Maria's Family Archives: All Posts

Hello, I'm Maria and I live in the beautiful province of Southland in the deep south of New Zealand. I'm a happily married farmers wife and the mother of two gorgeous, strong-willed, young adults. After forty years spent wondering where exactly I fit into this world and what exactly my life's role actually is, I have finally decided that it is MY responsibility and MY job on this earth (besides trying to be the best wife and mother that I can be) to be the link between the past and the future.

For over three decades I have researched my family history and have loved finding out all that I can about the lives of my ancestors and those who walked this earth before me. I now find myself wanting to reach out to all my wider extended family and share with them some of what I have learnt over the years.

Our ancestors led such interesting and sometimes challenging lives, and often faced so many hardships along the way. I think we owe it to them to keep their stories alive for future generations. Without any single one of them, or without some of the sacrifices or decisions they made along the way, we wouldn't even be here. They were real people, and they lived and breathed and journeyed through their lives just as we do today.

So please stay a while and have a browse through my blog. This is my story, and these are my ancestors stories, with a bit of everything else chucked in. Enjoy the journey :-)

My main research is focused on (but is not limited to) the following surnames: EGAN, COSGRIFF, DWYER, SCHULTZ, RYDZEWSKI (or REGEFSKY), BROSNAN, WALLIS, THORLEY, ENGLISH, McCALLIE, LITTLE, CASSIDY, McCULLOCH, RENSHAW, LINDSAY, CLOSE, SPEIRS, BEVERIDGE, HURRELL, BRUNT, PRESTIDGE, EDWARD, JONES, EDE, NEAL and WHITESIDE, and the following locations: NEW ZEALAND (Southland and Canterbury), SCOTLAND (Wigtownshire and Lanarkshire), IRELAND (Armagh, Down, Kerry and Tipperary), ENGLAND (Staffordshire, Essex, Surrey, Nottinghamshire and Kent), USA (Massachusetts) and POLAND.