The year is 1874. The Woodlark drops anchor in Wellington Harbour after a gruelling, ninety-eight day voyage from England. The crowd of hopeful immigrants shuffle down the gangplank, eager to put thei...

If ever a man had the misfortune to possess the wrong face at the wrong time, it was William Howell – also known, when circumstances suited, as William Marskell.His troubles began, as many colonial ad...

An introductory overview on English History and its effect on sources and repositories. Understand where to look for records and how to...

The Immigration and Public Works Act of 1870, introduced by Julius Vogel, transferred control of immigration from provincial governments to the central government. To manage this, Isaac Featherston wa...

I’m a bit late with my top ten books for 2025 but here they are. I read 61 books in total, less fiction (35) and about the same amount of non-fiction (25) as previous years, plus one collection of short stories. As usual historical fiction, history or memoirs were the genres I favoured. The books were sourced in equal proportions from my wonderful local bookstore (Schrodingers), Hutt City Libraries (shout out to their fab free reservation service) and second-hand book fair purchases.

Jane Palmer was not a woman to be trifled with. Though she could neither read nor write, she navigated contracts, business dealings, and legal disputes with a confidence that often defeated men who at...

It's looking a bit tatty around the edges now, but this is the passenger ticket for the Chambers family from the Woodlark ship's papers. I've been able to fully transcribe it from a copy included in a...

The Woodlark passengers who hadn't found employment in Wellington were taken by paddle-steamer to Whanganui. Wanganui Chronicle, 6 April 1874: The p.s. 'Manawatu' will leave Wellington for Wanganui to...

These instructions were issued by the Agent General, Isaac Featherston, after the Woodlark had already arrived in Wellington. Charlotte Adams was the matron on the Woodlark. The strict segregation of ...

We Are [showcasing your family history like never before]

Tracy Farr’s alternative history, Wonderland, is a fabulous read. The setting is real – Wonderland was an amusement park in Miramar that ran from 1907 to 1912 – but the main characters and events are fictional. The amusement park is the backdrop to the lives of the Loverock family. Charlie is the owner and his wife Matti, a doctor in obstetrics, is promoting the new technology of incubators for newborn babies.

Research on a man’s mysterious second marriage identified his wife as a romance scammer who preyed on Civil War veterans. This case study shows how evidence...

The devil is in the details . True, but many details can be devilishly hard to nail down when key people, actions and perspectives have no...

Setting up for Bookfest 2024. I read 84 books in 2024 but my reading stats have hardly changed from last year – so I won’t bother with my usual graph. Instead this is where I’ve been sourcing my re…

I was invited to talk about my book, The Only Living Lady Parachutist, on The But Fixer Podcast. Shane Gentry and John Van Olden are both dog behaviour training business owners, who started from ze…