"Alve Road" Online & Revised - Introductory & Historical Pages

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Historical | Germany to 1875 | Emigration 1875-1876 | Wairarapa 1876-1900 | Manawatu 1900-1910 | Alves 1942-1995 | Post the 1995 Reunion | Bibliography | Postscript

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"Alve Road" is the title of a book that was written and published in 1994. It summarises then current research about the Alve Family in New Zealand and recorded what we knew of the genealogical and historical background of the family in Germany. 

These online pages provide revised and edited historical, genealogical, biographical and pictorial content, including many new pictures. The biographical pages are password protected because they contain sensitive and personal information. There are full biographies (password protected) of all 1st and 2nd generation descendants of Carl & Maria Alve.

The "Alve Road" book included brief biographies of all (90+) 3rd generation descendants. From the 3rd generation onwards we are publishing online the biographies only of those who have died, in order to protect the privacy of living relatives.

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"Alve Road" Book Print Edition (1994)
Introductory Pages

Cover Photo
Alve Corner - Spring 1963

A shot taken from  Alve Corner shortly after the new Manawatu River stopbanks were completed at Rangitane. Alve Road, as it was later named, runs to the right off Toll Bridge Road. This heads for Eddie Alve's house in the picture. On the left of this is Val Alve's farm and on the right is Charlie Busch's farm. The flood level marker is silent testimony to an era that ended with the formation of new stopbanks (midle right), built earlier in 1963.

Inside Front Cover

"A good name is more 
desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better
than silver or gold."

Proverbs 22:1

Carl & Maria Alve
New Zealand 1875-1995

Caught in the first flow of freedom
A man and a woman of their day
Released from centuries of selfdom
Looking for a far better way

Adverts for migrants from Hamburg
New Zealand a British Colony
Dare we, Maria, go free?

Mother and father and child preparing
Awaiting to see where this new land would be
Refusing to doubt the wisdom of their sailing
Instinct of faith sustaining their grieving
All this great daring for you and for me.

At last  Pacific skies blow steady and blue
Long months have passed with the Atlantic at play
Villagers from Germany give loud praise to their crew
Even as we give thanks, for their vision, this day.

Kenneth W.J. Busch Great Grandson

Pio Pio, N.Z. August 1994

ALVE ROAD
How Do You Spell That?

A Record of a German - New Zealand Family to 1994


Terence V. Alve


The Alve Family Trust
Palmerston North N.Z.
1994

First Published in 1994 by The Alve Family Trust
C/- 23 Shelley Street, Palmerston North, N.Z.
© Terence V. Alve, 1994
ISBN 0 473 02924 3

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DEDICATION

To my dear wife Margaret,
and to all those others
who have married,
and helped nurture,
descendants of 
Carl and Maria Alve

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FOREWORD by Bill Busch

"I lived with the Alves on two or three occasions
as a boy between 1906 and 1914."
Photo taken on Bill's 90th birthday 23 July 1990
at Wharekaka Home, Martinborough.

I lived with the Alve’s on two or three occasions as a boy between 1906 and 1914. I was more or less brought up with them and I finished my schooling there at Rangiotu. I was the oldest grandchild and my mother was Mary.

I knew all the family particularly well before they were married. Lena was the first one to marry I think. Anna died of goitre while I was there. There was Theresia and Elizabeth and Charlie who unfortunately passed away very suddenly later. Alfred married an Alsop and Henry married a Tasmanian girl. Eddie married an English woman and Clara was married later to a Purdom. Dolfy, he was the youngest of the family and he had two boys.

My memories of the Alve’s are very much alive. The old man Alve - Carl Wilhelm - he was a hot-headed old boy who used to fly into a rage very often and go crook at the family. But he had his sense of humour. He was a good singer and he used to love sitting on the chair playing the accordion singing, all in German of course - sprechen sie Deutsch? Grannie Theresia, she was a dear old lady; a wonderful woman. She did a great job looking after all the family and I thought a lot of her.

The Alve’s were a fine old family.

Bill Busch
Wharekaka Home,
Martinborough, N.Z.
25 October, 1994

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PREFACE TO THE 1994 PRINT EDITION

"Alve Road" was the name given during the 1970’s to a short, redundant section of State Highway 56 between Palmerston North and Himitangi N.Z., when the highway was realigned. The Road was appropriately named because it is surrounded by land settled by the Alve family during the early years of the twentieth century. It also marks a turning point in the life of this family, as the last of the Alve farmland at Rangitane left family ownership in 1970. Only Bill Alve remains there, living in the house he once shared with his parents Eddie and Ina. The Road also symbolises that much longer road, without beginning and without end, that we the descendants of Carl and Maria Alve are walking here on earth for a while.

"How do you spell that?" is a question that anyone bearing the Alve name will have been asked countless times. If the question is not asked the name is usually spelt wrong. If it is asked, they often do not believe it! The range of spellings is extensive - Alvy, Alvie, Alvee, Elvy, Alive, Alvey - to name some from my experience. Our German forbears experienced the same confusion, as we shall see. Alfer and Alfe appear in the records, and Alves was the name on the emigrant ship passenger list.
I offer this record, as incomplete as it is, as a prompt to further discussion and possible research about this family and its history. It includes information about 495 direct descendants of Carl & Maria Alve, and their partners and others they have encountered. It also considers some of their German ancestors, and relatives.There is more work to be done researching available ancestral records, particularly Maria’s forbears. Profitable contact might be made with German cousins, possibly descendants of Carl’s brother Ewald or others of his family. Visits to the Huckeswagen locality where Carl was born, and to the Catholic Church in Gelsenkirchen where Maria lived in a Church orphanage, could also provide interesting information for New Zealand descendants.
I am most indebted to family members who provided information for the biograhical and genealogical sections. Without exception details were given graciously and with encouragement for me in this work. I pray that I have done justice to the trust that has been extended to me. I have sought for accuracy and completeness in both sections. I hope to extend the database of names and dates as further descendants are born, but I am reliant on you to provide the information. 
My interest in genealogy grew from being a member of a family that was proud, albeit uninformed, of its heritage. I have been impressed by the integrity and industriousness of relatives I have known. As I dabbled in finding out more about my family, I have been prompted by my uncle Ivan Alve especially, to go further. The family response to my paper, "Alve Family Before 1910" led me to dig deeper. My parents, Val and Joyce Alve, and cousins of dad’s generation have been most helpful. Gordon, my brother, has been my technical companion giving generously of his time and talents and his computer equipment. My wife Margaret and children have been very understanding in graciously releasing me to give the time necessary to research and write - I especially thank them.
The appendices include further acknowledgements of other people and organisations who have contributed to the compilation of this record.

Terence V. Alve
Palmerston North, N.Z.
All Soul's Day - 2 November 1994

L-R: Margaret, David, Jonathan, Terry, Caleb and Sarah Alve