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Archive News

The Wairarapa Archive’s new genealogical tool, access to the webpage for Ancestry.com, has proven to be very popular with Wairarapa’s family historians.


Archivist Gareth Winter says the webpage, which allows family historians to search through biographical records from around the world, has been very useful for researchers stuck when searching for their United Kingdom ancestors.

“Most New Zealanders have British ancestors, and the records available on the website are invaluable for those trying to find details of the ancestors’ lives.  By using the census records they can find where their ancestors were living, who they were living with, and what they were doing to earn their keep.

In fact, we have to be on our toes, as we come across all sorts of odd occupations, from cordwainer (old term for a shoemaker) to fewster (someone who made saddletrees).  It is enough to keep us guessing at times.”

Researchers will find a good selection of family history information within the archive, with a concentration on New Zealand records. The New Zealand Society of Genealogists Wairarapa Branch has rooms alongside the archive, open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and on Saturday.

 

The Wairarapa Archive has been gifted some remarkable maps over the past few months.

The first of these is a large scale map of the entire eastern portion of the Wellington province, produced by the Wellington Provincial Council in 1872.  It shows the individual land blocks, and shows the extensive lands still owned by Maori.

A more recent donation brought a collection of maps from a long-established Wairarapa farming family.  The maps are largely from the lower Wairarapa valley area.

One map gives a clue to the location of the sought for Maori paa, Pehikatea.

Archivist Gareth Winter says the map has Maori researchers excited.

 “We have always known the approximate location of the Pehikatea paa, but have never found it on a map.  The paa is very important is it is the site of the deciding battle between local tangata whenua and the invading Wellington-based iwi in the 1820s.  Following this battle many locals took refuge on Mahia Peninsular.”

 


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