RootsChat.Com

As a follow up, thanks very much for the information that Whitehall is now on the market again. The promotional photos that go with the sale notice are very interesting as is the descriptioon of rooms etc that accompany it. It is a much larger property than we had imagined from the 1 photo we had previously seen that only shows the front of the main house. 

I have been watching this story for some years and I do not know if this site is still active.
I am a descendant of this Antrim family through a line of descent which has not been mentioned. It may be a line that others have been trying to find. It has taken me many years to piece together the story around it.
My Gr. grandfather was Thomas White who was a cousin of General Sir George White, and an illegitimate son of John White (The Auld Captain).
As eldest son of John White, Thomas challenged his uncle RJ White for hereditary rights to the White estate.
Thomas and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1859.
If anybody should want more information I am happy to engage in Roots Chat exchanges.
 My name is Ted

Hello Koromo, Thanks for your reply. I know nothing about Rootschat which I stumbled on quite by accident and I'm not sure how much information one should give out on what appears to be a very public forum and whether steps can be taken to make it more confidential. Perhaps you can advise about this. I know nothing about any other branch of the Brothers line except my own and I look forward eagerly to any information you can give me. My initial interest was sparked when I started to investigate our ancestor Maria Brothers who was Edward Wright Brothers sister and is notable in early N.Z. history for becomng the wife of one of our  early quite famous pre Maori war missionaries, Benjamin Yate Ashwell. (hence Benyate, which is nothing like my real name but eveything else I tried seemed to be taken already!) At this point abour 4 months ago I hadn't even heard of Edward Wright Brothers, until further research revealed the male line that I come from. My grandmother was his daughter Maude Brothers who I suppose therefore was your grandfathers sister. She married to become Maude Lee. I think there may have been some interesting history from her younger days as they lived at Razorback in Bombay where General Cameron had set up fortified houses called Blockhouses from Miranda across to Patumahoe to help guard against any attempted Maori incursion toward Auckland.Razorback was important because it guarded the end of the Great South Road, which was later pushed on South to the Waikato River by General Cameron's troops to give military access to the Waikato area. Maria Brothers became a teacher further south at the Taupiri School which I think was started by Benjamin Ashwell. As with all of us I wish I'd listened more to my grandmother because my memories of what she said about these things are now very indistinct. She died when I was only 9 years old so I wasn't very interested. I am now 70 years old, male, almost retired and have one brother,younger. There are two other descendants of my generation still living but older than me, and a number of offspring whom would I suppose be the same generation as you. According to my information Edward Wright Brothers is buried at Purewa, not Papakura. That is probably enough about me for now. I live in Auckland. I have photos of my own Grandmother but no other family member of her generation or earlier. Look forward to your next communication.  regards Benyate.
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