Smith Family
My father is Vernon Leigh SMITH born 1940.
His parents were Victory Harvey Smith (1887-1976) and Alma Winifred Maud Torkington (1900-1971).
The SMITH family
The story of my great-great grandparents Benjamin and Martha Smith is very well documented at bensmith.falkor.gen.nz – a website my father published from a manuscript written and compiled by several of their descendants.
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The MATHESON family
My great-great grandparents Angus and Jessie Matheson arrived in New Zealand on the “Spray” as part of a mass migration of Highland Scottish settlers in Nova Scotia led by Reverend Norman McCleod. While the majority of these immigrants settled in Waipu, a handful, including Angus and Jessie’s family, settled in the Omaha district (Matheson’s Bay). The Clan Matheson web site has some information on them, and on the Waipu migration.
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The TORKINGTON family
William Torkington (1844-1923) arrived from Ashton Under Lyne in 1883 with his three small children (Harold, Arthur and Joseph). They settled on Ti Point, a small farming community in the Omaha area.
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The CLARKE family
My great-great grandfather Charles Septimus Clarke (1843-1929) was born in Leicester and immigrated to New Zealand in 1863, settling in the Little Omaha area (now Leigh). He married a fellow passenger, Mary Ann WYATT (1847-1883). His diaries are held at the Warkworth museum, and Dad has published them online in their entirety at csclarke.falkor.gen.nz. I also have a separate website devoted to the Clarke family: It was a very fine day.