RootsChat.Com

Hi Norm,
Ah-ha - The Kirk family. Although I grew up and lived in Chch until 1977 (haven't been back to NZ since), I can remember meeting some Kirk sisters at the Donaldson's once but I am afraid that is all. It was only when I started out on the family tree exercise about three years ago that I discovered the extent of Lawrence's siblings. Anyway, I'm a Laurenson, my father being Gil, (James Gilbert). So I now have a new cousin!
Anyway I now live in Yorkshire, England, and first met Roger Manning a couple of years ago - a relative that up until then I knew nothing about. Between us we have managed to piece together quite a bit, and Roger has recently got some old photos from Killimor which he is going to send on to me. The Killimor locals are amazingly friendly and helpful - lovely people. Of course you keep encountering the same family names, Keary, Lyons and Mannion, still living in the area.
My whole genealogy quest has uncovered interesting stories right through the various branches of both my mother's and father's families. I am currently trying to trace records of a ggg'father, one Duncan McFarlane who emigrated to Adelaide in 1840, and who, so the story goes, drowned either at the goldfields, or going to them about 1854.
Initially my interest has been to trace where various ancestors came from and maybe understand the pressures/reasons that they emigrated - probably very easy for those of Scottish & Irish origins.
I was interested in the male Mannions, father John, and son, we originally thought to be Gerald, though perhaps is Jeremiah. They emigrated to Oz on the Colonial Empire in 1872. It was only about last June that I started to uncover details of Jeremiah/Gerald.
I have no details of what happened to John. Mary Mannion's death certificate indicated that Gerald/Jeremiah was still alive at the time of her death, so I guess there may well have been some correspondence.. However, as in say the NZ goldfields, people died/disappeared without records
What records I have uncovered are :
  Birth of Gerald Mannion, Sebastopol,  parents Gerald and Ellen Murray.
Marriage: Gerald homas M to Flor Howell, 1917, location not known yet
Death of Gerald Thomas M, at Heid, 1959 aged 73. Years don't quite addup.

There is an article from Ballarat, recording Ellen M, 1st erald's wife, being fined for bad language, following Gerald being knocked out in a fight.
From memory Oz census records record the Geralds living in various locations around Melbourne. By coincidence vatious McFarlane ancestors were also in the same areas.

Presumably you have been in touch with Christine Basket (Donaldson) who did a lot of work before the benefit of the internet. She lives in Tauranga.

That is where I am up to at the moment., I go in fits and starts but was aiming to trace the Melbourne links to see if I could find out more of the male Mannion story. I think my brother Vaughan is due to visit Melbourne several times this year, and am going to ask him to trace what he can. I have found that things stagnate for a while, and then something sparks off another burst of activity

I hope this helps for now, you have probably uncovered the same.

Incidentally our elder daughter, Orla (22) is currently in Queenstown

I rang Roger Manning this morning to say you had been in touch. Roger and I have different styles, but up until now we appear to have complemented each other.

Cheers, and looking forward to hearing from you,
Steve

Hi,
I have only started looking at the McFarlane's in the last year, starting from my grandmother in Christchurch. Actually it took away one of my simple joys in life. Being a Kiwi, albeit one who left NZ many years ago, I realised that it was difficult cracking jokes about Aussies when the truth is that my g-g/father was born there! - which (some might say tragically) makes me part Aussie. The first I knew about Duncan snr (ex Scotland) was from a cousin in Tauranga, NZ. Problems are that some of the facts as I currently understand them can be vague, and assumptions can easily be wrong, helped by a lack of records from the early colonial days
1. Duncan & Elizabeth travelled out as steerage passengers on the India, arriving Adelaide Feb 1940. In 1855 Elizabeth remarries John Castley. Story is that Duncan drowned in a mining accident, presumably 1854. As is common for the times, Elizabeth has 5/6 children and remarries quite quickly. One also has to take into account that there were many more men in Aussie at that time than women. Actually I have details of similar quick remarriages elsewhere in my family at the same time, and second marriages after the death of a spouse were common. Duncan supposedly dies in 1856, being a man of some substance and a JP. Castley was apparently a shepherd for some time before eventually getting his own land - a common tale for many Scottish emigrants of the time, which meant that for some time life was not easy for Elizabeth and her second husband, though life was not easy for anyone in those times. Many records are innaccurate, and a year or two's discrepancy is not uncommon. Also, the opportunities were there for those who took them,  It would be interesting to have more info about Duncan the JP, to corroborate.
At the same time I left my first message here, I also left a message about someone who might be another son of Duncan snr. - I will wait to see if I get an answer. The only info about any other siblings currently is a sister.
By coincidence I am currently trying to trace another Australian line from a different part of my family. Are you by any chance interested in the Mannions? If so, I have recently found out quite a lot about them

Duncan Lennox McF, son of Duncan snr returned to Aussie for a short while in the 1880's, and apparently went to Melbourne - presumably he had relatives there? He then returned to Dunedin.

There is still detail I don't know about the McFarlane's in NZ, though apart from my grandmother's siblings, I'm not really interested. My interest originally was to locate where they came from in Scotland, and to understand the migratory pressures - probably the clearances. That is still something I want to do.

One thing about this genealogy process is the stories that one comes across, that provide some "colour" and interest. Some of the verbal anecdotes that are passed down prove to be quite accurate.
Sorry, I've probably gone on a bit too much for this medium.

It would be interesting to share info, so it would be nice to hear from you.
Regards,
Steve

Ellen Mannion from Killimor/Tynagh emigrtaed to NZ about 1875. She married a John William Laurenson (my great grandparents. Her sister Catherine, and mother Mary(nee Keary, first marriage Lyons), followed about 1885. It is Catherine's line that anglicised the name to Manning.
Please let me know if you want any more information