Need help to locate biological mother of LESLIE ERIC MCGLASHAN - born in Auckland, NZ 1937.

Question

Hi all,

This is a tricky question, but is anyone able to help me to narrow down the potential biological mother of Leslie Eric MCGLASHAN? Leslie was born at St Mary's Home for Unwed Mothers in Otahuhu, Auckland, NZ on 21 January 1937.

He was committed to state care on 17 December 1937, however his mother petitioned to regain custody of her son by 1944. A note that I have obtained from Oranga Tamariki says that she was married by August 1938, which means that she would have only married between 17 December 1937 and August 1938. Furthermore, her location is given as being in Hamilton, NZ.

Any help would be so greatly appreciated. Also, if any McGlashan relatives reach out then that would be fantastic.

Thank you all for your time.

Answer 1

You can search for NZ marriages here: https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search. There were 5 McGlashan ladies married in 1937/1938.

Comments

This is the link to Papers Past which has a write up of one of the above marriages.

Answer 2

(Revised Nov2021 correcting names)

As far as we know, there were two sisters who were brought up at the McGlashan farm in Gisborne.  One was called Reanie or Reanee, also known as Tot.  She married Hilton Miles in March 1938, quite a flashy wedding by the looks of it.  Her elder sister Jeannie attended the wedding - the report describes her as Mrs. K Buscke.  Jeannie, also known as Edna ( described as Miss E McGlashan at a couple of earlier balls), had married Karl Edwin Buscke, who at some point changed his name to Charles.

The C Buscke described as groomsman at Reannie's wedding could be Karl/Charles or his father nicknamed Cyril.

I'm not convinced that either of these sisters could have been sent all the way to Auckland from Gisborne to have a child, particularly with her parents still alive at home.  There were other McGlashan families around.

Comments

The wedding does sound quite flashy. I would say it’s not unlikely for parents with some status in the community, and the wedding suggests that, to send a pregnant daughter as far away as possible to have the baby. Auckland would have been a good choice given its size and the possibility of anonymity. Is there an electoral roll that would place one of these women in Hamilton in 1944 or later?