While on tour I regularly gave thought to how to set up an efficient and effective platform and processes for collecting, storing and accessing this information. The description “dashboard” very quickly came to mind.

Fortunately a few years back in my “real life” I had discovered Netvibes with its award-winning free personal dashboard and reader, and customised one of its basic dashboards to harvest media items for distribution to the New Zealand local government sector. Used with Yahoo Pipes, Google Alerts and some of the other search mechanisms, web scraping at a high level was achieved at a greatly reduced cost to that of media monitoring services.

To gain a quick appreciation of all that Netvibes has to offer Get Started with the ”I am Just Me” option. It’s worthy to note that the Basic edition is 100% free.

This is a quick means of appreciating the expansiveness of the utilities offered by a Netvibes dashboard. I am sure you will be impressed by what pops up on your screen after having entered the topic you want to track – News, Blog, Video and Social searches are conducted immediately without any prompting on your part. If not required these can be deleted.

Then create a few tabs relevant to your project and add widgets through the top left “Add Content” facility. Scan for what meets your purposes under “Essential Widgets” (48 of them at my last count) and “Feeds”. The Essential Widgets include a Mail Wizard (available with most of internet e-mail providers) which notifies new e-mail, Maps Search (useful to find that hamlet in which your ancestors resided), a link module, and an HTML Editor. You name it, I am certain you will find essential widgets that will collectively give you a complete platform from which to launch, most if not all, of your online family research initiatives.

You will soon see just why I rate the Netvibes Dashboard so highly. My wife complains that I “waste” too much time on family history. I had to agree with her before I set up my dashboard. Now I’m probably achieving twice as much in the same amount of time. The complaining continues but at least I have the message about wasting time and have responded.

An added advantage of the dashboard is that it may be used as a check list. Tabs suitably organised and named, allow you to quickly scan and show all possibilities for that big hit that will knock over your brick wall.

Feeds also are of enormous benefit in keeping pace with the exponential growth of genealogy online resources. I have lost count of the occasions recently I have made a discovery of information that I know was not online just a week or two earlier.

Give it a shot, experiment by creating a basic experimental board. My experience makes me confident that this move will soon blossom and you will become another admirer of this solution for easing the drudgery of search and expanding the research horizons and online options.

I should mention that Dashboard Tabs and Widgets may be shared by email or through social networks. If it would help I am willing to help anyone interested in establishing a Dashboard by sharing some of my tabs to offer examples of what might be achieved. It works like this: you set up a dashboard, give me your email address through the Comment box at the foot of this blog and I shall send any of my tabs in which you may be interested. This could be of help to both people and perhaps family history and genealogy societies providing a service to members.

My tabs include: NZ Family Research, UK Family Research, Australia Family Research, Irish Family Research, Scottish Family Research, Migration, Shipping, Newspapers, Family Trees/DNA.

Finally, do not let yourself down by claiming to be a web dummy. Netvibes does all the hard work for you.

Francis is also my great-grandfather and I am of course delighted that my web efforts have returned a result.

The family connection for me is through my grandmother Winifride Annie VINE/KRUSE née EDWARDS who was the sister of Lucy’s grandfather Sidney George EDWARDS.

Until receiving this email the only family lore I had of any substance was the comment of Patricia Mary Drayson VREDENBREGHT nee MURRAY, daughter of Mildred Mary Drayson MURRAY née EDWARDS, another sister of Francis Lewis EDWARDS, contained in a letter mailed to me around 1990. In this letter she remarked that members of the family around 1912 had “scattered within 14 months. Sydney left for Jamaica, Edgar for South Africa, Winifride for New Zealand and Mildred for Australia”.

I am now able to say that following my attendance at the WDYTYA Live Conference in London in February I met Lucy’s father, my new Uncle, Frances Victor Peter, and her sister, my new cousin, Angela, with whom I had a most delightful meeting and lunch in Canterbury, Kent, their current place of residence .

Here we compared notes and added some flesh to the bones we had existed on to date. The “scandal” mentioned in Pat’s letter received some attention, of course, and we seem to have identified the fact that Sydney George had married three times with some question of the legality of the last two. Also to be borne in mind is the fact that this was a strict Roman Catholic family and multiple marriages would not have been accepted with grace. This is now history and one of the inevitable skeletons pulled from cupboards when families reunite generations on – the bread and butter of the genealogy trade, don’t you think?

Working from an entry in the file BT 120, 1 Register of Seamen A-C, Series 1 1835 – 36 “No 3845 Name: Christopher Berry Age 30 Place of Birth: Yarmouth Ship belonging to Orissa of Grangemouth. Quality: Mariner” and on the suggestion of the extremely helpful team manning the Maritime History Archive desk at the Conference I ordered the file BT 98 “Shipping and Seamen Registry – Agreements & Crew Lists Series 1 Last Piece Ref 6944”.

It did not take me long at all to find the Crew List for the voyage of the Orissa, Port of Grangemouth, C T Anderson, Master, which sailed from the Port of London, 1st Departure, March 1837 on her voyage to Sydney and India (arrived Sydney July 1837) who joined the ship later to its departure and until her return to the Port of London. Christopher Berry was not named in that List.

A subsequent search in Edinburgh for information on the Orissa Shipping Company, in particular for any other vessels in its ownership, was also unsuccessful.

In reviewing my approach to this conundrum I have given some thought to the possibility that the Seamens Register entry above relates to another Christopher Berry. This is a possibility because the given age and place of birth do not exactly coincide with the now known facts. However it does follow the history of obfuscation with these factors and that Christopher was baptised three times with three different names in two different towns, Norwich and Kings Lynn.

The residence of wife and daughter, as referred to in the following paragraph, nearby Grangemouth at Cramond, is I believe strong evidence that we have the correct Christopher Berry warranting further research in that area.

I was unsuccessful also, despite a several hours searching at Scotlands People Centre and the Scottish Genealogy Society, in finding anything of what happened to wife and daughter, both Elizabeth, who appear in the 1841 Census resident at Craigies (Farm) Cottages in Cramond which lies a few miles to the north-west of Edinburgh. The booklet “Old Cramond” by Peter and William J. Scholes records that in 1790 its population of 299 families was found to be diminishing due to ‘the removal of mechanics to town, the failure of the oyster fishing, and the increase of pasture land’ (First Statistical Account). Elizabeth senior is recorded in the 1841 Census with the occupation “Ag Lab” which accords with the pastoral nature of the area at that time.
Craigies Farm still exists in the form of a Deli and Cafe located just to the West of Cramond and East Craigie Cottages at Cramond Bridge.

I did discover however a possible reason for the shift of the Berry family (or what remained of it) to Scotland. I visited the True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum in Kings Lynn, Norfolk and found on the Kings Lynn Timeline that there was a severe Cholera Epidemic in 1832. This coincides with the deaths of Edward-Newdick and Sarah in 1832, followed by William-Newdick who died as an infant in 1834. I cannot find other than baptism details for James-Newdick who was baptised in 1823 and if had died meantime this would have left Elisabeth as the only child to accompany mother and father north to Edinburgh where Christopher had been engaged by the Orissa Shipping Company.

My BERRY research continues and I am open to suggestions.

I have commenced writing this at Sydney Airport waiting the call for the Hong Kong leg of my flight to Heathrow, London to initially join a Victoria University of Wellington, Continuing Community Education, UK Genealogy Study tour. This will place me in London for a week followed by the same period in Edinburgh. The itinerary includes attendance at the Who Do You Think You Are? Conference, Olympia, London, National Archives Kew, London Society of Genealogists, Scotlands People Centre and National Records of Scotland and the Scottish Genealogy Society. Exciting isn’t it!

On conclusion of the Tour I intend to delve deeper into some of the family stories, tentatively, at this stage, in Aberdeen, Norwich, Kings Lynn, Winchester and Dorchester, also to visit in Canterbury, Kent one Francis Victor Peter EDWARDS whose father Sidney George EDWARDS was the brother of my Grandmother, Winifride Annie Vine/Kruse. It is interesting that this contact was established by his daughter Lucy Pienaar who resides in Toronto, Canada and discovered the, unknown to her, Edwards families in Australia and New Zealand on the Net.

My attention at the other sites will concentrate on:
a) Grandfather James Scott Chalmers‘ forebears who resided in the village of Tarves near Aberdeen,
b) in Edinburgh to explore the possibility of finding the means of Christopher Christmas Berry’s passage to Australia (possibly in crew lists of the Orissa Shipping Company which was based at Grangemouth),
c) the history of the two Elizabeth Berry‘s (CCB’s wife and daughter) who were resident in Cramond, Edinburgh at the time of the 1841 Census. Husband and father CCB was in New Zealand at that point fathering another family of 5,
d) to gather further information on the parentage and childhood of Christopher Christmas Underwood/Berry in Norfolk,
e) to sort out the mess, if possible, surrounding the enormous numbers of patently incorrect Tree details of the Crumpliere, Crumpler, Crompliere, etc family, which is the one that I have gone the furthest back on with an entry at date 1457 citing John Crumpliere as a “master archer, with harness” in Henry the 8th’s militia,and
f) to ascertain more of the generations of the Vine family back from John Vine born 1705 in Dorset.

I hit London Town on Tuesday, 19 February with a dinner date with John Sutherland and Kirsty on Wednesday and shall be regularly reporting from there on all those discoveries that I shall make.

Locating Eliz(s)abeth and Elizabeth-Newdick BERRY

This Census Return marks another small, but significant breakthrough in my quest to find more information about my Great Great Grandfather, Christopher Christmas BERRY born Norwich, Norfolk, England.

Earlier research has shown that Christopher had left family in the UK to take up residence in Port Phillip (Melbourne), Australia c1837.

Records I have been able to get access to show that in 1837 two of his children, James-Newdick and Elizabeth-Newdick could have still been alive, together with Wife, Elis(z)abeth nee NEWDICK.

Following the line of thought that if Christopher was in Scotland in 1836 with the Orissa Shipping Company at Grangemouth (as is recorded in the Seamens Register) it was possible that Elisabeth and surviving children had accompanied him in the move north, I turned to the Census Records. Here, in the Census conducted on 3 June 1841 I found two contiguous entries with the name Elizabeth BERRY, ages 46 and 11, not born in Scotland, resident at East Craigies Cottages in the Parish of Cramond, with the occupation of the elder given as Agricultural Labourer.

The age of 46 for Elizabeth the elder roughly falls within the frame of her being baptised in 1801 and that for the junior Elizabeth, of 11 and the baptism date of 1827.

It is perhaps significant also that Grangemouth, Christopher’s home port, is only 34.6 km distant from Cramond.

Further research is required to verify that these two with the name Elizabeth BERRY were Christopher’s wife and daughter and I plan to follow this up on a trip to Edinburgh early next year.

The fact that wife Elisabeth was still alive in 1841 would explain why I cannot find any record of Christopher and Harriet having married. Marriage would have been bigamous for both. It is interesting though that many of the family have claimed that they were married; the reason being that society in those days was much more intolerant of children born out-of-wedlock and many such incidents were hidden from the public domain.

I have entered this information into my article headed The Three Lives of Christopher Christmas UNDERWOOD/BERRY (born Norwich, Norfolk, England 1796; died Auckland, New Zealand, January 1851) .

After much searching I did what I should have done in the very first instance and that was to fall back on the “resolves all” solution, “Google it”. Here is what I found in Wikipedia:
The Burial in Woollen Acts 1666-80 were Acts of the Parliament of England (citation 18 & 19 Cha. II c. 4 (1666) [1], 30 Cha. II c. 3 (1678) [2] and 32 Cha. II c. 1 (1680) [3]) which required the dead, except plague victims, to be buried in pure English woollen shrouds to the exclusion of any foreign textiles[4]. It was a requirement that an affidavit be sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace (usually by a relative of the deceased or some other credible person) confirming burial in wool, with the punishment of a £5 fee for noncompliance. Parish registers were marked with the word affidavit or with a note A or Aff against the burial entries to confirm that affidavit had been sworn, or marked “naked” for those too poor to afford the woollen shroud. Some affidavits survive. This legislation was in force until 1814, but was generally ignored after 1770. These related records are generally regarded as a source of genealogical information, and can help provide evidence of economic status and relationships that may be unavailable elsewhere or ambiguous.

I would have saved many hours if I had known this earlier and so also had other followers of the Vine and Crumplere families. With knowledge now of the significance of these words I am able to work with and find actual burial locations that will assist my research and resolve some of the many conundrums that arise from large families with many cousins sharing a first name. It also allows me to make an assessment of the level of veracity of other recordings within public Trees such as those within Ancestry which quite often are jobs “half done”.

I trust this will be of assistance to others.

The Rectus, an eight metre long, 10 ton, one-masted cutter with a crew of 3 was registered in Melbourne (Port Phillip), Australia, in February 1839 as being owned and skippered by Christopher Christmas BERRY.

Anne Bromell in her book “Tracing Family History in New Zealand” states that “Christopher, Harriet and the three daughters of Harriet’s first marriage arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1839 on the ship the Rectus”. This, apart from the shipping intelligence from The Australian 11 July 1842, is the only record I have been able to find of its arrival and history in New Zealand waters. Please see further comment about these circumstances at http://www.bobvine.gen.nz/genealogy/Christopher%20Christmas%20BERRY%20Pt2.pdf

Arrival:

Information I have obtained from available records in an endeavour to pinpoint date of arrival includes:
1. Roll of Pioneer Settlers who arrived in New Zealand prior to 1843 (provided by Bernice Blackmore and compiled by J J Craig and published in the New Zealand Herald on 10 and 11 October 1892. “LANDERS Mrs John BERRY 63 45 Rectus Bay of Islands 1839″.
2. Roll of Early Settlers & Descendents in the Auckland Province prior to the end of 1852 (Auckland Library: “Lander, Mrs. J., nee Rebecca Ann Berry, 1829 -1906 – Rectus, Kororareka . . . 1839”. Note: The Library appears to have verified this entry against that above in 1.
3. 8 May 1839; Port Phillip Gazette, Shipping Intelligence: “Cleared at the Customs…. The cutter Victoria, Berry, for Launceston, in ballast.”
4. 17 May 1839; Shipping Arrivals & Departures Tas Vol 2 1834-1842 Ian Hawkins Nicholson: “BERRY/BURY, C? Victoria (M) 17.5.1839″
5. 24 May 1839; Port Phillip Gazette, Shipping Intelligence: “…from Launceston, the cutter Victoria, Bury, with general cargo”. Note: Port Phillip Gazette, 12 September 1839 advertises “The Cutter Victoria” For Sale.
6. 25 January 1840; Port Phillip Gazette, Shipping Intelligence, Cleared at the Customs: “On Wednesday last, for the Western Port, the cutter Rectus, Berry, in ballast.”
7. 16 March 1840 “BERRY, Christopher Rectus (M & O 16.3.40.”
8. 16 March 1840; Shipping Arrivals & Departures Tas Vol 2 1834-1842 Ian Hawkins Nicholson: “Rectus, new cutter of Melbourne, 10t,3 men L, 16.3.1840”
9. 21 March 1840; The Hobart Town Courier and Van Diemen’s Land Gazette (Tas. : 1839-1840) Friday 27 March 1840, page 3, Shipping Intelligence. PORT OF LAUNCESTON. ARRIVALS. None. DEPARTURES. March 20—the bark Lord Goderich, 460 tons, Kay, for Port Phillip, Henty & Co., agents —forty-four passengers. 21—the cutter Rectus, Berry, for sealing ground, G. Fisher, agent, with sundries (This entry suggests that Christopher Christmas Berry’s arrival to take up permanent residence in New Zealand was dated after 21 March 1840. In fact “for sealing ground” could very well have been New Zealand.

Relating these shipping movements by Christopher BERRY (BURY) to other information we find some conflicts and possibly clues as to his and his extended family’s arrival in New Zealand.

A key date in all of this is that for the birth of Christopher David BERRY, the first child of the partnership of Christopher Christmas BERRY and Elisa FERGUSON/FELSTED, at Wahapu, 31 January 1841 suggesting an arrival late 1840/January 1841. Wahapu is approximately 4 kilometres south of Russell, known in those days as Kororareka. This could explain the difficulty in finding a record of arrival of the Rectus at Kororareka.

The cutter Rectus does not appear on the record until January 1840, with Christopher BERRY being engaged with Victoria prior to then. There is a window of opportunity then for the Rectus to have made a return trip to Kororareka between May 1839 and January 1840 – see 5. and 6. above. The only shipping intelligence I can find related for Kororareka is contained in the New Zealand Advertiser but as it was only published from June to December 1840 it is not a viable source.

Life of the Rectus in New Zealand:

The Southern Cross edition of Tuesday, 21 February 1854 carries an editorial criticising the unavailability of land in Auckland for the “numerous and increasing body of purchasers eager to buy and anxious to cultivate, – and when?”. In turn reference is made to “a pregnant example of the oppressive workings of the existing land system enforced against the natives” and cites a case tried the preceding week in the Resident Magistrate’s Court related to the purchase on 16 November 1850 by Ruinga of Waiheki, “a chief of great influence and note” of a small vessel at a stipulated price of £250. The £180 claimed had been commuted to £100 to bring the amount within the jurisdiction of the Court. This is the case full details of which and consequential high level controversy may be found at http://www.bobvine.gen.nz/genealogy/documents/Christopher%20Christmas%20BERRY%20Pt3.pdf There is the possibility that the vessel referred to was the “Rectus”.

Study of the Shipping Intelligence of the time reveals that “Ruinga” was captaining a vessel called the Morning Star working between Auckland and Wangaroa, and another, the Industry, which had connections with Mahurangi. Of course this might not have been the “Ruinga” the subject of my investigation as his area of interest primarily was Waiheke and Thames.

I would be extremely grateful of assistance with my mission to more fully chronicle the life of Christopher Christmas BERRY in New Zealand, either by way of factual material or possible avenues and means of further research. Thank you.

In endeavouring to establish UNDERWOOD and BERRY family connections I have found:
a) Baptism, 01 Jan 1795, Lynn, Norfolk, England, St Nicholas Chapel, Mary Underwood BERRY, daughter of Christopher and Margaret BERRY
b) Baptism, 01 Jan 1795, Lynn, Norfolk, England, St Nicholas Chapel, Elisabeth daughter of Christopher and Margaret BERRY (Note the similar baptism dates, venues and parents for Mary and Elisabeth)
c) Baptism, Maria Underwood BERRY, 29 Jan 1799, daughter of Christopher and Margaret BERRY (Question: the same person as in a) above?)
d) Private Baptism, 08 Jan 1797, Norwich, All Saints, John Christmas son of William UNDERWOOD and Mary his Wife. Late Mary GOODY Spinster, born December the 15 (25) 1796.
e) Baptism: Aug 1801, Norwich, St John the Baptist Timberhill, Mary Ann daughter of William UNDERWOOD and Mary Ann DITCHFIELD
f) Burial: 04 May 1799, St Margaret, Kings Lynn, John UNDERWOOD

The only firm conclusion to be derived from the above is that there were connections between UNDERWOOD and BERRY families, particularly the revelation that Christopher Christmas UNDERWOOD and BERRY were one and the same person through the Banns notice for the marriage Christopher Christmas UNDERWOOD to Elisabeth NEWDICK, 6 June 1822, St Nicholas, Kings Lynn (p 171) which also records Christopher Christmas UNDERWOOD as having an alias “SALMON” – his adopted mother’s maiden name; or perhaps the BERRY/UNDERWOOD connections lie here through the SALMON family.

Any assistance that could be offered to resolve this conundrum would be greatly appreciated.