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Research in Other Countries => New Zealand => New Zealand Completed Requests => Topic started by: Rosemary* on Tuesday 17 July 07 19:09 BST (UK)
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Hello to all,
I am desperately searching for the birth of Hillyard Stuart .......( sleepless nights, shaking hands and now permanently cross eyed !! )
Here is all the information that I have .... most of which was found on Immigration papers from 1940 during the WW2 German Invasion in Jersey. Channel Islands and family heresay.
Hillyard Stuart - Born New Zealand... 8th. March 1873.
Wife of Hillyard Stuart = Dorothy Mc Niven. Born... Auckland. New Zealand. 25th April 1893.
Dorothy was a widow to Arthur Groome.
1st son of Hillyard and Dorothy = Douglas Hillyard Stuart... Born Auckland. New Zealand. 6th March 1920. at No 4. Oraki Road. Auckland.
The family left NZ in 1921 (ish) - lived in Devon UK and finally settled in Jersey Channel Islands.
All BM's were lost many years ago.
There is a very small possibility that Hillyard could have been born in Australia ... but I do believe I have managed to eliminate that doubt by checking all Australian births... I have also checked and double checked all UK, Scottish and Irish births.. as a "just in case".
Hillyard and Dorothy must have married ( or not ?) any time between 1914 and 1921. Dorothy married Arthur Groome in 1913 and was widowed shortly after.
If some kind soul could find the reference number or confirm Douglas birth and I ordered his birth certificate ... Would it state Hillyards place of birth ?
What I am really after, is Hillyards place of birth and to find his birth certificate.
Can anyone help ?
Kind regards Rosemary
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Couldn't find the marriage, tried a few combos but no dice.
Will have a jack for the birth this arvo. :)
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Hi Mk2,
Thank you so much for your interest !
I have a theory that maybe Hillyard and Dorothy never married .... just a hunch.
Hillyard would have been 47 and Dorothy 27 ... so it's a possibility that he already had a wife somewhere else !!!!.
Nobody knows why they went to the UK ... especially when everyone else were going in the other direction.
I am just hoping that a confirmation of Douglas's birth registration will turn up and shed a light on this mystery.
Rosemary
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No Hillyard Stuart birth,
but an unnamed male Stuart was born in Dunedin in 1873.
Were all those details on the immigration paper ?
It should say on Douglas's birth cert where Hillyard was born.
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No Douglas Stuart birth either, nor Douglas (Groome)
Only one who seems to be,
is Dot, born 1893, Hawkes Bay
and Dorothy and the Groome marriage.
No sign of the others so far.
Sure Del might find some electoral info if you ask nice. :)
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Hi there
Ok...
Located the McNiven/Groome marriage
Year 1913
Folio 5888
Surname GROOME
Given Names Arthur
Sex M
Spouse McNIVEN, Dorothy
No Hillyard Stuart or Arthur Groome in 1893 Elec Roll.However majority of GROOME are in Hawkes Bay. No McNiven in Auckland 1893, 2 MacNiven in Hawkes Bay.
Cheers
Del
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Thank you all for your help ... it's really appreciated ... :D
Here's a little more information - just in case someone reads this posting and will relate to this brickwall.
Hillyard Stuart arrived in the UK about 1921/22 with wife Dorothy (widow to Arthur Groome and maiden name McNiven ) bringing with them one child named Douglas Hillyard Stuart. They lived in Loddiswell. Higher Leigh. Devon. and then moved to Jersey Channel Islands.
During the German occupation Hillyard states that he and his family were from New Zealand.
He also stated on an affidavit that he was born 8th March 1873, and that Douglas was born at 4, Oraki Road, Auckland on the 6th. March 1920 - Also that he had retired from the Australian Navy on the 20th. February 1920.
I have not been able to prove any of the above.
All of Dorothy's history has been researched and all in order - till her relationship with Hillyard.
......... methinks I'm back to square 1 !
Just one more favor .. could someone just check if there is a birth of a Douglas McNiven in NZ 1920 ish. ?
Again thanks for all the help
Rosemary
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I would be really interested to know any information that you are able to collect about the Stuart Family tree. Hillyard Stuart would be my great, great grandfather. I am the granddaughter of Gordon Stuart. Gordon Campbell Stuart married Janet Hutcheson, they had three children: Catherine, Duncan and Jane. Catherine married Geoffrey Moxham and I am the youngest daughter of that marriage.
I know records and pictures have been found (of the Stuarts) at Societe Jerrias.
I am now married and living in Tucson AZ. alexandra.mueller@gmail.com
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Hi Alex,
Pleased to meet you ! .. and thank you for responding to my postings.
It's now October and still no further with my Hillyard and Dorothy search... but I now have a copy of Hillyard's Jersey registration papers ... ( the one's mentioned in the previous messages), including a photo of Hillyard which seems to knock a theory that maybe he was a Maori who had changed his name.
If you have a look on the "Immigrants" board - Blue Registration Form - in July of this year - you will see that I posted a query about these papers. ... I am now going to try ( never done it before ) to attach the image of this paper including his photo.
Where to go next with this search ? ... Maybe to see if there is any living McNiven relative who could know something about the time Hillyard appeared in Dorothy's life.
Please post me if you know anything
Kind regards
Rosemary
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Hello to all,
As you can see I´m still searching for the origins of Hillyard Stuart.
The following letter has been discovered amongst some old papers .. which seems to indicate that Hillyard was at Trentham in 1916 and discharged at the beginning of 1917.
.. from there it seems he moved to Hastings.
Please could someone inform me if there exists any archive of Inmates at Trentham during 1916. . or list of discharged people at the begining of 1917?.. or even any information who belonged to "The Expeditionary Forces".
As the letter begins "Dear Old Gee" ..Maybe Hillyard had another first name .. so it would be interesting to see what other Stuart´s were at Trentham during that time.
The printed letter heading is:-
‘N.Z. Expeditionary Forces
Trentham. 20th June 1917
It reads:-
‘Dear Old Gee but I’m sad
Since you left us we have lost Fountain and Taylor so that the happy family was doomed for a short life and a gay one. Three chaps from No 2 mess have replaced the transferred men but altogether the good fellowship has not been the same. The cat occasionally visits us but we are sorry to have to report that she is in an interesting condition and the boys here say that although they are sports they would not like to take the blame – no doubt the whole thing will come out in routine Orders until then nuff said –
(This next sentence is interesting!)
........................................... I have received a letter from you which I showed to the rest of No 1 mess and I have re-addressed a few letters and a parcel to you at Hastings. Barney who knows all tells me to inform you that all discharged men since 1st January1917 are to receive I months pay at least – So you may get a big cheque some day from the Govt. as a back pay. Jenkins wants to know if his bag has been sent back yet. He hasn’t received it and he says that you might have sent it by rail and yet no advise has been sent to him regarding same. There is no great urgency first but if you have already sent it you can drip me a line giving directions.
All the boys have had colds and coughs but now they are all fairly right again – we are being worked like bullocks now – Wilding transferred to Q.M. Stores. S.M. Yarrow is still ..? .. for a presentation and still all ass.
Kind regards from
Yours Sincerely …? Rudole Budole?
Some of the other signatures look like Allan Guthrie, J Hewitt, ? Taylor, G Campbell, Barry O’Sullivan.’
Regards Rosemary
PS .. Got my fingers crossed .. this could be "The big Break"
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http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/locations.aspx
If you search the database you can see names of STUARTS in the exped forces
Bye
Althea
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Althea thank you ! I have turned the site inside out with every combination of his name ... but just can't find a match.
Would you know if there are any archives of WW1 soldiers discharge papers ?.
Regards Rosemary
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Hi Rosemary
You certainly have a mystery on your hands, here. :)
The letter from Trentham is intriguing ... and yes, seems possible Hillyard had "another first name" ... (you'd sort of like to think that it began with the letter "G" ) ?? :D I'll get back to you on exactly what army resources are available.
In the meantime, can you just clarify the following please?
In your other thread "Immigrants - Blue Registration Form - 10 July 2007", you confirm that "Gordon Campbell STUART born 1922 and Aileen Dorothy STUART born 1924, are part of this family". I'm presuming that means they are also children of Hillyard and Dorothy ?
That being the case, do you know where these children were born ?
Just one more favor .. could someone just check if there is a birth of a Douglas McNiven in NZ 1920 ish. ?
Not sure whether this question was ever answered ?
Can confirm that there were NO New Zealand registered "McNIVEN" births in the years 1918 to 1920 ... (and in 1921 only a birth for a female "McNIVEN").
I find it a bit curious that Hillyard has stated that he retired from the Australian Navy on 20th February 1920 (of course we don't know from that whether he was physically 'in Australia") ... and just a matter of weeks later, his child is supposedly born in Auckland (6 March 1920). And what of Dorothy ? Has she been living in NZ whilst he was in the Navy ? He was also c. 44 years of age when discharged from the NZ Army - seems a little strange perhaps that he'd link up for service with Navy ... and in Australia ?
Could Hillyard's year of birth be wrong ??
Do you have his death certificate ??
Lu