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Visiting the South Island, New Zealand
Posted by: Ralph on the 18 April 2010 | Permalink
Around Mid March 2010, I flew from Sydney to Dunedin on a pre-planned genealogy trip that ended up being a tribute to Mum who had passed away late February. I landed in Dunedin early evening to a cold and blustery day as a storm from the Antarctic region was making its way up the country. Thankfully I had packed some warm clothes that I certainly needed for my time in the Deep South. I drove to Balclutha where my Mum was from.
I hadn’t been there since 2005 so it was a great feeling driving around various places that my Mum had shown me plus I was sure she was with me all the way. I met up with her only remaining bridesmaid for a couple of hours. I had never met her before so it was a thrill to discover some facts about Mum that I never knew. I headed for a small village called Kaitangata where my GG Grandmother (Taylor side) was buried. Sadly the old cemetery was bulldozed back in 1971 and only a small collection of headstones were saved and placed in one corner on a cement slab. The remainder of the ground was grassed with a few trees and a kid’s playground at one end. What a stupid decision to make as these graves go back to the mid 1800’s – regardless of the condition, it was a part of NZ history that can never be recovered.
Respects were paid to the Taylor graves that still stand in the Old Balclutha cemetery and made the rounds of the various houses where my Mum, Grandparents, Aunties and G Grandparents had once lived. I also ventured onto Inch Clutha, a reasonable size island where the Clutha River wraps itself around from inland to the sea. On this island were the old farms and plantations of the first settlers into the Clutha region. The massive forest of trees that once stood, Rimu, Kauri and Totara were all milled in the late 1800’s and the various old homesteads are long gone. My GG Grandfather lived and worked around the island and local towns of Stirling and Kaitangata. He arrived in 1852 and spent time with some well known early NZ pioneers such as the Pillans and the Maitland’s.
Traveling north and cutting up the coast I arrived at Dunedin where I spent an amazing couple of hours at a place called Ashburn Clinic located at Halfway Bush, back inland from downtown Dunedin. This is a private psychiatric centre so being allowed permission to visit was a dream come true. The land, original stone farmhouse, stonewalls around the property and stone gatehouses were all built by my GG Grandfather (Jenkins family). They owned the farm where the clinic now stands between 1856 to 1875. What an amazing place, massive trees, hedges – all planted in his time and stone walkways through the most serene grounds I have ever encountered. The original farmhouse is incorporated into the main administration building.
The eldest Jenkins daughter married Job Wain who purchased a building in Princess St Dunedin and turned it into a pub – Wains Hotel. It’s still there albeit now Mercure however the Wains name and symbol is still stamped on the beautifully restored building. The Jenkins farm supplied most of its fresh produce to the hotel. My brother is named after the Wain family however Dad registered his birth name incorrectly as Wayne so my Granny was quite upset.
An afternoon was spent at the Northern Cemetery in Dunedin where generations of Jenkins are buried. With some help I was given various cemetery maps and located the clan, all situated around the same area including the Wains – obviously a very strong bond between the families. Some did not have headstones but most did.
I revisited my Dad’s old home where he lived as a boy with his parents, his old school and drove up to where Mum and Dad had built their first house. The remainder of the trip was driving around all the various areas that I could not remember or had never been. I spent some time at Port Chalmers where all my South Island ancestors had arrived by ship and the town’s old buildings are still standing.
I took the opportunity to visit the Hockham Library that has a plethora of old documents but didn’t discover anything new, only unanswered questions. I also visited the Early Settlers Museum where I discovered original photographs of my GG Grandparents (Jenkins) hanging on the walls. I have photocopies of photocopies of some of them so took the opportunity of arranging for a digital scan that will be posted to me later.
Finally I left the south and flew north to Tauranga, my hometown where I sorted out my Mum’s estate and after days of running around I ventured over to the Waikato. Another discovery was that my G Grandmother (Holloway) was buried near my Grandfather (Dowie) in a different cemetery. So on a very wet and cold day I revisited my Grandfathers grave and then went on to find my G Grandmothers. I knew roughly where it was located however looking at a cemetery map and being there in reality can be quite different. I found it near the base of a tree and the plaque was mostly hidden in the grass but with a bit of cleaning there it was.
And so the time had come to the end of my trip with one last task remaining. I placed Mum’s ashes with my Dad’s the day before I departed, only to realise it was the 11th anniversary of his death – something totally unplanned. Uncanny but quite wonderful, a perfect closing of this chapter in life and a nice finish to my adventure into the past.