Stories of my life.

Wednesday 28 February 2018

Two Sisters, Two Friends

Mum (Jessie Flora Roberta Rose); and Aunty Bea, (Beatrice Rose), grew up in Takaka, near Nelson, in the north of the South Island of New Zealand, in the early 1900s. Flora and Bea had one brother, Gordon Stuart Rose, their parents were Joseph Thorpe Rose and Elizabeth Scott, both of whom had a Scottish background. Of particular interest, there were three Rose bothers, who married three Scott sisters!!! Talk about keeping it all in the family!

The two sisters were so very close to each other, and not a day would go by without them chatting for hours on the phone. The two woman were such great friends. If we rang Mum, and the phone was engaged, we would try Aunty Bea’s number; if that was busy, we gave up trying to call!

Whatever Mum did, Aunty Bea would copy, and vice versa. Mum wanted a fish pond in our front yard, so she and Aunty Bea made one, filled it with goldfish and pretty water lilies; with chicken wire discretely hidden amongst the leaves - aah, that stopped our cats, Blackie and Joey from getting at the fish! Aunty Bea, had a smaller fishpond in her front yard.

Aunty Bea had a vegetable garden in her backyard, we had one as well, all dug, planted out and looked after by the two sisters. At harvest time, Aunty Bea would come over to our place in Ellerslie, from her home in Balmoral, and the two of them would get “stuck into” to picking the crops. We had corn, beans, peas, potatoes, carrots, onions, plenty of food for the two families. Often I would join Mum & Aunty Bea in shelling the peas; we would in in the sun and chat away, while I would snuck a few  empty pea pods into my mouth!

My cousin, Yvonne and I often talk about how strong and ‘let’s just get on with it’, these two ladies were. My niece, Catherine and I also feel, it must have been the robust Scottish upbringing, because the strong, ‘we can do this’ traits have been passed down to many of the women in our family.

The house I grew up in was tiny compared to the mansions built now, no separate bedrooms for everyone, we shared rooms. The house was built with a short flight of stairs to the front door. One  day, Mum and Aunty Bea decided they would build a HUGE concrete deck across the front of the house. Dad was still working at that time, so the construction was all done by Mum & Aunty Bea. WOW, what a feat, and we had a great place to play on, and under; we used to crawl under the deck, and use it as a hiding place. An old iron bed was used as part of the steel re-enforcing, whatever steel the ladies could find, they used.

Our house was on a quarter acre block, so there was plenty of room for the vegetable garden, and the piece de resistance of construction, built by Mum and Aunty Bea….a tiny house! The house was built as a hut for all of us kids, there was a small covered porch, three lots of windows, all which opened, we thought we were in heaven. Over the years the hut was used as a bedroom by my sister, Mags and I as well as my brother Robin and his wife, Joan.

When I think back on the friendship Flora and Bea had, it was such a wonderful thing, and imagine how sad we all were when one day, something, and NONE of us know what happened, the two sisters fell out! I can’t even begin to understand how awfully sad it must have been for both of them to not have the daily contact they once had; it must have been heartbreaking. Aunty Bea remarried after Uncle Arthur died, and she moved away from Auckland. I don’t even know if the two sisters met up again, before they passed away.

Flora (Rose) McGoram and Bea (Rose) Cox, with L-R: Lyn and Yvonne Cox.
Photo taken at 'Farmers' Department Store in Hobson St, Auckland, NZ

The photo is of Mum, Aunty Bea and two of our cousins, Yvonne and Lyn, on a trip to the city. In the 1950s, when people went to town to shop, they always ‘dressed up’; out came the ‘Sunday Best’ clothes, gloves, hats, shoes and socks. My cousin, Yvonne tells me this photo was taken in the old ‘Farmers’ department store. Photos like this, were very popular in that era, and I just ADORE it.

Looking closely at the broach on Mum’s dress, I recognise it as one of hers that is now in my treasure chest, it is made of deep, blood red stones. One of my hobbies, is Scrapbooking, and I have ‘scrapped’ this photo twice, once for an album of mine and the other time for an album I made for my sister, Mags.

This is just a snippet of my Mum and Aunty Bea’s life, I hope you have enjoyed it. Family, if you have more tales to share, please let me know, or add it in the comments section. Thanks.

Tuesday 27 February 2018

The Beginning - sort of

Hmm….how do I start, and what shall I write about my family? I am spoilt for choice, as I have two families I could write about!

Doris May (nee Donaldson) Fox









My birth family name is Fox, my mother was Doris May Donaldson, and my father was Arthur Fox; however, due to sad circumstances she was unable to look after me; and myself, along with my two elder sisters and brother, we were fostered out.



Tom and Flora - C.1950s


At about three months of age, I went to live with Thomas Ritchie 
McGoram (Dad) and Jessie Flora Roberta (nee Rose) McGoram (Mum), in Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand, I lived with the McGoram family until I left home to be married in 1969. Tom and Flora were unable to have children of their own, and they adopted three children, John, Dorothy and Robyn, and fostered six of us, (Jim, Janet, Mags, Michael, Rose and Ian), who were not up for adoption. The nine of us lived with Mum and Dad until we either were married, or left home, to fend for  ourselves, as one did in those days. The McGoram family come from varied ethnic backgrounds, we see no difference, as this the only family we know.


Flora's 80th Birthday surprise party - 1982
L-R: Jim, Rose, Robin, John, Dorothy, Selma-Janet, Ian
Front: Mum - Flora






Sadly our brother Mackel and sister, Mags were not able to come to Mum's surprise 80th birthday party in 1982. 

The photo below was taken at Jim's place on Boxing Day, 1988. Sadly, Robin had passed away, and Mags was not able to join us on the day. 


Back L-R: Jim, John, Mackel, Ian.
Front: Rose, Dorothy, Selma-Janet. c.1988

Busy little Vegemite

Well, I have been a very ‘busy little Vegemite’, (as we say here in Australia), since my first post !

What I have I been up to, you may ask? Here we go:
  • Joined a few Facebook Genealogy Groups.
  • Downloaded my Ancestry DNA to my PC.
  • Uploaded my DNA raw data to GEDmatch.com - still to go and find out if I have a few new Rellos! 
  • Signed up for the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, via Amy Johnson Crow’s blog.
  • Drafted a few of my stories into preparation to upload to this blog.
I a SO getting into researching and growing my knowledge in relation to Genealogy and DNA, and I am finding it rather exciting.

Well, I better get my ‘A into G’, as I have SO much writing, researching and preparing of my blog posts to do....see you all later! 😘

Sunday 4 February 2018

Family History bought to life!

I have been doing my McGoram - Ritchie - Rose & Scott Family tree; and Fox - Donaldson - Cassidy Family tree; for the past four years, and in earnest for the past two.

Over the years I have written many short stories, mainly to share with the younger members of the New Zealand, McGoram Family. The stories are written in a simple style, some with photographs, and it is my intention to share them via this Blog.

My sister, Isobel has been doing the Fox - Donaldson - Cassidy Family tree for many years, and has kindly shared much of the information she has obtained, with me. I am hoping, Isobel may like to provide me further information for this Blog.

In March 2018, I shall be attending a Congress on Genealogy in Sydney, and hope to learn more on how to search the backgrounds etc in my two families.