Quest for Great-Grandparents: Kiwi Edition

Question

For this week's great-grandparent challenge, I have chosen Prime Ministers of New Zealand. Most of these prime ministers are connected to the main tree, but none of them have a full set of great-grandparents listed on WikiTree. In order for us to add a list to the Relationship Finder Quick Links page, each person on it needs to have at least one line going back as far as their great-grandparents (and preferably all eight great-grandparents). (If you're wondering why Keith Holyoake and David Lange aren't on this list, they already have full sets of great-grandparents listed on WikiTree.)

The task is to seek out, source, and add profiles for as many missing great-grandparents as you can find. As you take on a prime minister, and add a new great-grandparent, please post a message here, so we can keep track of how we're doing.

Name	Connected?	Great-grandparents	Working on
Joseph Ward	Yes	0
George William Forbes	Yes	2
Thomas Mackenzie	Yes	7
William Massey	Yes	0
Francis Bell	Yes	2
Joseph Coates	Yes	7
Michael Savage	Yes	0
Peter Fraser	Yes!	0
Sidney Holland	Yes	4
Walter Nash	Yes!	1	Fiona McMichael
Jack Marshall	Yes	0
Norman Kirk	Yes	8!	Kylie Fowler
Bill Rowling	Yes	8!	Kylie Fowler
Robert Muldoon	Yes	4	Kylie Fowler

Comments

If you can add sources, photos, or biographies, add siblings, children, aunts, uncles, etc., or improve the profiles of these prime ministers or their family members in other ways, so much the better!

If you run across an unsourced profile which is already on WikiTree and add one or more sources to it, you can count that source towards Sourcerers Challenge, if you're taking part in that. (And, if you happen to find an additional connection path for a prime minister whose family you're working on, that makes them all the better as a relationship finder!)

P.S. I'm not a WikiTree Leader, and have no authority to assign points, credit, or anything like that. My intent with these challenges is for them to be a fun little break from whatever you're doing regularly. (Well, that, and preparing lists of different kinds of notables for the Relationship Finder Quick Links page.) There's no time limit, there are no prizes, and if you have fun finding and adding relatives, then you win. (And WikiTree wins in any case, because the more connected profiles we have, the better the tree is for everybody.)

That said, if you manage to connect any of the profiles listed here to the main tree, there's no reason that you can't count that connection towards the Connectors Challenge, if you're taking part in that. (Or, you could count it towards the Sourcerers Challenge if you run across an unsourced profile which is already on WikiTree and add one or more sources to it.)

P.P.S. If this challenge intrigues you, and you think you might like to try finding great-grandparents for other notable people so they can be added to the Relationship Finder Quick Links page, you can find other threads in this series on the How to increase a country's presence on WikiTree page.

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They’re hard. Most were born out of New Zealand and have “common” names. The great grandparents of the older ones would reach pre-1841 census. The NZ Project will probably need help from members with knowledge of UK and Australian records.

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Yes, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada all have the same problem: lots of former PMs were immigrants, or children of immigrants, so access to British records is important.

(On the other hand, one of the former British PMs was born in New Brunswick, so we kind of got our revenge there...)

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I've created profiles for two grandparents of Rob Muldoon and have their marriage cert but only has father's names and occupations - not enough to create profiles for.

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Thank you, Kylie!

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I thank you also, Kylie!

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Finally have a set of Gt Gr parents for Rob Muldoon!  Yay

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Four grt grand parents for Rob Muldoon - when and how do the numbers on the chart change?  Is there someone in particular I tell...?

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Thank you for adding Muldoons great-grandparents, Kylie! 

I update the table here and the table on the How to increase a country's presence on WikiTree page most days, if there have been any updates, so once you've posted the news here, I'll update it when I get a chance.

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With those seven new great-grandparents for Muldoon and Rowling, the percentage complete for this challenge has jumped from 32.8% to 38.3%, vaulting it past the Quest for Great-Grandparents: Orbital Edition (Part 2) and Quest for Great-Grandparents: Orbital Edition (Part 1) challenges into fifth place in terms of percent complete.

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Norman Kirk has full complement now, one just wasn't connected properly.

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Bill Rowling now has eight grt gr parents....they were already on WT and now he has some grt grt gr parents.

Those Irish PM's have got me stuck though.

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Those three additions have moved the percent complete up to 40.6%.

Answer 1

Sidney Holland has his first ggrandfather. James Robson is the father of his paternal grandmother.

Comments

Thank you, Jelena. Should I put your name on his row?

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In the meanwhile you should know me.... I jump here and there and where I find something there I source something. :) I'm not sure I will now consistently work on him.

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Oh, sure. I know you. I just didn't know if you wanted to work more on Sidney's family.

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I connected Holland to two more of his great grandparents

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You people are rocking this challenge. I'm looking at the tallies, and I think this challenge might end up surpassing the astronaut challenges, which have been up for much longer!

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Thank you Jelena and S.!

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Somebody added a fourth great-grandparent for Holland.

Answer 2

Hi Greg, just want to say a big thank you for doing this!

Comments

Happy to do it. It's long past time for WikiTree to have better coverage of New Zealand.

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It makes it easier for me, taking the Prime Ministers off the project scope (referring to the New Zealand Politicians Sub-Project).

It does mean, that focus can resume on the other Ministers that I had begun to work on but delayed due to other stuff (including my degree examinations).

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Oh, I have no intention of taking responsibility for these (or any other) profiles from any project. I'm just trying to work up a list of New Zealand Prime Ministers to add to the Relationship Finder Quick Links page (like the list of British Prime Ministers which was added recently). Once we get all the prime ministers connected and with at least one great-grandparent (and preferably a full set) listed, my work here will be done.

Here's best wishes for your exams. Don't forget to carry the 2. 

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That's perfectly okay!

Answer 3

Well, I've spent 24-ish hours working on Michael Savage's family and so far all I have are his parents, fairly fleshed out but with no confirmed leads for grandparents, let alone great-grandparents! I'll keep poking about, though.

I did find a beautifully written life history for Michael which included interesting details about his parents (here), which I pat myself on the back for. But no death date for his father, and no names.

Shockingly, the profile for Michael and his mother were orphaned when I checked on them. It feels a bit sad, like neglecting a memorial...

Comments

Thank you for putting in all that work, Tracy!

Answer 4

Some gt gr parents for Bill Rowling

Comments

Thank you, Kylie! 

Answer 5

I don't know who did it, but George William Forbes is now showing 2 great-grandparents. Together with the extra great-grandparent for Sid Holland, that pushes the percent complete up to 43%, so now this challenge is breathing down the neck of Quest for Great-Grandparents: Canada Edition.

Answer 6

An update for you on this front:

• Thomas Mackenzie is now at 7
• Peter Fraser is now connected

Comments

Thank you, Richard! That moves the percent complete for this challenge up to 46.1%, with only one prime minister still to connect! That moves this challenge up to fifth place in terms of percent complete, and third place in terms of great-grandparents still to find.

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As an added pique to my interest, Thomas Mackenzie's ancestors include a couple of people named Hosie, from Scotland. As it happens, John Hosie, a former provincial archivist of British Columbia, was also born in Scotland. I haven't been able to find out much about him, but now I'm wondering if he might have been a cousin of Thomas Mackenzie.

Answer 7

Thank you to whoever added the first great-grandmother for Walter Nash!

Comments

I’m working through the children, spouses and their parents and will try to find a NZ connection to the tree.

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That would be great, because he's the last prime minister still to be connected.

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I think I've done it through Amy Buck, the wife of his youngest son, Leslie. (It won't show yet.) I was fast running out of options! And it is possible I am distantly related to the Buck family.

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Thank you, Fiona! Now all the Prime Ministers are connected to the main tree! That is an accomplishment in and of itself. Now, if we could just get some help from people who have access to Irish records, we might be able to find more great-grand-parents.