Wakefield family of Nelson

[glenys biggs]

just looked at the link and it looks as though the information i have is that the name has been changed around and that Christina is indeed the same person

[taonga1]

Yes, it looks like the same person to me.  It happened a lot.  My terribly elusive Wakefield is William in some places and John in others. 

That page I sent you to also lists the name of the Busch book.  I'm not certain that it's easy to get hold of. 

[glenys biggs]

i am interested know where you fit into the family i have just read williams death notice in the papers past but i dont know where he came from, its so easy to spend hours on the computer.

[taonga1]

I've spent 4 years trying to find out where he came from and where he's buried! 

The line I'm researching descends from William/John Wakefield and Christina Lankow, though their daughter Clara Elizabeth.  It's linked to my daughter's birth family.

[squally]

Are you able to tell me what details are on William John Wakefield's Intention to Marry?

[taonga1]

Yes - it's in my folder here someplace!

... looking, looking ...

Got it - from my notes from visit to Archives at Wellington:

Pg 129/47
Date 2 Oct 1858
William John Wakefield, Bachelor, Farmer, 24 years, Residence Waimea South, length of time in district, 2 years
Christina Lankow, Spinster, 22 years, Residence Waimea East, Richmond, length of time in district, 14 years
At the protestant Episcopalian Church, Richmond, Waimea East, Rev. Samuel Poole



I've sent you a file of their marriage printout, haven't I?  It didn't add much to the information - no ages or parents listed.  One of the witnesses is a Doras Schroder - William and Christina lived as householders on section 110, Aniseed Valley, and Schroder is the surname of the leaseholder for that section. 

[taonga1]

Glenys - can you send me a link to the death notice for William that you were reading in Papers Past?   I've probably seen it, but you never know what new things might crop up!

The most likely Marlborough papers to have information on his death are missing for that crucial time period, and the Nelson papers are quite vague.

[squally]

Thanks for the info, Taonga. My goodness he is elusive!

[taonga1]

You're not kidding!  Maybe we could work together on the research work. 

New things are being made accessible online all the time, and you just never know when a crucial piece of information will suddenly pop up.

I have outlined a research plan of attack - for the time being, I think I've exhausted most online NZ information, but a genealogy mentor showed me some more avenues to try offline.  My other major tactic is following possible individuals through the English census and working out where they ended up. 

The other thing I'd like to try is finding diaries/archives from descendents, or living relatives, on other family branches, to see if there are any clues.  The Busch family book, for example, had photos and a few bits of information. 

I'm having a lazy day with my kids today and I really shouldn't let myself get sucked into genealogy for the day, but it's tempting!