RootsChat.Com

Kia ora Ede,

Great to meet another person from another branch of our family tree!

Yes, I agree. I do think George and Matire / Peti are the same people.

I have been researching our whanau for some time now and this branch has been one of the most challenging. I think it's because George and Matire were very much on the margins of society. George was a new migrant; Matire had left her settled community with George for a part of the country she knew little about. Can't be sure but I suspect there's so little information because they flew well under the radar, so to speak.

One of my cousins knows the Matiaha whanau from Wairarapa and he's been in contact with them regarding Matire. So we're hopeful we might be able to shed a little more light on her background soon.

I think I have one photo of Irihapeti Sinclair but I don't have any of Ruiha or Heeni. However I do have photos of Heeni and Ruiha's headstones at our family cemetery.

I also have a copy of the story of the court case backgrounding the killing of Issac Vanasdalen (his family's surname has evolved down the years to Van Arsdale or Vanasdale). One of the people involved in the incident was a James Whittaker. I initially thought he had no relationship to Issac. But after uncovering further information I think James was a close family friend.

I'll email you what I have later today. You have a good weekend! Vik.

Kia ora,

I'm a new member. I live in New Zealand, in Northland. I saw some earlier threads on here after googling George Sinclair and Matiaha. I believe he may be my 4 x grandfather via his daughter Heeni (aka Jenny) Sinclair. So I registered here to make this post.

I say "he may be my 4 x grandfather" because I'm not 100% sure if this is the George Sinclair I'm looking for. It has to do with his wife, which many people on here refer to as Peti Matiaha.

In our family George's wife is known as Matire Matiaha. We understand George was born approximately 1810-1820 in Scotland and he made his way to NZ sometime in the mid-1830s. Because of her surname, we believe Matire is from Rangitane, a Maori iwi (tribe) from the Wairarapa region in the bottom of the North Island of NZ. We think she was born around 1820.

The story in our family is George and Matire met somewhere around Wairarapa and over a period of years they made their way north, eventually to the Bay of Islands, Northland. Along the way they had three daughters: Heeni (aka Jenny), Ruiha (aka Louise) and Irihapeti (aka Elizabeth, Iripeti and Peti).

It's possible people may be confusing George's wife Peti with their daughter Irihapeti. Because she was known by at least 4 different names.

Also, once they arrived in the Bay of Islands it appears something may have happened to George and Matire. Because the daughters are believed to have been taken into foster care by European missionaries from the Waimate Mission in the Bay of Islands. It's there where Heeni met my 3x grandfather Hare Napia.

They married as Christians and had a son named Arena Te Au Napia - my great-grandfather. He was named in honour of Hare's best friend, an American named Issac Vanasdalen ("Arena" is taken from "alen" in Issac's surname). Issac married Heeni's sister, Irihapeti. They had two children, Edward and Hemo. Sadly, Issac was murdered by an ex-Colonial soldier on Christmas Day, 1862. Irihapeti remarried a gentleman named Abel Dickinson and they had quite a large family.

My great-gf Arena and his wife Hana died in their mid-30s in the early 1890s. But they left behind five children including my grandfather, Te Ahitopere Arena Napia.

I think Irihapeti is buried in Opua, a small coastal town in the Bay of Islands. But her sisters, Heeni and Ruiha are buried in my family's urupa (cemetery) in the inland Bay of Islands. We don't know where George and Matire are buried.

If this is the right George I'm seeking then I'm hoping to find more information about his Scottish family. I'm also trying to find out what happened to Matire Matiaha. If anyone is interested in sharing information I would be grateful.

Thank you. Vik.