Kiwi Heritage Tracers

08/09/2025

Here's a short video from Scotland about Crookston Castle, Glasgow. A line of the Crooks family from this castle moved to Ulster in the 1600s. Although I'm not their descendant personally, two of my great-great-great-grandfather's sisters married into the Crooks family and moved to New Zealand; with hundreds if not more descendants here today.

Short video produced for the Village Storytelling Centre, which recalls the true history and origins of Crookston Castle.

20/08/2025

White's Bridge over the Waimakariri river, photo taken in 1865.

The course of the river was different in 1865 to how it is today: it forked into a North Branch and a South Branch; in between those branches were Coutts Island, McLeans Island, and the part of Kaiapoi that lies south of today's Kaiapoi River -- the remnant of the North Branch.

We understand that the photo depicts a crossing of the South Branch at a location now known as White's Crossing - near the current motorway bridge; although the South Branch course was somewhat to the south of the current river bed.

04/06/2025

This week we start a journey from Oxford - in England , through tough circumstances around the turn of the century that will eventually take us to the western side of North Island of New Zealand

This is part 1 in a series about the Burns family of Oxford, Oxfordshire. Regular readers will know that I live in Oxford, New Zealand. But this time we are 19,000 kilometres away in the historic town of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. Our story will take us through the two Workhouses and an Industria...

15/02/2025

Following on from last week's story; a bit more about Dunmore where my ancestors are from, and the Orange Lodge in Canterbury

Last time we looked at the erroneous headstone of my distant relative, David Bell. Like many of my Irish ancestors, David was born in the townland of Dunmore, which lies about 8km north-west of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. At the time of these events, Ireland was a single entity; nowdays, thes...

09/02/2025

In this week's post we come across a cemetery record that doesn't have the right year of death. Ouch!

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell. David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ire...

21/01/2025

Disappointing

Twenty-three plaques were reported missing on Tuesday.

05/01/2025

Today we take a quick look at how to identify which of your relatives and connections are buried in a particular cemetery, and plan a walking tour.

Ever found yourself passing a cemetery and wondered if any of your family are buried there? In this article we’ll look at how to answer that question with the help of WikiTree’s Connection Finder. We will also look at using FindAGrave’s Plot Details to help wht planning a route around the ceme...

30/11/2024

DNA Tests are on sale for AUD $79 (AncestryDNA) or NZD $59 (MyHeritage). Don't miss out -- both deals end on December 3 and the regular price is a lot more expensive!

Now is the best time to start your journey -- or gift a test to someone you know. Keep reading to find out everything you wanted to know about what you'll get in the test.

Always wondered what we’re talking about with DNA? In this post we’ll cover how it works, and then what you may be able to learn from the test results. We will look at the benefits of testing, as well as some of the possible down-sides. At the time of writing, the major providers have Black Frid...

30/11/2024

In the 19th century, many millions of Irish emigrated far and wide; with tens of thousands coming to New Zealand.

Irish research presents a unique challenge, due to the Four Courts Fire in 1922 during the Irish Civil War, which wiped out a thousand years of records. However, necessity is the mother of invention; and so Ireland is a leader in digitizing and indexing of those records that did survive.

It's often possible now to pinpoint exactly where your UK & Irish ancestors lived, and follow the migration paths of their wider family members; through a combination of records and DNA.

We specialize in Northern Irish research , but also know a thing or three about the rest of the UK & Ireland and several other countries.

Hundreds of thousands of settlers came from the UK & Ireland to New Zealand in the latter half of the 19th century and onward. Here at Kiwi Heritage Tracers, we specialize in migration from the north of Ireland, but also have extensive experience with England, Wales, Scotland & the remainder of Irel...

25/11/2024

Check out our channel intro video! Let us know which video content you'd like to see more of.

Welcome to Kiwi Heritage Tracers! We're really excited that you're here. In this video we explain what it is that we do, and how we can help you on your fami...

17/11/2024

Following a chance encounter at Oxford Museum this morning, today we're searching for emigration records regarding John Dunlop, who passed away near Rangiora in 1924, but first emigrated from Ireland to the West Coast around 1870.

Let us know what you think of this story :)

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws. John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marri...

10/11/2024

In this week's Trace we look at an ancestor who seems to disappear from records...

This is part 1 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb. Francis & Catherine McNabb, my great-great-grandparents, came to New Zealand in 1873/4 aboard the ship Isles of the South with four children – recorded as: Jane (7), Edward (5), Catherine (3) and Mary A (5 months). Francis & Catherine were...