Family History
I have compiled here various family records and documents.
Purdie Family
|
|
PHOTOS and information about the Purdie line (with lots of James, Keiths and Archibalds!)
Family Tree info
Family Tree info
My Parents' Wedding
In December 1966, my father Ern Crane arrived off a boat plane from Fiji with his 15-year-old daughter Christine. It was just 17 months since her mother Isabelle and her elder sister Margaret were killed in a terrible landslide.
|
The wreckage of the house in Domain Cres, Muriwai, west of Auckland, in the winter of 1965, where my father and his family were buried alive in mud. Dad and Christine were rescued but tragically his wife and daughter died.
The same thing happened in 2023 in Cyclone Gabrielle, killing two firefighters. ('Landslide hazard and loss-of-life risk assessment for Muriwai') |
Ern and Christine moved to Fiji for a new life, and Dad decided he needed another wife. He knew Wendy's family through the Pacifist movement, and had just been visiting their home in Lower Hutt the week before the accident. By 1966 Wendy was nearly 30, and had exhausted herself in efforts to find a husband or an independent life for herself and was living back with her parents. One day a letter arrived in the post from Fiji, for her, from Ern (age 51), suggesting marriage. She jumped at the opportunity and said yes.
They got married at St Johns Union Church in Taita, Lower Hutt. Then in the New Year of 1967 they flew back to Fiji. I arrived in 1968.
This 4-minute video (no audio) was taken by a family friend on the wedding day, of guests arriving and the family mingling. I have taken some stills off the video, below.
What do I notice? Dad looks more like 60 than 50! Mum looks so much like our daughter Nora. The hats, OMG! It clearly was a happy day, but to me they are holding hands kind of awkward. This was all very new and sudden.
They got married at St Johns Union Church in Taita, Lower Hutt. Then in the New Year of 1967 they flew back to Fiji. I arrived in 1968.
This 4-minute video (no audio) was taken by a family friend on the wedding day, of guests arriving and the family mingling. I have taken some stills off the video, below.
What do I notice? Dad looks more like 60 than 50! Mum looks so much like our daughter Nora. The hats, OMG! It clearly was a happy day, but to me they are holding hands kind of awkward. This was all very new and sudden.
|
|
I love this photo of my grandmother, Vivienne Ellis. She actually looked very similar at my wedding, but wearing orange!!
|
Wendy's sister Adrienne arriving, with little Colin.
|
with Mum's parents, Robert and Vivienne.
|
|
|
|
The Ellis family: Murray, Howard with his daughter Kirsten, Adrienne with Colin, Vivienne, and Trevor on the end.
with Dad's children Christine and Peter Crane.
|
|
My mother's side ... all 4 of my mother's grandparents were born in NZ, in North Canterbury. All 8 of her great-grandparents immigrated from England between the dates of 1858 and 1883. They were active Methodists, tradespeople, who built houses, churches and businesses in Woodend, Rangiora and Christchurch.
My Grandparents
Robert & Vivienne Ellis (ne Taylor) ... that's me far left
|
|
Photos of Robert Ellis
Some old photos of Grandpa as a boy, also his wedding, and as I knew him later in life.
Some old photos of Grandpa as a boy, also his wedding, and as I knew him later in life.
Ellis family in Taita
Extract from Book: We Call It Home A history of State Housing in New Zealand by Ben Schrader 2005
Extract from Book: We Call It Home A history of State Housing in New Zealand by Ben Schrader 2005
The Ellis sideRobert Ellis's Ancestry (pdf) robert_ellis’s_ancestor_photographs.pdf
The parents and grandparents of my mother's father, Robert Ellis. Historical information and photographs of 4 generations. This gorgeous photo is nearly 200 years old, our oldest photo (I think). This is my Great-great-great Grandmother, born Mary Ann Buckland, became Mary Ann Cutler when married, born in 1822 in Southampton, came to NZ in 1863 with her 6 kids, died 1889.
|
|
The Ayers side
The Ayers Story from Turvey, England
Let me tell you the story of your tupuna (ancestors), this strong branch of our family tree. It’s marvellous to be here, telling this story, here in this place which is ground and foundation, where we come from as a people.
200 years ago my mother’s mother’s mother’s grandfather was born, here in Turvey.
Let me tell you the story of your tupuna (ancestors), this strong branch of our family tree. It’s marvellous to be here, telling this story, here in this place which is ground and foundation, where we come from as a people.
200 years ago my mother’s mother’s mother’s grandfather was born, here in Turvey.
|
|
|
|
The church in Turvey where Samuel Ayers was baptised, and sang in the choir
|
Ben on the Turvey bridge.
|
|
|
|
|
Houses in Turvey, known for its golden stone ... possibly the homes the Ayers and Gibbs families lived in, with just one bedroom per family.
|
The manor house, where the Higgins family lived, who paid for the Ayers family to come to NZ in 1858.
|
Turvey and the Kiwis
A summary of the 40 people who left Turvey in the mid 1850s to come to NZ, all to Canterbury, landing at Lyttleton, including our ancestors the Ayers, with siblings the Gibbs. My apologies - I have not recorded who wrote this or where it came from.
A summary of the 40 people who left Turvey in the mid 1850s to come to NZ, all to Canterbury, landing at Lyttleton, including our ancestors the Ayers, with siblings the Gibbs. My apologies - I have not recorded who wrote this or where it came from.
Bells of Turvey - web link
A new play about the small village of Turvey in rural Bedfordshire, set in the 1850s. Written by Poppy Hollman, from diaries based on the memoirs of Joseph Bell who was born in 1846.
It features a mix of both new songs and music, and some arranged from traditional sources, by Tim Brewster.
A community production by Turvey Amateur Theatrical Society (TATS) on 15th-18th November 2017.
A new play about the small village of Turvey in rural Bedfordshire, set in the 1850s. Written by Poppy Hollman, from diaries based on the memoirs of Joseph Bell who was born in 1846.
It features a mix of both new songs and music, and some arranged from traditional sources, by Tim Brewster.
A community production by Turvey Amateur Theatrical Society (TATS) on 15th-18th November 2017.
Ship records: The Zealandia left London and arrived in Lyttleton, 1858
(William Gibbs was Elizabeth's brother)
(William Gibbs was Elizabeth's brother)
|
|
More on The Zealandia ship. She was brand new when she left London that mid summer's morning in 1858! This 'nzbound' web page gives information about the captain, other voyages, and even a testimonial from passengers.
Methodist Church history of Woodend, especially the Ayers & Gibbs
"Parts of His Ways – Woodend Methodist Church by W.A.Chambers "
Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication 6 (4) 1948
"Parts of His Ways – Woodend Methodist Church by W.A.Chambers "
Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication 6 (4) 1948
Elizabeth Ayers, Suffragist
A bio done by my mother, Wendy Crane, for the NZ History website, researching those women who signed the women's suffrage petition
A bio done by my mother, Wendy Crane, for the NZ History website, researching those women who signed the women's suffrage petition
Vivienne Ellis photos and Family Trees
A lovely collection of images of my Grandma, and information about her ancestors
A lovely collection of images of my Grandma, and information about her ancestors
Gardening
A poem by Wendy Crane
Dad made his soil from shingle and gorse roots and rubbish
he worked with his dirt
with skill and method and ingenuity,
ordered rows of bounty
as generous as his compost.
Mum the florist tended the front -
camelia, agonis, dahlia, daphne,
backdoor fuschia arch to the back door,
abutilon held fat for the waxeyes.
Grandpa had veges and fruit trees
dug soil in rows raggy to the hedge edges,
garage groaning with tools from the tip.
Nana - like her gooseberries - sharp and sweet and good.
Te Poi, cabbage-tree drive,
neat feverfew borders taming the colour clamour,
the frontdoor maple,
the backporch fernery and its riot of begonias.
Samuel and Sarah, the greats,
their huge lawn smaller,
still there is the pear tree, cherries especially for Christmas shooting,
tipped path to the toilet,
wood chopped and sparrows in the barn,
vegetables and fruit, in abundance, in season.
All this in my hands
as I plant and harvest.
A poem by Wendy Crane
Dad made his soil from shingle and gorse roots and rubbish
he worked with his dirt
with skill and method and ingenuity,
ordered rows of bounty
as generous as his compost.
Mum the florist tended the front -
camelia, agonis, dahlia, daphne,
backdoor fuschia arch to the back door,
abutilon held fat for the waxeyes.
Grandpa had veges and fruit trees
dug soil in rows raggy to the hedge edges,
garage groaning with tools from the tip.
Nana - like her gooseberries - sharp and sweet and good.
Te Poi, cabbage-tree drive,
neat feverfew borders taming the colour clamour,
the frontdoor maple,
the backporch fernery and its riot of begonias.
Samuel and Sarah, the greats,
their huge lawn smaller,
still there is the pear tree, cherries especially for Christmas shooting,
tipped path to the toilet,
wood chopped and sparrows in the barn,
vegetables and fruit, in abundance, in season.
All this in my hands
as I plant and harvest.