Heritage et AL

West Auckland was settled by many migrants from a variety of countries. One of those families was the Semadeni family from Switzerland who have lived on Te Atatū peninsula since 1910. Antonio Semadeni emigrated to New Zealand in 1860. One of the earliest mentions of him in records is in the Waipu area in 1864. Te Atatū North 1910s. From material lent by Mr Conrad Cass in January 1986, J. T. Diamond Collection. Garriock, Barbara, “Early Te Atatū,” West Auckland Historical Society newsletter 72 (July 1985). Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. One of Antonio’s sons, Edward Adam Semadeni (1870 – 1931), a wood turner from Mount Eden and his wife Ethel Cozens (nee Probert) (1874 – 1933) acquired land in Harbour View Road seeking a rural farming life style in 1910. Photographer unknown. Edward and Ethel Semadeni, date unknown. Semadeni Family Collection. Edward and Ethel completed building the brick house that was already on the land. The bricks came from many of the bric...

This coming Saturday, 13 January 2018, come celebrate Scottish culture at Waitākere Central Library at our biannual event, Scots Wha Hae! Robert Burns’ rousing song Scots Wha Hae , written in 1793, is a call for Scots to stand up for their nation.  It is written in the form of a speech by the Scots’ King, Robert the Bruce, before leading his troops to victory against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Scottish people have embraced Burns (1759-1796) as their national poet, because his songs and poems represent enduring Scottish values: ones that are celebrated internationally. An exhibition at New Zealand’s Te Papa Museum stated that enduring Scottish values are those of  “…education and equal opportunity for all, and a sense of personal and social responsibility”. In the 19th century, Scots in New Zealand often celebrated Burn’s birthday on 25 January. BURNS'S ANNIVERSARY., Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 22, 27 January 1890 . The reasons for le...

When sorting through some books that had been donated to us, a while back, I came across a copy of NZ Pioneers’ & Descendants’ Club Inc. Silver Jubilee 1939-1964 booklet of which there are several copies in the libraries’ collection. This small publication runs to 63 pages and probably would not attract the attention of many if seen on the library's catalogue or a shelf somewhere. How wrong we would be to disregard this little gem! It gives a brief history of the club and why it was set up: "To create the spirit of friendship; To get memories of the early days published in detail…" The rest of the booklet offers much for those whose forebears either belonged to the club or are the subjects of the histories included.  There is a list of present and past officers, list of current members and date when forebear arrived, ships date of arrival and member’s name, alphabetical list of surnames mentioned in articles followed by many brief details about (mainly grandp...

A few months back, on a day trip around the Hawke's Bay, I happened upon Norsewood, just north of Dannevirke. Norsewood was famous for that line of outdoor clothing Norsewear and appropriately the day I passed through, I could have done with some Norsewear. Wild weather was bashing the North Island, and by the time we left Norsewood it had begun to get dark and the passengers were starting to get a little nervous. We were about to head through the Manawatu Gorge. At night. The home of Ole Lund and family Secretly, I thought the advantage of driving through the Manawatu Gorge in the dark was that you couldn't see how far down you'd fall if the car went off the road. It's quite a drop. The other plus was that we were on the side farthest from potential doom, although with the tendency for the gorge to suffer slips, I would never be bold enough to assume I'd get through in one piece, even in daylight. We had stopped at Norsewood in the freezing, violent wind, ...