C is for cookie and cookie is for me…
So much choice, Christchurch, Castles, Cars, Christmas, Climate…Claire.
Here is a bit about me then.
Eldest child, sister, mother, daughter, cousin, aunt, friend, collector
of family history, storyteller, name nerd, puzzle solver, cross-stitcher, card
maker, baker, maker, reader, traveller…
It was names that got me interested in genealogy – so many James’ and
Johns, Marys and Anns. I remembered tallying them all up once when I was still
at college to see how many of each there were. Lots. Some names were definitely
overused. Not like today's parents – our ancestors stuck with the tried and
true, over and over again. How did they even tell them apart or get the right
person to respond ? Even now it is refreshing to see something new – an Arabella,
Kerenhappuch, Roxillianna, LaFayette, Aeneas, Balthasar.
Along with names there were the stories people would share, offering
a peek into their childhood memories and places they had been. The idea of
large families fascinated me. Being one of two and my parents one of two and
one of three, the idea of having a whole bunch of siblings seemed so foreign –
but fun all the same. I imagined it would be like being one of “The Waltons”,
or the Bradfords on “Eight is Enough”.
I think I have always liked history, miniseries such as “The
Pallisers”, “Family at War”, “Poldark” and early soaps like “The Sullivans”
captured my attention. I loved history at school even though the Third Reich ,
the Potato Famine & Rise of Sinn Feinn seemed quite disconnected to life in
New Zealand and where my roots were.
Over time though, that love of society, people and history has
influenced my reading choices and captivated me. Historical fiction is a great
way to learn about history and how people of the times experienced the events
around them. This led to me trying to learn more and more, and to imagine my
ancestors in those times. How did world events, or local events affect them
personally. Which events were catalysts for them to change the way they lived ? Who were they ? How did they feel ? What did they believe ? What did they like ? What drove them to make a change in the direction their lives took ? So many of
them were from Ag Lab stock. What was it that inspired them to take the leap,
leave the village where their families had lived for generations and make a new
life in a new town or to find employment with the railways or in large
industrial mills ?
I love family history, it consumes a lot of my spare time. Studying
DNA matches looking for links, reconnecting with cousins all across the globe,
planning where to visit next (when we are ever allowed to do that again).
Remembering those who have passed, telling their stories so that their memory
will live on for others. Celebrating them and the sacrifices they made – if not
for their actions in the face of adversity and their planning in the good times
none of us would be here.
Always thinking and wondering, sometimes it is hard to make my mind
just stop and reflect. It's a bit like a cyclopedia that I always have with me.
And just as I am sitting here another thought occurred to me.
C is for Coromandel. I read just the other night that gold had been
discovered there in 1862. I wonder if that news influenced the decision to not
go to Albertland since it was only a few short years after their arrival that
the Davys family left Auckland and set up home north of Thames on the
peninsular felling trees, saw-milling and gold mining. What resilience and
determination they had.
