Stories | Shaw Family

If you have a story that you would like to share,

please send it to us through the "contact" portion of the site.

Robin & Helen Shaw's recent findings on their visit to Howick:

Helen and I went to Howick to visit some friends but went early with a view to having a look around at family history things, starting with the All Saints Church where we looked unsuccessfully for Alexander and Esther's graves but found that of George Wagstaff Snr (father-in-law of Mary Wagstaff). Many of the headstones are badly weathered with unreadable inscriptions or nothing left of them. We didn't have time to do a complete search and in any case it might be more fruitful to see if there are any records of their location. We next drove through Drake St to look at the locality of Alexander Snr's original allotment purchases and Helen spotted a beautiful large old villa with a sign on the gatepost which read 'The Shaw Homestead'!

The house had once been owned by Winstone Peters when he was a lawyer practising in Howick. When I told our friend John about this he knew the place and said that years ago the brother of one of his clients had bought the house and fully restored it (it certainly looked like it), so it is apparently in first class order throughout. John then loaned us their copy of "The History of Howick and Pakuranga ..." (J. La Roche, 1991 ed, there is now a 2011 edition), which lists, in their map of historic sites, #83, "Shaw's Farm Homestead: Drake St. Built 1910". This is in the vicinity of the allotments that were purchased by Alexander Snr according to the 1988 reunion booklet, but Alexander died in 1909, so either he didn't build it or he started it before he died and it was completed and recorded in the following year. The reunion booklet says that his second "homestead" was built on allotment 213 which appears to be consistent with the "1910" homestead.In the 'History' book there is a photo of Alexander and Esther (the same one as is on the cover of the reunion booklet) with a short paragraph which says that Esther had a club foot and was a cripple (impressive effort for her to raise a family of 7!).

Alison Kelso's shared memories.....

I live in Nelson with my husband Terry and we celebrated our Golden Wedding anniversary in February 2012.

We have one son living in Nelson with the other three offspring living overseas in Sweden, France and Turkey.

When I was last in New Lynn, Auckland I took some walks around the area that used to be so familiar when I was a child.

Grandma and Pop Shaw didn't have a car so we always walked everywhere. Of course the 'village' has changed hugely, but the residential area hasn't changed all that much. I also lived in Titirangi from 1965 to 1969 and I used to frequent Lynmall which was the first mall in Auckland, probably in New Zealand. I took my four babies to Plunket there and our eldest son Michael went to Kaurilands school for a year. We moved to Te Kuiti just after his 6th birthday as Terry was transferred there as accountant of the A.N.Z bank.

Anyway, I took a couple of photos of the old house in Lynwood Road where our generation of Shaw cousins spent so much time with Grandma and Pop, and where I have so many fond memories. The house hasn't changed a lot though the front porch has been closed in and the garage removed, and of course the lovely big back section has been subdivided. It used to be huge with a large vegetable garden, a hen house, and some bee hives. The Pohutukawa tree in the front used to be huge when I was a child, now it is enormous and hangs over part of the roof of the house. When I was about eight I got into big trouble for climbing it as I clambered onto the garage roof from its branches and I was dangerously close to the power lines that entered the garage. I'll never forget how calmly Grandma ordered me to climb back down, but I got a big lecture once I reached the ground!

Here are the descendants of Norman Steventon Shaw and Bernice Violet Brookes (my father and mother)

KELSO/SHAW FAMILY:

*William Charles Frederick (Terry) Kelso (born Banbridge, N. Ireland 29.12.1933)

Married 14.2.1962 (Auckland, N.Z.) Alison Jean Shaw (born Auckland, N.Z. 12.12.1941)

**Michael Charles Kelso (born Auckland, N.Z. 5.3.1963)

Married (1) 9.12.1989 (Auckland, N.Z.) Kathryn Ann Buckley (born Kaikohe, N.Z. 28.5.1968)

***Cameron Alexander Kelso (born Kuala Belait, Brunei 24.6.1999)

***Donovan Michael Kelso (born Kuala Belait, Brunei 24.6.1999)

Married (2) 17.9.2005 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Maria Silvana Vazquez (born Buenos Aires, Argentina 29.1.1967)

***Finn Daniel Kelso (born Auckland, N.Z. 4.8.2009)

**Jennifer Anne Kelso (born Auckland, N.Z. 1.5.1964)

**Richard James Kelso (born Auckland, N.Z. 25.11.1967)