Hi,It seems that New Zealand attracted a couple of my ancestors.Eliza's father was James Gunning a farmer. There ware 3 girls,Eliza,Agnes and Sarah,both the later died in childbirth.There were 4 boys,Samuel,James Andrew and William.William was my great x2 grandad.He had 5 sons and 1 daughter who also died in childbirth.Drumawhey is where William lived,he was a shoemaker.His son James 1854-1912,married in Glasgow then went to New Zealand where he also worked as a shoe maker,He had about 10 children,My great grandad,Thomas 1856-1925,also a shoe maker,was a bit of a character.His wife had 3 children before they married in 1877,by 1881 the family were living in Glasgow,minus 1 child that I don't know what happened to .Thomas,also went to New Zealand,leaving his family behind in Scotland.I think it would have been sometime in the 1880s as he's on the censuses for Dunedin and also on the Glasgow census but I think his wife said he was there to"save face".In 1901 he married again,he died in 1925.
I found Robert on the 1911 census for Ireland with 4 of his children,he was a widower.I can't find him on the 1901 census which is strange.He was a farmer near Donaghadee.As far as I can see he only married once,the dates for Eliza must be wrong,another thing I'll check.
There's a possibility that Eliza wasn't James' daughter but the daughter of another Gunning.I had the name McGimpsey for her long before I knew about you.
I've made a note of your relatives,if thre's anything I can help with researching just let me know.
Where in NZ are you? Keep in touch.
Take care Susan