Category: Lang family

Donald Lang memories sparked by a letter from Aunt Myra in 1958

Hilda Hawkeswood had a still born baby in 1924, the year when on 24 th January Doreen Mackenzie and William Lang were married in Whangarei.. She subsequently left her husband. Later she left NZ to go to the USA as company for Myra and to help nurse Elsie, who had broken her leg in a taxi accident in Chicago. All three were back in NZ to be present at the famous 1933 New Year clan […]

Highland Games

Every year in Waipu, on New Years Day, there is a Highland Games. More Scottish than the Scots, the descendants of the big migrations celebrate their scottishness with a festival of bagpipes, highland dancing, tossing the caber, throwing the wheatsheaf, etc. etc.   It’s also often a family reunion, as the family who have left come back for summer at the Beach, and to see each other. In 1933, on New Year’s Day, one such […]

Subdivision in 1927

This picture shows the notice of Auction for the first subdivision in 1927. According to someone whose family bought lots 12-14 (Richard Morgan, who now still owns lot 11), Buying at the auction was a great investment for the future at 27 pounds ten shillings for a section, but I guess in those days few people had cars, or even went on holidays. I know that Tommy Thomson, the auctioneer asked my family to please […]

The Aunts

Story written by Jennifer Lang The Aunts were my father’s Aunts on his father’s side. My grandfather was the third child of eight; six girls and two boys. When he was thirteen, in 1904, his father died, leaving my great grandmother  with eight children aged from 18 down to 3 and the family sheep farm. The six girls, in order, were Elsie, who at 18, was already learning to be a nurse in Whangerei (about […]