Author Topic: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha  (Read 4895 times)

Offline edesearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #27 on: Saturday 20 April 19 06:20 BST (UK) »
Will do :)

Offline edesearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #28 on: Wednesday 03 July 19 03:11 BST (UK) »
Hello again,

So I received Elizabeth’s death certificate but nothing new is provided. It only states that her father's surname was Sinclair, no first name is given, and her mother’s details have been left blank.

Nevertheless, I think I might have found a possible candidate for her mother. I was looking at Elizabeth’s second marriage certificate and noticed that the witnesses were listed as James and Jane Whitaker. Looking through papers past I stumbled across an article that notes the following, “He went up to Whitaker’s house, where Van Arsdale and his wife and two children also lived”, Van Arsdale’s wife, of course, being Elizabeth.

I then decided to look into the Whitakers a bit more and discovered that James Whitaker's wife was called Betty/Peti Hine Raria. I was struck by the similarity of her name and the names of Peti (Elizabeth) and her sisters Heni and Ruiha. Could it be that Betty Hine Raria is the mother of Peti and her two sisters?

Can someone help me either prove/disprove this possible relation?

Offline edesearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #29 on: Wednesday 03 July 19 04:25 BST (UK) »
Correction

I believe Betty Whitaker's full name was Irihapeti Hineraria Whitaker (nee.Potatau)

Offline VikSearch

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George Sinclair & Peti Matiaha
« Reply #30 on: Friday 30 July 21 11:11 BST (UK) »
Kia ora,

I'm a new member. I live in New Zealand, in Northland. I saw some earlier threads on here after googling George Sinclair and Matiaha. I believe he may be my 4 x grandfather via his daughter Heeni (aka Jenny) Sinclair. So I registered here to make this post.

I say "he may be my 4 x grandfather" because I'm not 100% sure if this is the George Sinclair I'm looking for. It has to do with his wife, which many people on here refer to as Peti Matiaha.

In our family George's wife is known as Matire Matiaha. We understand George was born approximately 1810-1820 in Scotland and he made his way to NZ sometime in the mid-1830s. Because of her surname, we believe Matire is from Rangitane, a Maori iwi (tribe) from the Wairarapa region in the bottom of the North Island of NZ. We think she was born around 1820.

The story in our family is George and Matire met somewhere around Wairarapa and over a period of years they made their way north, eventually to the Bay of Islands, Northland. Along the way they had three daughters: Heeni (aka Jenny), Ruiha (aka Louise) and Irihapeti (aka Elizabeth, Iripeti and Peti).

It's possible people may be confusing George's wife Peti with their daughter Irihapeti. Because she was known by at least 4 different names.

Also, once they arrived in the Bay of Islands it appears something may have happened to George and Matire. Because the daughters are believed to have been taken into foster care by European missionaries from the Waimate Mission in the Bay of Islands. It's there where Heeni met my 3x grandfather Hare Napia.

They married as Christians and had a son named Arena Te Au Napia - my great-grandfather. He was named in honour of Hare's best friend, an American named Issac Vanasdalen ("Arena" is taken from "alen" in Issac's surname). Issac married Heeni's sister, Irihapeti. They had two children, Edward and Hemo. Sadly, Issac was murdered by an ex-Colonial soldier on Christmas Day, 1862. Irihapeti remarried a gentleman named Abel Dickinson and they had quite a large family.

My great-gf Arena and his wife Hana died in their mid-30s in the early 1890s. But they left behind five children including my grandfather, Te Ahitopere Arena Napia.

I think Irihapeti is buried in Opua, a small coastal town in the Bay of Islands. But her sisters, Heeni and Ruiha are buried in my family's urupa (cemetery) in the inland Bay of Islands. We don't know where George and Matire are buried.

If this is the right George I'm seeking then I'm hoping to find more information about his Scottish family. I'm also trying to find out what happened to Matire Matiaha. If anyone is interested in sharing information I would be grateful.

Thank you. Vik.


Offline sarah

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #31 on: Friday 30 July 21 12:44 BST (UK) »
Hi Vik,

Welcome to RootsChat. I have just merged your message to the original topic so that the other members will be notified of your post.

Regards

Sarah
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Offline VikSearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #32 on: Friday 30 July 21 12:52 BST (UK) »
Hi Sarah,

Thanks very much. Still trying to figure out how the interface works so if this reply ends up somewhere else my apologies!

Vik

Offline edesearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #33 on: Friday 30 July 21 14:07 BST (UK) »
Kia ora Vik and welcome to Rootschat!

This is most certainly the same George. I am the 3x great-grandson of Heeni’s sister Irihapeti and her second husband Abel Dickinson.

Since starting this thread back in 2019 I have had very few breakthroughs regarding George’s origins,  however, I recently began working through my Ancestry DNA connections and I believe I am close to figuring it all out.

Three different people I connect with via DNA on Ancestry have trees that trace back to a woman called Margaret Sinclair. Margaret had a brother called George who was born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland on the 11th of October 1806. I have a hunch that this might be our George but I still need to confirm it so I’m going to continue working through my DNA connections and hopefully I’ll find more links to this particular family.

In regards to Matire, I also connect with a man who has a woman called Matire Te Poora Toeke in his family tree. Apparently, she was born in 1820 and was in a relationship with a man called Pakira Matiaha. Might this be our Matire Matiaha? The pair would go on to have a child together in 1842 called Katerina Matiaha.

Anyway, I’d love to know what you think, particularly regarding this info about Matire Te Poora Toeke. Also, while I’m chatting with you, would you happen to have any old photos of Heeni, Ruiha, and Irihapeti? I have some but they're all kind of low quality.

I’ll PM you my Email address, so if you have any photos to share or if you would like me to send you the photos I have just send me a message and let me know.

Kind Regards

Edesearch

Offline VikSearch

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #34 on: Friday 30 July 21 20:47 BST (UK) »
Kia ora Ede,

Great to meet another person from another branch of our family tree!

Yes, I agree. I do think George and Matire / Peti are the same people.

I have been researching our whanau for some time now and this branch has been one of the most challenging. I think it's because George and Matire were very much on the margins of society. George was a new migrant; Matire had left her settled community with George for a part of the country she knew little about. Can't be sure but I suspect there's so little information because they flew well under the radar, so to speak.

One of my cousins knows the Matiaha whanau from Wairarapa and he's been in contact with them regarding Matire. So we're hopeful we might be able to shed a little more light on her background soon.

I think I have one photo of Irihapeti Sinclair but I don't have any of Ruiha or Heeni. However I do have photos of Heeni and Ruiha's headstones at our family cemetery.

I also have a copy of the story of the court case backgrounding the killing of Issac Vanasdalen (his family's surname has evolved down the years to Van Arsdale or Vanasdale). One of the people involved in the incident was a James Whittaker. I initially thought he had no relationship to Issac. But after uncovering further information I think James was a close family friend.

I'll email you what I have later today. You have a good weekend! Vik.


Offline Anna Maria Rago Christiansen

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Re: George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha
« Reply #35 on: Wednesday 10 November 21 01:07 GMT (UK) »
Kia ora! Jumping in. I am a descendant of Iripeti/Elizabeth/Peti/Betty Sinclair. I am descended from her son Edward from her first marriage to Isaac Vanarsdale. I have been in touch with Edesearch about her and I have some information from a descendant of Ruiha--most of it is korero from tupuna. I would love to have more information on George Sinclair and Peti Matiaha. Please message me here or you can email me (email address in my profile). I am excited about all of this new information!