Hello,
Greetings to everyone on this forum!
I am a newbie on this site and am looking for some very specific information. I come from Adelaide, South Australia, but through my wife and son, I have a number of family ties in the North Island of New Zealand (but not around Taranaki which may obviously be significant in our story).
My son is 15 years old (his name is Tanami) and is of the Moriori Iwi and we are trying to track down his whakapapa at the moment as we are considering moving to Dunedin to live in 2010. Just to clarify things, I am of German descent and the stepfather of my son. My wife is born in Taihape in the North Island and is of Scottish/Chinese descent. My wife's first marriage was to a Moriori who is the father of our son. Unfortunately, he died about 2 weeks before our son was born.
So, now we are trying to track down my son's whakapapa and were hoping that someone on this forum may be able to assist with some clues. So, here's the story in a timeline working backwards. I hope this is clear:
1) Tanami Derek Muller - born in 1993 in Alice Springs, Australia - son of Derek Robert Browne and Christine Amanda Browne (my wife)
2) Derek Robert Browne - born in 1947 in Grey Lynn, Auckland - son of
Merle Carroll Browne (mother of Derek) - unfortunately the father of Derek is not named on Derek's birth certificate so there may be many reasons for this
3) Merle Carroll Browne - born in 1923 in the Chatham Islands - left the Chatham Islands sometime around the time of Derek's birth, but probably before he was born. I believe, Merle is now deceased as well
It is really important for our son that we connect him to his whanau, so if anyone on the island knows anything at all about Merle or about any other descendants, other relatives, or friends of Merle, it would really help us out. This is the first stage of my son's journey and we are after any clues at all.
Thank you in advance, and I hope you are able to help us out.
Regards,
Robert Muller,
Adelaide,
South Australia.
Email:
robert.muller@flinders.edu.auPhone: +61 0433 354 383
