Immigrant Ancestors
They came on ships - Some by choice and some at the Crown's insistence
I was recently reading a blog post by Australian genealogist, Sue Wyatt entitled ‘O’er the seas they came’ (posted 1 March 2025) in which she listed her immigrant ancestors and summarised a little about each. This seemed like an interesting exercise.
In New Zealand, like Australia, many people trace their ancestry back to migrants who arrived at some time within the last 200 or so years. While some New Zealanders are newly arrived here, others can trace some, or in some cases all, of their family history back to early settlers. Some immigrants came direct to New Zealand. Some came via Australia. Some travelled as free settlers. Some travelled at the insistence of the Crown having been found guilty of some criminal offence or another.
I am one of the new arrivals. My family emigrated from England to New Zealand when I was thirteen years old. My husband’s family on the other hand …
My husband’s Immigrant Ancestors
My husband’s ancestors who immigrated to New Zealand and/or Australia are listed below. I have grouped them as follows:
NZ immigrants who came direct to New Zealand from England
NZ Immigrants who travelled to Australia then to New Zealand
NZ Immigrants born in Australia and then came to New Zealand
Australian Immigrants who died in Australia before making it to New Zealand
NZ immigrants who came direct to NZ from England
All came as free settlers
2nd Great Grandparents
Isabella Jane Blythe - Born Northumberland, England - To New Zealand abt. 1869 (aged 25). Died Reefton, New Zealand (aged 59).
Samuel Jeffery Veale - Born Devon, England - To New Zealand bet. 1863-1867 (aged bet. 20-24). Died Westport, New Zealand (aged 85).
Fanny Greek - Born Devon, England - To New Zealand on ship: ‘Crimea’ with her husband, two sons and sister in 1863 (aged 24). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 89).
William Lane - Born Devon, England - To New Zealand on ship: ‘Crimea’ with his wife, two sons and sister-in-law in 1863 (aged 27). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 86).
Mary Ann Pointer - Born Bedfordshire, England - To New Zealand abt. 1854 (aged 26). Died Akaroa, New Zealand (aged 82).
Mary Ann Pointer (abt. 1828 - 1910) Thomas Walter Parsons - Born Warwickshire, England - To New Zealand abt. 1854 (aged 18). Died Akaroa, New Zealand (aged 56).
Great Grandparents
Josiah Pearce Lane - Born: Devon, England - To New Zealand on the ship: ‘Crimea’ with his mother, father, brother and aunt in 1863 (aged 2). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 80).
NZ Immigrants who travelled to Australia then to NZ
A mix of free settlers and convicts to Australia.
2nd Great Grandparents
Patrick Darcy - Born Tipperary, Ireland - Free settler to Australia bet. 1850-56 (aged bet. 23-29) - To New Zealand bet. 1866-68 (aged bet. 39-41). Died: Red Jacks, West Coast, New Zealand (aged 68).
Elizabeth Allen - Born Warwickshire, England - Transported as Convict - To Australia aboard the prison ship ‘Margaret’ in 1843 (aged 21) - To New Zealand (as free settler) abt. 1850 (aged 28) then back to Australia abt. 1852 (aged 30) and back to New Zealand permanently abt. 1862 (aged 40). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 40).
You can read more about Elizabeth here:
George White - Born Warwickshire, England - Transported as Convict - To Australia aboard the prison ship ‘George the Third’ in 1834-35 (aged 18) - To New Zealand (as free settler) abt. 1850 (aged 34) then back to Australia abt. 1852 (aged 36) and back to New Zealand permanently abt. 1862 (aged 46). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 86).
You can read more about George here:
Thomas Coop - Born Staffordshire, England - Free settler - To Australia aboard the ship ‘Marchioness of Londonderry’ with his wife and children in 1853 (aged 37) - To New Zealand in 1862 (aged 46) aboard the ship ‘Chariot of Fame’ - Back to Australia abt. 1884 (aged 68). Died New Gisborne, Australia (aged 70).
Nancy Barnes - Born Lancashire, England - Free Settler -To Australia aboard the ship ‘White Star’ in 1855 (aged 29) - To New Zealand in abt. 1863 (aged 37). Died Christchurch, New Zealand (aged 76).
George Hindle - Born Lancashire, England - Free Settler - To Australia in abt. 1852/53 (aged 24/25) - To New Zealand aboard the ship ‘Netherby’ in abt. 1861 (aged 33). Died Christchurch, New Zealand (aged 77).
William George Chapman - Free Settler - Born in County Wicklow, Ireland - To Australia bet. 1852-55 (aged bet. 19-22) - To New Zealand abt. 1880 (aged 47 - Died: Christchurch, New Zealand (aged 60).
Great Grandparents
Thomas Coop - Born in Middlesex, England - Free Settler - To Australia aboard the ship ‘Marchioness of Londonderry’ with his parents and siblings in 1853 (age 14) - To New Zealand abt. 1861 (aged 22). Died: Roxburgh, New Zealand. (aged 85).
NZ Immigrants born in Australia and then came to NZ
Great Grandparents
William Darcy - Born to Free Settlers at Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Australia - To New Zealand abt. 1863 (aged 4). Died Reefton, New Zealand (age 35).
Emma Amelia White - Born to Convicts at Melbourne, Australia - To New Zealand abt. 1862 (aged 8). Died: Gisborne, New Zealand (aged 77).
Ellen Hindle - Born to Free Settlers at Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Australia - To New Zealand abt. 1867 (aged 1). Died Dunedin, New Zealand (aged 56)
George Chapman - Born to Free Settlers at Melbourne, Australia - To New Zealand abt. 1880 (age 20). Died: Nelson, New Zealand (aged 50).
Australian Immigrants who died before making it to NZ
These were all free settlers.
2nd Great Grandparents
Margaret Callanan - Born in County Clare, Ireland - To Australia abt. 1853 (aged 22). Died Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Australia (aged 32). Her husband and children moved to New Zealand.
Elizabeth Large - Born in Kent, England - To Australia aboard ‘Marchioness of Londonderry’ with her husband and children in 1853 (aged 40). Died Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Australia. Some of her family moved to New Zealand.
Tamar Waldron - Born in County Kildare, Ireland - To Australia abt. 1853 (aged 24). Died Melbourne, Australia (aged 33). Her husband and child moved to New Zealand.
In Summary …
All 16 of my husband’s 2nd great grandparents were immigrants:
12/16 were from England - 4/16 were from Ireland
14/16 were free settlers - 2/16 were transported to Australia as convicts before moving on to New Zealand as free settlers
6/16 came direct to New Zealand (all free settlers)
7/16 came to New Zealand via Australia (5/7 were free settlers - 2/7 were transported to Australia as convicts and came onto New Zealand as free settlers)
3/16 died in Australia before they had an opportunity to travel to New Zealand with their husband and children (all were free settlers to Australia).
6 of my husband’s 8 great grandparents were immigrants:
1/6 came direct to New Zealand with family as free settlers
1/6 came to New Zealand via Australia where he had travelled with his parents as a free settler
4/6 were born in Australia and immigrated to New Zealand (1/4 had parents who had arrived in Australia as convicts - 3/4 had parents who were free settlers to Australia).
This post draws information from my family history archive on the WeAre.xyz platform
Asa migrant myself (Germany, 1985), I find the reasons for migration most interesting. But short of finding a diary or letters, the bare bones of FH research make it sometimes difficult to surmise. My theme for the 2nd half of the A-Z blogging challenge is migration, but it's proving quite a challenge!
Interesting lens for thinking about ancestry. I am Canadian of almost all European heritage so all the ancestors I am able to trace are ultimately immigrants. I did a quick tally, and the immigrants cluster around certain generations. For the Irish, they are g-grandparents or 3rd great grandparents, which is not surprising as immigration from Ireland surged before and during the Famine and there were waves that came after. On the French side, the cluster is 8th or 9th generation, again, not surprising as the migration to New France took place in a narrow time window of 1650-1700.
Then there are a few American strays, one set was event driven, my Loyalist refugees, or re-immigration (my grandmother's family went to US where she was born, but she chose to come back). There must be similar cases of people bouncing between Australia and NZ.