Meg: Intrepid great-aunt, tragic great-uncle

Great-Aunt Ria
Ria, 1891–1976, was my great-aunt on my father Chip's Murray side: an old English-Irish family. Ria's father was the black sheep of the family, a wild boy who came out to New Zealand.

Ria went to live in the UK in 1912, staying with various relatives. During the war she served with the Red Cross in Serbia.

That's all the information I have about Great-Aunt Ria, and I would love to have known more.

Great-Uncle Walter
Three brothers came out to New Zealand from Yorkshire: Isaac Stephenson (my grandfather, Rona's father), Luther, and Walter. In Rona's words: "Walter lived in Auckland, served in the first world war, was badly gassed and became mentally unstable. He finally committed suicide by hanging."

After the war, Walter had a son Ian who was really strange. I met him once. I wonder whether the gas that poisoned Walter had an effect on the child?

~ Meg Bailey

Jen: a keen man

A keen man 

My Grandfather Kenneth Mair Holdaway was born in Masterton in 1890 — the last of 10 children. 

He was a teacher when the first world war broke out and tried to apply for service but was disqualified because of an old injury to his leg from a kick by a horse that left him with a limp. He was rather accident prone throughout his life. 

However, he tried again in 1916 and this time his perserverance paid off. He was accepted by the army and was soon on a troopship for England as a Lance Corporal engaged in clerical work with the 30th Reinforcements. 

Going by the accounts of my father, he 'enjoyed' three years in Torquay, Devonshire before coming back to New Zealand. 

Instead of returning to teaching he made the decision to help his now elderly parents farm their land near Hamilton. Within two years had married my Grandmother and was well on the way to his final role of a Baptist minister.

 ~ Jennifer Holdaway