Diellis on Family Tree Circles

The information for this book was first collated by Verna Mossong who had been given an assignment in 1974 to write a family story. Lucky for the Edmonds family, she chose John Edmonds. The Edmonds family decided to have a reunion and in 1982 started organising themselves. Rosalie Webster, a member of the Mormon Church made a great contribution with history and names collected from the church archives but then her husband got a posting to Utah and a new person had to be found.
I had heard about the family reunion and been to a couple of the meetings and met Rosalie. I had always been interested in genealogy and when Rosalie asked if I would be interested in taking over the compiling of the book, I jumped at the chance.
I spent quite some time with Verna Mossong who taught me how to sort things out and present them and a lot of time with family members who taught me a lot about family and who became firm friends. People like, Hineira and Dave Amy, Ruiha Younger and her daughter Christine McKinder. (Hine and Rui were Calkin sisters). All worked hard in gathering information for the book by visits to archives with hours of searching which is so much easier today with electronic records etc. And the talents of Ruiha with her painting, art work and poetry displayed (not as good as could have been) on the inside front cover of the Edmonds Book and Christine's many hours of retyping my brave attempts and editing. Because we didn't have a computer, any mistakes meant the whole page had to be retyped and when late information came in we had to make an addenda at the end of the family to fit it in.
And so many other family members throughout the country who hosted family gatherings once a month to collect information for the book and fund raise toward the reunion.
There is no mention of the author or compiler in the book because we felt so many people had contributed. However, the copywrite of the book is under my name, Dianne Mitchell (now Ellis).
The update of the book will have a source reference page with as much as I know of where Verna got her information from, plus where the rest of us got ours from.

In August, 1844, Stephen Ellis was born in St. John's, Newfoundland to Stephen and Ann (nee Phelan/Whalen) Ellis.
In 1872, he married Sarah Ferguson Kelly in Auckland, New Zealand.
He travelled between NZ and Australia on steam and sailing ships but in 1887 he appears to vanish. Last heard of he was on his way to Sydney, Australia but searches of all known ships at that time show nothing. Nothing on any ship wrecks either. Nothing in Australia of any deaths or arrivals.
He had siblings, John, Richard and Elizabeth and had children, Ann, Stephen, Robin and Elizabeth.
Any help with this mariner would be greatly appreciated.
Di Ellis.

In 1985 I started putting together a family book about John Edmonds who came from Engalnd to NZ with his family under the Church Missionary Scheme in 1834. John was a stone mason and was supposedly coming to build the stone store at Kerikeri but by the time he got here, the store had been built by a William Parrot from Australia. However, John did the finishing touches such as the lintels and paving as William Parrot had left his wife and gone to Tauranga with his mistress.
John and his first wife had 11 children before she died. John's 2nd marriage gave him 2 more children before he died.
A reunion was held in 1986 for the Edmonds family and it was wonderful indeed. The book was well received but with all the modern technology today and the release of so much more information, I want to do an update of the book and fill in a lot of the gaps I had in the 1st book. Correct quite a few mistakes as well. Plus there is 20 years of updates to add.
If any one can help with Reuben Edmonds or Marcellus Cook (Martha's Vineyard)and the Budlong family (Jane Edmonds married George Budlong of Rhode Island) I would be most grateful.
Di Ellis.

I have been researching the PUCKEY family as it is my Mother-in-law's family line.
Her mother was Nettie WILSON who married Edgar Arundel PUCKEY IN 1911.
Nettie's family has been hard to trace with so many WILSON'S around. However, Nettie's father was Charles Alexander WILSON who was born in Auckland in 1865. After trawling through many archives and certificates I found that Charles had a sister who was apparently born at sea around 1855. She was Eliza Charlotte WILSON who married William Henry WALLIS in Auckland(1905).
On the marriage certificate of Charles, he has stated that his parents were Thomas, (occupation- compositor)and Catherine (nee MCLELLACE.) I think McLELLACE may be a spelling error as I have been unable to find another name the same or even similar. I can't find them arriving in NZ nor Charles'birth certificate. However, I understand births weren't required to be registered in 1865. In 1896, he appears on the Far North electoral rolls as a gumdigger at Parengarenga. There are a few other WILSONS also in the area.
Catherine Rosina WELLS, daughter of William and Jane (nee WRATHALL) met and married Charles Alexander WILSON in 1899 at the home of her parents in Fairburns. Charles gave his occupation at this time as a carpenter. Almost 10 years later, Charles is on the electoral roll as a gumdigger and he and Catherine are living at Waiharara.
Nettie was born in 1897 but the birth register for Far North gives her parents as Charles and Catherine.
In July,1913, we find Catherine Rosina WILSON in Auckland and applying for Charitable Aid. She declares that she has been in Auckland for 10 months, her husband is in Gisborne Hospital and she has 5 children to support.(By this time, Nettie is married and has a child of her own).
Children: Myrtle Irene(1898) Nancy Evelyn(1899) Ivy(1904), William(1907), Rita(1912).
In November, 1913, I found a death for a Charles WILSON at Waipiro Bay, Te Puia. His occupation was given as 'Carter' and the jury found that he died by misadventure through a cart accident on the Waipiro-Motukaraka Road. No other details were known. What was interesting is that the minister who buried him was a GD BIMLER and when Myrtle married Daniel Black McLeely in 1920, it was at the residence of a Robert BIMLER in Tokomaru Bay. This all in the same area.
I found a marriage for Myrtle to Daniel Black McLEELY (1920)and a 2nd marriage for Nettie to Alexander McKENZIE(1922) plus Alexander's death(1933) and Nettie's 3rd marriage to Frederick Charles PASCOE(1949).Have been unable to find a death for Charles or Catherine or anything about the rest of the family. I do have the children for Netties 1st marriage to Edgar PUCKEY: Gladys( 1912), Robert(1913), Theodore(1915) and Mona(1917). Nettie also had a daughter to Alaxander, Myola June( c1920).
Would love to hear from anyone who can help me with this WILSON family.