Category: Family Research

Gutenberg Sesqui Registration and Payment Now Invited

31/1/2026

Celebrate the Gutenberg's Sesqui at these Venues

Wellington Museum

Loaves & Fishes Hall
Wellington Anglican Cathedral

All is organised and I look forward to you joining me to celebrate the arrival of the Gutenberg Immigrants to Wellington on 22 March 2026.

After much research, writing and planning we now invite you to register and pay to attend this Wellington gathering. Pre-registrations representing 40 people, representative of Gutenberg families, suggest that this will be a fitting memorial to our courageous ancestors.

A programme for the day running from 10:30am - 5pm has been organised for central Wellington. During the morning around Queens Wharf and during the afternoon at the Loaves and Fishes room in Wellington Anglican Cathedral, Hill Street adjacent to parliament buildings.

For more details visit: https://www.alve.nz/gutenberg-reunion.html

In addition you are invited order the book written to coincide with this event, "From Bremerhaven to Wellington: the 1876 Gutenberg Immigrants to Aotearoa." Running to 230 pages and 75,000 words this history comments on why these immigrants came, who they were, biographies of 131 of the 165 immigrants and information about their first descendants. For those who attend, this is available at $30 per copy.

Terry Alve
027 600 1926

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Gutenberg Wellington Gathering Nears

4/1/2026

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The Gutenberg by Holly Perris who is a great great grand daughter of Gutenberg immigrants.

Year 2026 has arrived and it comes with our March opportunity to celebrate the arrival in 1876 of some of our forbears. Yes, the Gutenberg arrived in Wellington harbour with 165 immigrants aboard who had sailed from Bremerhaven after earlier journeys from their European home countries - Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany. The sea voyage took 96 days: from 18 December 1875 to arrival on 23 March 1876.
Several descendants and friends have indicated their interest in attending a sesqui-memorial day in Wellington on Sunday 22 March 2026. If you want to express your interest in attending this day please signup here:
https://www.alve.nz/gutenberg-reunion.html
Formal registrations and payment will be invited later in January 2026.

Associated with this sesqui-gathering is the writing of a memorial history in which I have written about:

the European and New Zealand backdrops to this migration;
key people related to it;
the 40+ year history of the ship Gutenberg;
information about the immigrants and their immediate descendants;
and, 200+ sources of information.

The publication is liberally illustrated with black and white imagery and will provide access to colour imagery. It will be available at the Wellington gathering for $30.00. If you pre-order and pay before the Gathering on 22 March purchase price will be $25 if you collect it there. Delivery extra if not collected in Wellington on 22 March.

Terry Alve
027 600 1926

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Gutenberg Descendant Reunion & Book Progress - Oct. '25

8/10/2025

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Wellington or Petone Settlers Museums

Both of these Museums bordering Whānganui-ā-Tara shores are worth a visit. That's what I have done recently. Part of my motivation was to check their suitability for a visit from Gutenberg descendants on Sunday 22 March 2026 when we are together for the sesqui celebration of the Gutenberg's arrival in the Harbour. While neither has displays about the Vogel scheme or the ships, like the Gutenberg, I think the Wellington Museum displays are more helpful in gaining a better historical understanding of Wellington and its harbour. We plan to schedule a visit to the Wellington Museum on our Sesqui Sunday. Click on the images to visit websites.

PETONE SETTLERS MUSEUM

WELLINGTON MUSEUM

The other two activities planned on Sesqui Sunday are a harbour crossing to Day's Bay on a East by West Ferry and Kai & Kōrero, possibly at the Loaves and Fishes hall at Wellington Anglican Cathedral, adjacent to the Parliamentary buildings (tbc).

Bremerhaven to Whānganui-ā-Tara
THE VOYAGE OF THE GUTENBERG TO WELLINGTON 1875-76

This is the tentative title of a Gutenberg Sesqui-centennial book I am writing to help commemorate the Gutenberg, its immigrant passengers and early descendants. This project is proceeding apace and it's planned that the book will be with the printers early in January with publication before 22 March.
While it will be nigh impossible to have information about every passenger, particularly the single immigrants, it is hoped that all married couples and families will have a mention.
Draft extracts from this publication are below in a PDF file.

Book sale price will be $30-$40 and orders will be invited before year's end.

This is a final plea to (Wellington Trip) Gutenberg descendants. I am still seeking genealogical, historical, anecdotal and first generation information that may add value to the biographies that I seek to include in the Sesqui Publication. Anything you have (written or pictorial) relating to the Gutenberg immigrants: pre-departure, onboard or post arrival 1976 to 1926. A conveniently accessible passenger list is here for you to check if your ancestor travelled on the Gutenberg to Wellington.:

Gutenberg Passenger List

It would great to have your contributions by the end of November.

Many thanks,
Terry Alve
027 600 1926
[email protected]

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Spahr=Witting DNA Matching During May 2025

31/5/2025

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Relationship Report
Alve-Selbach

Recently I was able to access DNA matches from my Uncle Ivan Alve's DNA sample. At age 94 he is a generation back from me and his matching is throwing up some new insights. In particular he is providing information about a new line of research; that into his and my Spahr=Witting ancestors in Germany.
As below, Heinz-Georg Selbach is a DNA match with NZ Alves. In particular his 3xgreat grandfather Gerhard Heinrich Spahr is brother to the Catharina Elisabeth Spahr who married Bernard Möllers - the parents of Maria Theresia Alve (nee Möllers) who travelled to A-New Zealand in 1876. Gerhard's and Elisabeth's parents Heinrich Spahr=Adelheid Witting are the most recent common ancestors between the Selbachs and the Alves. Adelheid was born in 1891 (place unknown) and she and Heinrich married in Beckum 1814. Adelheid died 1842 in Beckum.

While to date we know nothing more about Heinrich Spahr other than he fathered (with Adelheid) several children between 1816-1829, Catharina Elisabeth being my, and maybe your, ancestor. This diagram summarises what we know...

Having given thought to this DNA link between Ivan Alve and Heinz-Georg Selbach, I turned my attention to searching for anything more available about Adelheid Witting. My interest was piqued when a DNA match between Ivan and Wolfgang Zeigler indicated some Wittings are probably related.

The mesage that came with the match was that Ivan's MRCA with Wolfgang's Witting line was likely to be Ivan's third or fourth great grandparent. In other words Adelheid Witting's parent or grandparent.

The family tree that came with Wolfgang's DNA information identified these people (see below) as Wilhelm Antonius Witting (1769-1845) and his father Arnold Witting (1723-1797).

Is Adelheid Witting Wilhelm's daughter? Several disqualifiers emerged as I pursued this line of enquiry.

Anna M.M. Tiedeken her mother would have been 14-15 when Adelheid was born!
Existing family trees do not have Adelheid in this family;
These Wittings all have a BDM link to Friesoythe, Cloppenburg, Niedersachsen. Adelheid's marriage (1814) and death (1842) records link her with Beckum far to the south; these towns are almost 200 km apart!

Adelheid is almost certainly not Wilhelm and Anna's daughter.

So I turned to consider Arnold Witting as the possible MRCA. Arnold (b.1723) had at least four other sons than Wilhelm Antonius:

Wilhelm Herman Franziskus Christianus Witting (b.1752-)
Johannes Josephus Witting (b.1754-)
Wilhelm Anton Christian Witting (b.1756-)
Joannes Fridericus Antonius Witting (b.1764-)

There were at least two daughters Gesina and Helena whom I discount because Adelheid's given name was Witting, not the surname of a husband of one of these girls.

For the moment this is where my search pauses until another DNA match with the Wittings, or some other helpful information, is found. As in the above diagram I have Adelheid temporarily attached as a daughter to Joannes F.A. Witting (red). If he is not her father I am reasonably confidant that one of his brothers marked yellow, green or blue is. Once more is known we may also discover the reason for Adelheid marrying in Beckum aged 22-23. A preliminary hunch is that Heinrich Spahr her husband came from Munster, which is about 40 km away....

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Relative Profile: Jürgen Walter Schmidt 1954 -

27/5/2025

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Jürgen Walter Schmidt is a relative on my grandma's Wagner side of the family. The family of Theresa Alve (née Wagner) emigrated from the Hesse region of Germany to Tasmania during 1855. They travelled with several of their Wagner and Nicolai kin seeking a better life in the Antipodes. Theresa made a visit to New Zealand in 1915 and was stranded in New Zealand as first world war heated up; she was not permitted to return home to Woodsdale, Tasmania as dislike of those with German ancestry intensified. By war's end she had met and married my grandfather Henry Alve, and the rest is history.

Relationship Diagram: Terence Alve and Jürgen Schmidt
File Size:	152 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

8th Cousins!

Most recent Common Ancestors (MRCA):
Johann Valentin Höhn (1672-1755) and Maria Margaretha Höhn (née) Wintermeyer (1679-1736)

Jürgen Schmidt

Jürgen Walter Schmidt (born 1954 in Wiesbaden) has lived in Darmstadt since his retirement and has been a member of the local Immanuel Congregation ever since. He was ordained on October 24, 1999, by Superintendent Wolfgang Schillhahn. From 1997 to 2017, he served as vicar, parish vicar, and parish priest of St. Michaelis Congregation in Kassel. Before studying Protestant theology in Oberursel and Mainz from 1992 to 1997, he served as church warden of the Christuskirchen congregation in Wiesbaden for 15 years. As superintendent, he led the Hesse-North church district from 2007 to 2013. Jürgen Schmidt is a trained telephone counselor. He is married and has four adult children. As a pastor emeritus, he regularly conducts substitute services in Darmstadt and Reichelsheim, as well as in other congregations in the Hesse-South church district.

Pastor Schmidt (Darmstadt) celebrated his 25th ordination anniversary on October 24 2024. The now 71-year-old Wiesbaden native was ordained a Lutheran pastor in Kassel, Schmidt is married to Renate, née Bellin. He and his late first wife, Renate, née Wengenroth, have four children.

Jürgen Schmidt is on Facebook and uses the MyHeritage genealogy programme to record his ancestry.

Ten Generations - click image to enlarge

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Relative Profile: Peter-Jörg Nocken 1945 -

7/5/2025

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Click on image to enlarge.

I discovered Peter-Jörg Nocken when I realised he had a link to my Lamsfuβ ancestors in the region of Hückeswagen where my grandfather Carl Wilhelm Alve was born and grew up. He is my 5th cousin as the image indicates.
In March 2023 we had this exchange on the MyHeritage message board,

Hi Peter
Greetings from New Zealand.
I am a descendant of the Carl Wilhelm=Maria Theresia Alve/Alfe/Alfer (Germany) family who emigrated to NZ from Gelsenkirchen in Germany in 1875/6. I note that your 3xgreat grandfather Peter Wilhelm Lamsfuβ was a younger brother to Anna Lamsfuβ.* I further note that you trace your ancestors back to a Christian Lamsfuβ who was born at the end of the 17th century. During 2019 my wife Margaret and I spent some time in Hückeswagen tracing my Alve ancestors many of whom were born in that area. While there I visited the wee village of Lamsfuβ nearby with a couple of American cousins who also have Alve, and therefore Lamsfuβ, ancestry like me...
Terry Alve
Wellington, NZ

Hi Terry,
You are completely right concerníng your/my forefathers in or around Hückeswagen. I myself was born there in 1945. Christian Lamsfuß is the oldest I could find. My grandmother was his 3x great granddaughter, if you understand, what I mean. No, I do not have any information of a family connection to the village of Lamsfuß. In Hückeswagen all church books are transformed into digital lists. Maybe you can find more information there (if you do not have them yet)...
Best wishes
Peter

* Anna Lamsfuβ was Carl (Jnr) Alve's grandmother.

Peter mentions Christian Lamsfuß who was born in the late 1600s. Me married Catharina von der Höhe and together they were the grandparents of Johann Wilhelm Lamsfuß (1759-1811) who married Catharina Gertrudis Kemmering (1763-1829). These two - Johann Wilhelm and Catharina Gertrudis - are Peter's and my most recent common ancestors (MRCA). They seem to have spent their whole lives in and around Hückeswagen. Another view of Peter's ancestry to our MRCA is this, If you click on the image you may get a larger view of this ancestry chart.

Peter-Jörg Nocken

Peter's ancestry chart above also depicts our most recent common ancestors (MRCA) - Lambsfuß=Kemmering - in the context of his wider maternal family tree: I find two things notable about this.

Anna Catharina Kemper nee Bosbach (b.1790 Kürten) is likely a close relative, if not the sister, of Wilhelm Bosbach (b.1792 in Kürten). Wilhelm was Carl Alve's grandfather - the Carl Alve who came to New Zealand in 1876
Peter's grandfather, Peter Johann Scheurer (1879-1916), was killed in France fighting during WW1.

While I do not know a lot about Peter-Jörg, I do know that he was born in Hückeswagen, Germany and I understand he has been a prominent Jurist (Lawyer). A Google search on his name highlights his involvement as a former Vice President of the Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV).
At the age of 80 we might assume he is well into his retirement now.

Terry Alve

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DNA Matching to Advance Family Research

19/4/2025

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DNA Matching is a Vital Tool
for Today's Family Researcher

I use the MyHeritage online genealogy platform to assist my family research. This includes using the DNA matching facilities provided. In the last few years massive advances have been made in connecting personal DNA with that of relatives. Now I regularly make significant discoveries as I use various techniques to connect with relatives, including establishing who common ancestors are on the basis of discovering DNA matches.

Recently I have posted a page on this website to more fully describe what I am doing with not only my own DNA, but with that of other close relatives. I introduce the four relatives whose DNA I am working with, I indicate the six generations of relatives in my direct ancestral line, I provide a link to a very helpful DNA research video, I briefly introduce some of the MyHeritage tools available for DNA research and, I offer a case study about how I worked with one relative to advance their family research.

Communication is an essential part of family research. Often DNA matching benefits from dialogue to check hunches raised by the research tools. I talk about the various communication channels I use.

DNA Research Page

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Alve News

Gutenberg Sesqui Registration and Payment Now Invited

Celebrate the Gutenberg's Sesqui at these Venues

Gutenberg Wellington Gathering Nears

The Gutenberg by Holly Perris who is a great great grand daughter of Gutenberg immigrants.

Gutenberg Descendant Reunion & Book Progress - Oct. '25

Wellington or Petone Settlers Museums

Bremerhaven to Whānganui-ā-Tara
THE VOYAGE OF THE GUTENBERG TO WELLINGTON 1875-76

Spahr=Witting DNA Matching During May 2025

Relationship Report
Alve-Selbach

Relative Profile: Jürgen Walter Schmidt 1954 -