Why is it we are so interested in where we came from? Is it just curiosity, or is it a driving need to see if there are skeletons in our closet?
I must admit I was interested. I even sent away for my genealogy results. I don’t know why, as there were no surprises at all…Both my mother and father’s family’s came to NZ from Great Britain
British & Irish 76.1%
French & German 7.8%
Scandinavian 0.5%
Broadly Northwestern European 13.7%
Southern European 2.7% (with <0.1% Japanese)
What I’d be more interested in, is why my ancestors left England all those years ago, and how my family ended up in New Zealand. Why pick NZ?
On my father’s side, I’m about sixth generation New Zealander. My father’s family came from 
Wales in the mid 1800’s one of the first settlers. What must their lives have been like to make them risk a dangerous and arduous trip on a ship to a country they knew nothing about? Mid 1800’s they were still carving out farms from the bush and the Maori wars were still ongoing.
My mother’s side is much newer to NZ. Both of her parents arrived in NZ as 5 year-olds around 1910. Their parents probably had a much better idea of what was awaiting them here in NZ. My grandfather was from England and my grandmother was from Scotland.
I wish I knew the history of why they immigrated. But finding that information has not been easy. My sister, Lisa, is tracing the family tree. From seeing what was going on in their lives around the time they left the United Kingdom we might be able to surmise why. I guess I’ll just have to be patient.
I envy this generation. We will be able to keep online records, including photo’s, video etc of our lives for future generations to view.
If you were making a video for the future, what messages would you give and what would you want to show about today’s world?
