We're just over two weeks away from remembering our Tīpuna Theresia and Carl Alve's wedding 150 years ago. They were married in Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr Valley, Deutschland Germany on 14 February 1874. An interesting fact about their wedding was that ten couples were married in the same marriage service. Pfarrer (Father) Schulte the Catholic Priest must have offered a Valentine's Day Special in the midst of St Augustinus Church which was in the process of being rebuilt. And, it seems, Carl had to return to work in the coalmine the next day! The Ruhr Valley at the time was experiencing a population explosion as coal had become 'black gold' and hordes of Germans, Poles, Scandanavians and others were flocking to the mines. The reason that ten young couples wanted to marry on that most romantic of days.
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To celebrate this significant event 66 descendants of Carl and Theresia are gathering at Masters Hall, Pahiatua on the weekend of 17-18 February. We chose this Pahiatua venue because it is near where the Alves settled at Alfredton Road, Eketāhuna in 1880 - four years after arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand as assisted immigrants. During those four years Carl worked for the railways building the Remutaka line and then the line from Featherston to Masterton while he discharged his debt to the Government under the Vogel immigration scheme. A fellow immigrant family the Schormanns who had travelled on the ship Gutenburg to Aotearoa jointly farmed the Eketahuna land in the early years. Part of the Reunion weekend will be a Sunday bus tour to Eketahuna to explore sites of interest, including the original farm block in Alfredton Road.

These, and many other matters relating to Theresia's and Carl's colourful life, are explored in a new book to be released on Valentine's Day. Entitled Valentine's Day 1874 and subtitled, A Ruhr Valley Romance Terry Alve writes of their German background and meeting in Gelsenkirchen. He asks why they emigrated and explores how their life together panned out in Aotearoa New Zealand until Carl's death in 1910. You will find a purchase link at www.alve.nz after Valentine's Day.

To mark the marriage sesqui we have scheduled a Zoom call at 7pm (NZDT) on Valentine's Day 14 February 2024 - an opportunity for brief dialogue (no more than 40 mins.) on the Sesquicentennial of Thersia & Carl’s wedding day.
Join us via this link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4112201146?pwd=fRa0eYclcvqPfx8CnPgXnvTMBi4S80.1&omn=74267779934
There will be a surprise for those of us who tune in!

I have just put up a page on this website with fresh information about the Pahiatua Reunion 17-18 February 2024.

With some staying overnight in Campervans or tents, we can accommodate about 100 people on site. Some may choose to stay in motels or the camping ground in Pahiatua.

Before you come to Pahiatua you may choose to gather together at the old Alve graves in the Palmerston North cemetery 1-1:30pm - Sat. 17th.

Once we are in Pahiatua key Reunion events are:

1. Welcome afternoon tea Sat. 3pm
2. Photographs Sat. 4pm
3. Barbeque tea Sat. 6pm
4. Formal Gathering Sat. 7:30-9:30pm
5. Worship Sun. 9am
6. Eketahuna Tour Sun. 10am-1pm
7. Farewell Lunch Sun. 1:15pm
8. Concluding afternoon tea Sun. 3pm

Terry Alve
​027 600 1926

Many of you know that an Aussie joined the Alve family in New Zealand in 1917. Theresa Wagner was the 12th of 13 children born to Philipp and Caroline Wagner whose families arrived in Tasmania in 1855 from Germany. Transportation of English convicts ended in 1853 and labour was needed to develop what was then known as Van Diemen's Land so many Europeans began arriving. The following year (1856) the state's name was changed to Tasmania.

After a little OE in New Zealand, Theresa married Henry Alve in All Saints Church Palmerston North and they spent the next 40 years together on the family farm at Rangitane, on the banks of the Manawatu River near Opiki. They retired to Longburn around 1963 and died: Henry in 1968 shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary and Theresa in 1971. They are buried on a family plot at Kelvin Grove cemetery, Palmerston North.

Following a visit in October 2022 by Terry & Margaret Alve during which many Wagner cousins were contacted, Terry has produced a 10 minute video about Theresa's life both in Tasmania and New Zealand see: ​https://www.alve.nz/media.html

​A more detailed report of this visit is available in blog posts in our companion website here: ​https://milne-alve.weebly.com/news

​Terry

In January this year I celebrated my 70th birthday with closer family and friends at our home in Tawa, Wellington. While I continue to minister as priest with Porirua Anglicans and assist with their food bank; I spend increasing amounts of time doing genealogical research and writing.

My primary assistant in all of this is the 'My Heritage' genealogical research programme I use. Currently I am having my DNA analysed to assist with verifying and extending family links. Please contact me if you would like to know more about this, or if you want confirmation or information about your branch of the family. My database currently records nearly 6,500 individuals. In addition to working with My Heritage, I also regularly refer to 'Ancestry.com' and 'Family Search' programmes to help extend my research.

This year I am focusing on my grandmother Theresa Wagner's ancestry. While several of her family visited Tasmania where she was born and met with relatives there in the 1970's and 80's, I have not had the privilege. I am currently planning to be there for two weeks in late October into November with Margaret my wife to meet descendants of her siblings and cousins - there are many of them. Both of Theresa's parents Philip Wagner and Caroline Hauke arrived in Hobart from Germany in 1855. Grandmother Theresa took the opportunity to visit her uncle William Hauke in Dunedin in 1915 and by the end of WW1 had married Henry Alve in the Manawatu, only returning to Tasmania for brief visits around the times of her parent's deaths in 1920 and 1931.

It is now less than two years before some of us will celebrate the sesqui-centennial (150 years) of the marriage of Carl and Maria Theresa Alve (nee Mollers) - our first New Zealand ancestors. They married on Valentines Day 1874 in St Augustine's Catholic church, Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr Valley, Germany. We understand that theirs was part of a group marriage ceremony with several couples marrying at the same time - such was the life and busyness of the church and priest Father Schulte at the time. To mark the occasion I propose that we gather in Palmerston North during the weekend of 17-18 February 2024. Carl's and Maria's graves are in the Palmerston North cemetery and they spent their latter years in the Manawatu developing the Rangitane Alve farms. I propose to have written by then a fuller version of their lives than previously published.

Then in late March 1926 it will be time to celebrate 150years since the arrival of Carl and Maria Theresa with their daughter Anna Catherine who later married George Busch in 1898 near Featherston. I think it appropriate that we celebrate this anniversary in Wellington. More about that later.

Interest in Alve-related genealogical facts remains high as younger descendants give thought to their origins and whakapapa. I regularly field requests for information as I am sure some of you older also get. It is a privilege to know a bit about the family and to be able to share that. Occasional gatherings, like we had in both 1995 and 2015 in Palmerston North, keep the flame burning and us all at least a little connected....

Joyce died peacefully in the early hours of Wednesday 12 August at the Julia Wallace Rest Home Hospital in Palmerston North aged 85. Joyce spent her life in the Manawatu. She was the third and youngest child of Thomas and Annie Elcox who lived in Rongotea where her father owned a stock cartage business.

During WW 2 she moved with her widowed mother and siblings to a small dairy farm in Kellows Line, Bainesse. She attended Bainesse School, worked in a dairy at Himitangi and trained and worked as a hair dresser.

She married Val Alve in Feb 1951 shortly before her mother died. Her four children: Terence, Margaret, Gordon and Christine were born between 1952 and 1965. After her marriage she moved with Val to the Alve family farm at Rangitane near the Opiki Suspension (Toll) Bridge. Between 1953-1955 Val and Joyce worked for farmer Paddy Quin living in a cottage at Makerua, before spending a year share milking for Jim Andrews at Bainesse.

In 1956 they moved to the Alve Homestead at Rangitane where Val share milked for his father, before buying the farm around the time the Manawatu R. high stop banks were built and a new house built outside the river catchment area in 1963. They continued dairy farming to 1970 when the farm was sold and they moved to spend the rest of their lives in Palmerston North. In PN Joyce found employment variously at the Longburn dairy factory, PDC tearooms and cooking at the Chiswick Park rest home.

Val died in 1999 and Joyce lived with her son Gordon until she moved to the Julia Wallace Home in September 2013. Joyce is survived by her four children; 9 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.

Joyce's funeral service will be in the Beauchamps funeral home chapel at 11.30am on Sat. 15 Aug. at 11.30am. This will be followed by a light lunch. A graveside committal service will be at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery at 2pm.

Yet again the Mighty Manawatu R. in flood. A number of us walked to the eastern tower of the old Opiki toll bridge (picture centre) Easter Sunday following the mini-Reunion. We also visited the flood pumps at Burkes Drain bridge (25% from top and left of pic) over highway 56, which are designed to quickly de-flood the Taonui Basin catchment area (top right of pic).