This is a brief departure from the world of my great-great grandparents, to remember my grandfathers, both of whom survived the horrors of the "war to end all wars".
My maternal great-great grandmother, Sarah Norgrove, immigrated to New Zealand in 1841 with her husband and baby son. 1841 was very early in organised migration to this country and I've spent years trying to find out more about my family and their life-changing journey into the unknown. His-tory is about men, and the things they did. Sarah was just an ordinary woman, following her husband, doing the things that women of her time did, but it's her-story that interests me. So I'm writing her story - part biography, part novel.
"1841...and now" is about my journey - my daily commute between my great-great grandmother's life in the nineteenth century, and my life in the 21st.
About the picture above
The painting is of the family home in Dillon Street, Blenheim. The house was built by William and his sons, and occupied by the family from 1864 until my grandfather had to pull it down when old Aunt Emma moved in with him and his family. One of my cousins holds the original of the painting. The artist is unknown, although I would like to think it was painted by William himself.
Then...
Sarah King Norgrove (nee Hall) - one of my maternal great-great grandmothers. Born 1818; married William at 21; and became a mother a year later. In 1841, with her husband and son, she left home and family in England for the raw settlement of Wellington, New Zealand. Had nine more children; three died - the eldest at 18, the others as babies. Outlived her husband by 5 years, dying in 1891. Those are pretty much the known facts about her, but who was she?
William Norgrove - Sarah's husband and my great-great grandfather. Born in 1813. A plumber, painter, builder, artist. Fathered 10 children. New Zealand settler and pioneer. Died in 1886. There are considerably more documented facts about William than there are about Sarah - his-tory is about men, after all.
Ovid Hall Norgrove - William and Sarah's first child, born in 1840. Emigrated to New Zealand with his parents at the age of 1 - the ship sailed on his first birthday. Died at the age of 18, possibly of TB.
Oscar Alfred Norgrove - the second child, the first to be born in New Zealand, in 1842. My great-grandfather.
Gertrude Norgove - the first daughter, born in 1844. Named after the ship on which her parents sailed to NZ. The name reappears in later generations, but fortunately didn't catch on as the name for eldest daughters, otherwise I too might be Gertrude!
Horace Norgrove - born in 1846, the fourth child.
Emma Norgrove - born in 1848, during one of Wellington's major earthquakes. The fifth child, and second daughter. Never married, and outlived all of her siblings, dying in 1945. She's the one who has passed on many of the stories of the family's early days in New Zealand, to her nephew Edgar (my grandfather) and his children.
Walter Norgrove - born 1850, baby #6.
Kate Norgrove - born 1852, the third daughter. Never married.
Zoe Norgrove - born 1856 (the gap between Zoe and Kate presumably explained by William's absence in the goldfields of Victoria). Zoe lived for only 24 days.
Alice Norgrove - born 1857. Died at the age of 13 months, apparently of croup. Her eldest brother Ovid died only a month later.
Sidney Norgrove - born 1860, Sarah's last child. His older siblings called him Old Norgrove.
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