson, who may or may not have been the local dignitary after whom the street was named. Angelina's parents had arrived as assisted immigrants and first settlers to Nelson in 1842 and within a few months had moved to what is now Golden Bay. They quickly moved back to Motueka where there were more Europeans because Hester did not feel safe and, unlike her sister in law Ann, struggled t...