Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 1

BRANCH LINES

Newsletter of the Southland Branch New Zealand Society of Genealogists

Issue No. 76 – Feb / Mar 2019

March is NZSG Cemetery Month

Branch Meeting Topics and Special events:

Wed 20th Feb Papers Past revisited. Speaker: Wendy Shaw.

Wed 27th Feb

Graeme Mackenzie, Scottish genealogist will present a talk on

researching your Highland ancestors. Entry fee is $5. Venue is

Invercargill Library at 7pm.

Sat 16th Mar St John’s Cemetery Tour with Mary Stuart. Start time 2pm.

Wed 20th Mar Reviewing notable people buried at St John’s Cemetery.

Wed 17th April Military Memories.

About Branch Lines

Branch Lines is a periodic magazine, issued for the members of the Southland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists.

The views expressed are those of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Branch of the Society. It is intended to be produced bi monthly to keep you up to date with events. Wendy Shaw is currently filling the position of Editor.

Index

Meetings p1

From the Convenor p2

GCG, Papers Past p3

Branch Resources p3

Ancestry Update p3

Graeme Mackenzie p4

Te Anau Festival p4

FamilySearch, FMP p5

Tyree/Coll Research p6

Faceboook p6

Kirk & Royd’s p7

Branch information p8

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 2

A Word .... from the Convenor February 2019

2019 - the start of a new year. I hope everyone was able to put their genealogy aside for a few weeks and enjoy the warm summer weather. For my part, I was in British Columbia (Canada) with my daughter and family, in snow with temperatures in the low minuses, so we experienced something quite different for Christmas and New Year.

This year has a special significance for the Southland Branch - it will be celebrating its 50th anniversary year. The branch held its first meeting as a NZSG-affiliated group on 19 November 1969, only the 5th to be affiliated to the NZSG. There had however been an Invercargill Genealogy Club operating since 21 May of that year, which morphed into the branch at the inaugural formal meeting of the branch. Since then the branch has had a good 50 years of active service with bringing genealogy to the local people and indexing many records (e.g. schools, cemeteries, probates) which are now available through the NZSG Index. The highlight of its 50 years is probably the hosting of the NZSG Conference and AGM in 1996 when 237 registrants attended. A feature of that AGM, never yet repeated, was the hiring of a special train which left Auckland, travelled the length of the country picking up members as it progressed south, and delivering them to Invercargill. And the return journey was of the same.

Planning for celebrating the 50th anniversary is still in the formative stages. The date has been set - Friday evening of 9 August at the Ascot Hotel, at the conclusion of Family History Week. Mark your diaries. Details will be posted when they have taken shape.

The branch’s venue for meetings in the Invercargill Public Library had a disturbed pattern in 2018 as the library was reorganised and refurbished. The Resources Room was unavailable for nearly 7 months, and monthly meetings had to be held in alternative rooms. It is hugely pleasing to note that the worst of the changes are over and the branch is able to take charge of its Resources Room again, and meetings will probably resume in the main Meeting Room with the facilities that make for comfortable evening sessions.

As part of genealogy outreach, the committee has decided to resume open afternoons in the Resources Room to enable members’ access to the library and to seek help from the more experienced members. This is to be on Wednesday afternoons from 1pm – 3pm. A roster of volunteers has been drawn up for this service which starts on 13 February. It would be just wonderful if members with spare time on their hands could volunteer to help : experience is relative and it is not necessary to know all about everything.

The branch programme for the year commences on 20 February with an instructional look at Papers Past : how to get the best from this wonderful site.

This month the branch will be hosting Graeme Mackenzie again (he was last here in 2007) who will talk on Family History Research in the Highlands of Scotland in Invercargill on Wednesday evening of 27 February; he is likely to be selling his books also. This meeting, to be held in the public library, will be open to the public. (See p. 4).

The branch’s programme for the year can be viewed, and a brochure downloaded, from the website - go to www.nzsgsouthland.com/ to see what is in store. R.

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 3

New Zealand News

Venue: SeniorNet rooms, WEA building, Esk St.

Time: 7pm on 4th Thursday of month February-November.

All are welcomed to the group - there is no subscription, but members pay $2 per person to cover

room hire and supper.

Contacts: Wendy Shaw (hutchshaw@yahoo.co.nz) or Roger Washbourn (rogerw@southnet.co.nz)

.

Computing Group Meetings 2018:

Social get together: 85 Ritchie Street Thursday 31st January at 7:30pm

First meeting will be held on Thursday 28th February at WEA. This will be to discuss the

continuation of the group and options available.

Southland Branch Resource Room

The Resource Room will be open for research

EVERY WEDNESDAY 1-3pm starting 13Th

February. There will be a roster for helpers – if you

are willing to be on the roster please let any

Committee member know.

My Heritage subscription raffle When Jan Gow visited in November, she very kindly arranged for a "One Year MyHeritage Complete Plan" as a raffle prize which was to be sold to members as a local fund-raiser. Tickets will be sold at meetings over the next few months, and it will be drawn at the AGM in May. Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5.00. So, if you want to buy a ticket, bring some cash with you to meetings. This prize is valued at $350+. Details of what is included will be available at meetings. See their website: https://www.myheritage.com/

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 4

Te Anau Tartan Festival Easter 2019 Come and make a day or two of it (3 days of action) – see Highland dancing, piping, sheaf

and caber tossing. Plenty of food and even more fun for all ages. Put it in your diary now.

Talking about Scottish Genealogy with Graeme Mackenzie Bringing Clan and Family History from Scotland to New Zealand and Australia

Lecture Tour February & March 2019

Tracing your ancestors in the Highlands of Scotland? Whether they stayed or

immigrated to Canada, USA and beyond, Graeme examines the sources for genealogical

research in Scotland and shows how they are used to track them.

Venue: Invercargill Library

Time: 7pm – remember to arrive early as doors are locked at 7pm

Cost: $5 entry fee (copies of his book is available for sale on the night)

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 5

Overseas News

Latest Additions:

NZ Police Gazettes 1878 – 1945 – all digitised. A bit more user friendly than NZ

Archway!

Sweden Emigration Registers 1869 – 1948 (Updated)

Search the site by Place or record type

Just a few updates...

England, Cheshire Bishop’s Transcripts 1598 – 1900

England, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Register’s 1537 – 1918

England, Hampshire, Parish Registers 1538 – 1980

England, Northumberland Parish Registers 1538 – 1950

Ireland Census 1901 and 1911

Australia, South Australia School Admission Registers 1873 – 1985

Australia, South Australia

Latest additions at Find My Past:

1939 Register updated – some closed entries

opened!

Newspapers – added most weeks – see Find

My Past blog

West Surrey Times - 1876, 1882-1887, 1893, 1895, 1899-1910, 1913-1914 Sunday Life - 1988-1997 Heywood Advertiser - 1877 Lloyd's List - 1912 Leicester Daily Post - 1879, 1887 Buckingham Express - 1869 Evening Herald (Dublin) - 2005 Daily Herald - 1957 Express and Echo - 1881-1888, 1890-1895, 1899-1900 Belfast Telegraph - 1917 Gloucestershire Chronicle - 1849-1851, 1855-1864, 1866-1870 Huddersfield Daily Examiner - 1872, 1886, 1891-1895, 1901-1904 Worcester Herald - 1859-1860 Perthshire Advertiser - 1933-1935, 1987 Carlisle Journal - 1882, 1884, 1886-1888, 1890, 1893, 1895

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 6

Scottish Ancestry

The Argyll area also includes the islands of Tiree and Coll.

Visit the following website – it is full of fantastic articles and databases.

http://www.tireegenealogy.com

Examples of their resources are as below

Tiree History

Births, Baptisms & Marriages

Tiree Cemetery Records

Napier Commission

Genealogical Records

Argyll & Bute

Archives

Statistics of Tiree &

Coll

Tiree Censuses

Overseas Cemetery Records

Research Interests

Family Trees

Mariner Records

Emigrant Ships

Emigrant Stories

Tiree Map

Churches in Tiree &

Coll

Scenes of Old Tiree

Old Word Meanings

Ships & Captains

Poems, Stories &

Songs

Born-in-Tiree

Links

Obituaries &

Personals

Alternative Forenames

Tiree Place Names

Coll Genealogy

Memorable Quote:

I don’t know who my grandfather was – I am much more concerned to know what his

grandson will be. (Abraham Lincoln)

Use FACEBOOK for YOUR advantage not theirs!

Did you know you can use this famous (or infamous) website for your genealogy

research. There are bucket loads of different genealogy groups worldwide or in

countries for support, research or just for fun.

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 7

History Corner:

Kirk & Royd’s Building aka Trent House, corner Tay and Nith Streets

This commercial building was designed by Invercargill architect Charles Brodrick in 1908 for

merchants Kirk and Royds. The firm Royd Bros & Kirk, Ltd, was an amalgamation of

Messrs Kirk & Royds, Invercargill, and John. I. Royds & Co. merchants, of Christchurch,

which merged in 1904. John Royds was a managing partner in the firm, which had branches

in Invercargill and Christchurch. In 1908 they leased two sections at the corner of Tay and

Nith Streets. Invercargill architect Charles Brodrick invited for tenders for ‘the ERECTION

of Extensive Two Storey BRICK PREMISES, OFFICES, AND STORES, corner of Tay &

Nith Streets, for Messrs Royds Bros, and Kirk, Ltd.’ In April 1908, the Royal Hotel was

demolished to make way for the new premises.

The Southern Cross described the new building as having a frontage of 104 feet to Tay Street,

and 186 feet to Nith Street. There were two ‘large shops’ on the ground floor as well as

offices to be occupied by Dalgety and Company, as well as offices and stores occupied by

Royd Bros. and Kirk. The first floor was let, with its two large rooms which were suitable

for warehousing or which could be partitioned into offices. The building was completed by

December 1908.

Kirk & Royds leased the land until the 1950s, after which they transferred the lease to Rae

Alan Limited. In later years, the building was owned by Guthrie Bowron Limited, and then

by Craig Printing Company Limited. Today it houses offices and a variety of shops.

Our Resource Room:

Magazines arrive monthly for ‘Family Tree’ – which are able to be borrowed. Why spend

$18 or so on ‘Family Tree’ magazine each month when you can borrow and read it as part of

your branch membership.

The Resource Room is open for any member of the branch to use for research. Members of

the public may do research in the Resource Room for a small fee.

The contents of the cupboards are in a process of being revamped to improve the availability

and access to the material we have there.

Branch Lines #76 NZSG Southland Page 8

Current Branch Projects ‘Order of Service’

The order of service sheets from funerals are still being collected by the branch. The

information on them will continue to be indexed as an ongoing branch project. Photographs

on them remain copyright to the family and will not be made available. Copies may be

donated at branch meetings, posted, emailed, given to any committee member or brought to

the Resource Room on Open Days.

Obituaries from the Southland Times of local people (and

many national figures) are being collected. These are then

indexed before placing the books in the Resource Room. Index

is on Resource Room laptop.

Lone Graves in Southland and Stewart Is - Mary Stuart and Yvonne Service continue

collecting data on these graves – found in isolated places e.g. on farms, in isolated bush,

disused dwellings, abandoned mining camps.

Bluff Baptisms and Marriages – entries are being put into a database to be held in the

Branch laptop in the Resource Room. Work in Progress.

Directory

Southland Branch,

NZ Society of Genealogists Inc.

Postal address: P.O. Box 1329, Invercargill 9840.

E-mail: Southland@genealogy.org.nz

Meetings

Third Wednesday of each month Feb - Nov

Meeting Room, Invercargill City Library at 7 p.m.

[Research facilities from 6 p.m.]

Resources Room open: Wednesdays, 1~3pm.

~

Branch website ~ http://www.nzsgsouthland.com/

NZSG website ~http://www.genealogy.org.nz/

Genealogical Computing Group website ~

http://www.gencom.org.nz/