In the beginning......

Thursday 14 January 2016

Steph gave me two little books by Austin Kleon "Steal Like an Artist" and "Show Your Work!"
They are packed with  motivation for getting what is in my head "out there".
I love the :
"Dont wait till you know who you are to get started",
 "Write the book you want to read" and
 "Open up your cabinet of curiosities".

A kind knowledgeable genealogist  has helped kick start  this project....thank you Michelle.

New Zealand is a very young country and the history of European settlement is very short .While the stories are held within living memory I am going to record the tales I have been told for my descendants and any others descended from the "Birds of Brigstock";  and the  "just curious".

William and Betsy Bird arrived in New Zealand in 1842 on the "Clifton" as Ag Labs (agricultural labourers) under the auspices of the New Zealand Company.
They sailed with three children, Mary, John and Amelia. The children all arrived alive despite the odds at sea.

William had a chequered career in Brigstock, Northamptonshire,and was a product of the times.
Landing in New Zealand he raised a big healthy family and kept  on the right side of the law.

The task for myself is to produce individual Posts on  the settler patriarch and his wife , and each of their children

Watch this space!