Reflections

My Great Grandfather, William Henry BEAZLEY, died at Point Chevalier, on the 7th.March 1910 at the home of Priscilla and Robert SADGROVE.

His first wife, Elizabeth FAULKNER, predeceased him on the 5th February 1869, and is believed to be buried at the Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland.

His 2nd.wife, Elizabeth .BOYCE, died on the 9th August 1921 at the home of Ivy and Tommy PARKER in Epsom, and is buried in the same plot as her husband at Waikumete in West Auckland.

Standing at Waikumete Cemetery (Eucalyptus Ave, Block D, Section 1, Plot 41) looking at the Memorial Inscription on the headstone, does not convey the finality of the pioneering spirit that lays below, but it certainly does represent and emphasise the continuation and importance of family strength in unity that flourishes above.

2 Wives... 24 children... over 150 grandchildren... over 6700 recorded descendants

William Henry, and his two Elizabeths', had 24 children, with four dying as infants, they reared 20 children to adulthood. Of these 20 children, 19 survived to marry and have families of their own.

Consequently there were 106 Grandchildren by 1910 at the death of their Grandfather, along with 16 Great Grandchildren. This total has swelled to over 6,700 recorded descendants by 2020, with a massive total of over 152 known Grandchildren credited to William Henry BEAZLEY.

The Road Here... The Road Forward

Between 1982 and 1990, names and dates were collected with the intent­ion of putting together a small history and family tree of descendants from William Henry BEAZLEY, by way of some form of booklet/book.

This mammoth exercise can not be understated as the communication tools of those days were limited to letters, phone calls, driving all over Aotearoa for countless face to face meetings and visiting other institutions of historical records like museums and the offices of Births Deaths and Marriages.

However, the mass printing of these, what turned out to be 3 books, never eventuated due to the sheer volume of names and the expense. Back then, computing and the internet was in its infancy and very few people had access to either. It took many years and another generation for these to become readily available and affordable.

So we have to fast forward to 2016, to when our whakapapa with its 5000+ names and dates, was first loaded on to our online whakapapa website, for all whanau to finally access and explore. This number steadily grows on the website as whanau update their branches and continue to expand their families.

Now in 2020, this family history website has been created to further collate our family history, with the hope of eventually publishing the Beazley History booklet/book that has been long overdue.

Note - Some of the original text has been updated, to reflect the current situation as far as the collating of our family history.

In New Zealand tradition, the three baskets of knowledge were given to Tane, God of the forest and birds and his escort the Kotiku­ Rerenga -The White Heron, for the continued use of man. These baskets or Kete were as follow

1. Te Kete Uruuru Rangi or Te Kete Tuatea
2. Te Kete Uruuru Tau or Te Kete Aronui
3. Te Kete Uruuru Matua or Te Kete Tuari

1. Contained the philosophy of love, peace, goodness, and the study of humanity.
2. Contained the knowledge of ritual, incantations, intercession, and tradition,which included the history of the people.
3. Contained the knowledge of the arts, agriculture, building and carving.

As the years have shown our BEAZLEY families have gained knowledge of all aspects of life in New Zealand. Varied and diverse trades and occupations have been followed, such as:

Farmers, butchers; writers; teachers; musicians; nurses; assistants, timber workers; fisherman, social workers; grocers; carpet layers, tradespeople; wharfies; home makers; retailers; policemen; builders; drivers; rail workers and many more.

Multi denominations have been followed which include: Anglican/Presbyterian/Catholic/Wesleyan Methodist/ Salvation Army/Ratana/Hikitu/Jehovah Witness/Latter Day Saints/Seventh Day Adventists;and others.

All showing the continued belief in love, peace, sharing and caring.

With knowledge gained from all possible sources available, this website will follow William Henry BEAZLEY and his family moving from the Hokianga to the Bay of Plenty, over to Rangiawhia, and back to the Hokianga, until his final resting place at Auckland.