This is my place to share stories and discoveries made about my ancestors. When I began researching the lives of the people of my past I realised many, particularly women, had had little or no voice. Their stories while filled with strength and resilience were difficult to discover, historically invisible.
My aim is to bring those stories to life, to give voice to the women (and men) who came before me. To learn more of their history, and the history of their time. Exploring and writing their lives through my own lens.
Clues to an Ancestor Hidden in a Photograph
Engaging and expert to examine a photograph of ancestor Jacobus…
Doctor and Suffragist Dr Marguerite Alice Christian Douglas
A creative non-fictional account of the life of Dr Marguerite…
The Tiny Lock
Allen Wilson bound as apprentice to Frances Barron Locksmiths 1839…
A Tale of Two Florence Nightingales
Searching for a link between two Florence Nightingales one the…
Great Aunt Ada
Ada Constance Atkins Comptometer operator, independent woman, daughter of James…
PA, THE FREEMASONS, AND THE BATTLEFIELDS OF WORLD WAR 1
Meetings of the Freemasons on the battlefields of WW1. William…
Aunt Lay
Naomi (Laomi) Clark born in 1867 living most of her…
The Mourning Brooch
50-word story about ancestral mourning brooch for Elizabeth Ward in…
The Autograph of Sapper Jack O’Neill
A battered leather-covered autograph book that was a great Uncle’s…
The Birth of Euphemia Julia
Gold captures imaginations, enticing people to set off on epic…
The Tiny Heirloom Bottle
The gift of a smelling salts bottle that was once…
The Summer of ’66
Recollections of Radion Hauraki and teenage years in Aotearoa New…
Family History, The Tohunga Suppression Act and Learning in Unlikely Places
A story about Alice Morris and Dr Williams Pink Pills…
Pearl and Ruby
Two lines in my mother’s family history record drew me…
Jane Slow: Karori Asylum and Her Final Years
The only remaining traces of Jane Slow are attachments to…
Julia
Streaming sunlight illuminates the likeness of a young woman, the…
The Canary
‘Grinding poverty, ‘Working poor’, ‘A life of hardship’ – cliches…
Smallpox – An Unwelcome Visitor on the Australian Goldfields
A small official piece of paper in a family history…
Were My Ancestors Ever Children?
Childhood! The topic for a family history writing exercise. Childhood…
The Photograph That Began It All
It is a family famous photograph. Static but pivotal. The…