Hi Spades, thank you very much. Just trying how to figure out how to search half of this stuff is a bit of a nightmare and a bit of trial and error on part! Feel like a cow trying to ride a bike!
I found bits and pieces on the papers past website, including a couple of not so pleasant newspaper articles on Violet after Thomas died in the war and I think this is perhaps how the birth of my husbands mum came about! She was adopted out in 1923 and it is only after finding a photo of Violet with her name on the back of it, that we managed to make a start. More info on Thomases background would be wonderful if I knew where to start! I am pretty sure Violet and Thomas married in 1915,making her 20/21 at the time. Thomas was 30 when he was killed. Their Son, John Thomas was the said child in the not so pleasant newspaper article I found and he ended up dying at age sixteen. Waituna West is where Violets parents, Frederick (Fred) and Clara Eggers were living and she was bought up here. I also know of McCaugherns in Fielding but cannot get much more info as yet. There was a DC McCaughern that was a baker and pastry chef and I am assuming he was the one that owned the Excelsior tea rooms in Fielding, but I dont know what relation he was to John. John ( Tom's father is buried at old Kaitangata cemetery, along with other McCaugherns) but there is no database for me to check. So, it's a bit of a "where to now" scenario. Violets parents hailed from Upper Moutere and we are actually attending a reunion on 2nd March, so will be interesting and hopefully close some of the gaps.
