Mid November Margaret was given an airfare to Christchurch by Jonathan and family for her birthday. While there she visited the Canterbury A&P show, visited friends Rosalind and Heather Stewart - soon after Ros'80th birthday, and made a cake with her grand daughters Lucy & Penny. We visited Tasmania from 20 Oct. to 3 Nov. and learned much about the people, places and history of Terry's grandma Theresa Wagner's (1888-1971) family. She emigrated to NZ in 1915 as a 27 year old single woman. She was 12th in a family of 13 children who grew up on a farm at Woodsdale. Her old school is now a local museum with lot's of Wagner exhibits and some of her family still live there. Terry is here with Tasmanian cousins at Woodsdale. The St Matthias Anglican Church nearby was built by grandma's brother and furnished by the family. And we saw a platypus or two in the real as well as outside this Axemen's Museum near La Trobe. Earlier in October we attended the 50th Reunion of the Maranatha Christian Group Margaret belonged to in Palmerston North before we met. This was held in the old Pahiatua Maternity Hospital that is now Masters Hall. Her and our dear friends Alrena and Alan Martis are on the left. We are about to have our 4th funeral in St Anne's shortly. On 22 Sept. Sala Manulevu left the congregation very sad as we farewelled and gave thanks for the life of this very gifted Fijian woman. Apart from being a very loved and caring mum, Sala was a musician and worship leader, an effective pray-er, a very supportive pastoral evangelist and a wise Christian counsellor, among other things. Sala was there with other St Anne's people praying for us during challenging times in the 1990's.
A major project this year has been writing a biography of Margaret's father Don Milne. He with his wife Helen had a very significant Christian healing ministry in Christchurch between 1960-1990. The biography: "Don Milne: a most incredible man" will be published in April 2023 and launched at a gathering at St Martin's Anglican Church in Spreydon, Christchurch on Sat. 15th April at 1:30pm. More info: https://www.tinyurl.com/donmilnebio
As we extend to you our love and greetings this Christmas and new year we thought you might enjoy this colourful picture taken at Cataract Gorge, Launceston. Not all is what it seems however. Behind the photographer the gorge and the river were in high flood and it was a scary experience walking over the raging Gorge river via the nearby swing bridge !
Whether you are in a pleasant place or in a disturbing place at the moment or somewhere in between, may you know peace and hope as the Spirit of Christmas and Summer Holiday refreshment surround you this year. With our prayerful good will, Margaret & Terry Alve
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Margaret and I holidayed in Tasmania 22 October to 3 November 2022. In this post I report on our contacts with relatives to whom I am related through my grandma Theresa Alve (nee Wagner) 1880-1971 who lived in New Zealand from 1915. I was given various photos and added to them with Margaret and I photographing what we saw. Our last stop was Richmond near Hobart airport where this image reminded us of Tasmania's first people. We saw no Australian Aborigines who we identified as such. One person, who served us dinner at Oatlands, suggested he has mixed ancestry including Aboriginal. While we did not pursue Tasmania's convict past, it is never far from the surface. A visit to the Richmond gaol brought it closer and walking over the Richmond bridge, built by convicts in 1823, did too. At Deloraine I bought a book that tells how over 100 New Zealander convicts were transported to Tasmania - have you ever heard of that? Read, "Cleansing the Colony" by Kristyn Harman who lectures at Hobart University. Our trip to Tasmania coincided with the publication and launch of Michael Watt's book, "The Fingal Valley's German Heritage" at St Helen's Church History rooms. Some of the Wagner and Hauke ancestors, including two of grandfather Philip Wagner's brothers settled in the Fingal Valley in the 1860's. Both married women who had close connections with Tasmania's transportation convict past. Michael Watt is seated at the table in the background and David Llewellyn, former deputy Premier of Tasmania and book launch guest speaker, is in the foreground. We spent a Saturday afternoon at Woodsdale were Grandmother Theresa grew up and went to school taking (and receiving) these pictures... We did some cemetery visits and sited several Wagner-connected graves including these... Treasures in Woodsdale Woodsdale Museum & Wagner Cottage These are some of the relatives we met along the way... A Family Business I visited Graeme Davis (Alma's brother) who founded the Tasmanian Clothing Company at Spreyton, Devonport about 30+ years ago. Graeme is a great grandson of Chris and Laura Wagner who were brother and sister respectively of my great grandparents Philip and Caroline Wagner. (The Clothing Factory is now managed by Graeme's daughter Angela.) More Distant Relatives Icing on the Cake While they are not Wagner relatives, we had a wonderful evening dinner date with Maria and David Malone at their home in Hobart. Maria and her family had a close association with Margaret's parents during the 1970-80's. Both are composers and musicians and have connections with the University of Hobart. Maria lectures in music and David teaches and plays guitar across Australia and beyond. Amongst David's repertoire is music composed by Maria. https://ww.facebook.com/davidmalonegtr E&OE
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AuthorMargaret & Terry Alve live in Tawa, NZ. Between them they are linked to several families from the UK and Germany who emigrated to Tasmania and Aotearoa-New Zealand between 1850 and 1925. Archives
December 2022
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