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....
0 Comments
![]() Two dear family members who were planning to attend the Alve Family Mini-Reunion in Palmerston North on Easter Day 2015 have died the weekend before. On Saturday 28 March Ken McLeod died in Taupo. Ken was the long time partner of Christine Rose (nee Alve) and son-in-law to Hilton & Jean Alve. Ken's death notice is here. The following day Lionel (Alve) Purdom died suddenly at the Willard Rest Home in Palmerston North, just 2 months short of his 90th birthday. With Alve's passing only three of the second generation Alves survive - Hilton, Ivan and Bill. Alve's biography is here. (You will need a password to view this.) The wider Alve whanau (family) express their sincere condolences to Ken's partner Christine and Alve's daughters Janice, Neryl & Andrea, and their families as they journey on without their dear ones. May they know much comfort. Updated Wed 1 April @ 5:30pm In excess of 50 family members have registered for this event. The three Easter Day (5 April) venues are:
Programme 1. P.N. Cemetery
2. P.N. Convention Centre - free access in the Church St. Carpark behind the Centre
3. Visit to Rangitane - the site of Family Farms from 1900-1970
Other Info
Attendees Read all about the Easter Day 2015 Alve Mini-Reunion at http://www.alve.nz/easter-2015-mini-reunion.html Reflect on the 1995 Reunion here: http://www.alve.nz/1995-alve-family-reunion.html Read our latest newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bc5EED Please Register by Sunday 15 March Just to keep you on your toes, www.alve.org.nz has become www.alve.nz
In fact if you continue to use www.alve.org.nz it will direct to www.alve.nz for several months, but when the longer URL sub runs out it will be gone. It's all done in the name of simplicity, we hope. Cheers, Terry P.S. We will have online registrations for the Easter Day 2015 mini-Reunion available very early in the new year. This will include pricing info. Watch this space or, better still, join our eList and get news red hot, off the press. ![]() Rolf Panny - 1995 Alve Reunion SpeakerI have recently added a page to this website, "Alve Family Reunion Easter 1995." The page title is self-explanatory and it reminds us that we are all 20 years older, unless we were born since 1995. The Alve Family Reunion was a grand occasion celebrated in the magnificent Highden Country Estate, Green Road, Awahuri in the Manawatu, west of Palmerston North. Nearly 150 relatives and associates of the NZ Alve Family gathered, reminisced, journeyed, worshipped, ate, enjoyed speeches and entertainment over two days of Easter. Various momentos were on offer including photos, key rings and letter openers with Carl & Maria's photo, and the recently published "Alve Road" history of the family. The Reunion page mentioned above offers a full report of that occasion and a copy of keynote speaker, Rolf Panny's Saturday evening address to the family which highlighted the very significant role of pioneer women. This website is an attempt to keep Alve Family memories alive. Much of the the "Alve Road" content is re-presented. New research findings are reported. Subsequent births, deaths and marriages are included and your family information is invited for inclusion. ![]() Lucy AlveThe question I am wrestling with today is, "Should we do something to mark the passing of another generation 20 years on?" Only four members, all males, of the second generation of Carl & Maria's descendants survive from the 20+ who were living at the time of the 1995 Reunion: Alve Purdom, Hilton Alve, Ivan Alve and William Alve - please correct me if I am wrong. Recent deaths include Phillip Alve (2012), Thelma Avery (2013) and Thelma Pedersen (2014) - wife of the late Russell Pedersen. Alongside these deaths are various new births. Grandchildren of my parents - Val & Joyce Alve - born in the last couple of years include Ruby Weir, Olive Perris, Wolf Schroder, Eden Alve and Lucy Alve (born last week). My suggestion is that we consider scheduling a ONE day event, possibly during Easter 2015 - maybe Sunday 5th April? I'll do a bit more homework around this thought and get back to you via this Blog and our eList. In the meantime what do you think? Please consider contacting me or leaving a response to this Blog post via the form below. Terry Alve - Tawa, Wellington P.S. I always appreciate notice of your family's BDM info which can then be added to the family record. ![]() 52 Raroa Road sold after 50+ years Phillip Alve's home at 52 Raroa Road, Kelburn, Wellington was sold by his estate on 8th February, 2012. This sale ends a long association by the Alve family with this turn of the (20th) Century villa. This house had been home for Phil since the early 1950's. After living there as a boarder initially, Phil bought the house either in the late 1950's or early 1960's. He initially continued using the home as a boarding house. Later he lived there alone and spent most of his retirement there. It was an ideal repository for his very large collections of books, records, papers and other bric a brac. At some stage he also purchased the neighbouring property at 54 Raroa Road, which has been tenanted and remains so, owned by Phil's estate. This property is currently on the market also. Shortly after he turned 90 in December 2008 Phil moved to live at the family home in Longburn, Manawatu before spending his last days in the Aroha Rest Home in Palmerston North. He died on 20th July 2012 aged 93. 52 Raroa Road has been purchased by John Waterson of Kelburn and others who are already rennovating it. ![]() Phillip Alve, Noeline King and Marion Karipa With the deaths during 2012 of Phillip Alve (July 20) , Noeline King (July 4) and Marion Karipa (October 12), five of Carl and Maria Theresia Alve's thirty six grandchildren are living. We extend our condolences to the close family of these three esteemed relatives who have lived long and fruitful lives before their passing this year. And we prayerfully wish surviving grandchildren and their families health and happiness. Those grandchildren living are:
The Alve grandchildren were born from 1900 (Bill Busch) to 1955 (William Alve). With the launch of this website and news blog, it may be that you would like to provide information about descendants (or ancestors) of Carl and Maria Theresia. The kind of information we think will be relevant to the wider family includes:
Written and photographic information is welcomed. When you provide information please ensure that you give us permission (electronic message is ok) to publish, if it is yours to give. Otherwise please indicate who "owns" the material so we may contact them. If your information is on the web please indicate where - again we will require your permission to copy it to this website. You may prefer that we just provide a web link to your material. Finally, while Google will do its best to let relatives and others know that this website exists, we are somewhat dependent on word of mouth (so to speak). If you have a website or Facebook or Twitter accounts appropriate links are valued by us. In return we are open to linking to you. Let's do what we can to keep in touch with one another. Terry Alve |
Alve NewsA digest of news about and from the Alve Family in New Zealand. Archives
May 2022
Categories
All
|