Treesure Vault Genealogy - Australia And New Zealand

In my spare time I like to help others who don't know their biological family history find answers that can give them some kind of closure.
I have been interested in family history my whole life, though it wasn't until 2014 when I decided to take it to the next level and learn how to use DNA to find the identity of my great-grandmothers biological mother....I did and was also given a photo of her too from a descendant of hers from the children she had after adopting my GGM out.
Although my GGM died well before I was born, it gave me some kind of sense of closure.

This is what lead me to wanting to help others that don't know who their biological families are.

Since I helped a distant cousin (who I linked with via Ancestry DNA) find his bio family years ago, it gave me the confidence to help others and I have since helped 54 people in total find where they came from, whether it be their biological mother/father/grandparent. (I'm currently working on 4 more cases with the limited time I have).

There are so many different reasons why people take these DNA tests, and not everyone knows how to navigate them to their full potential, yet the stories they tell can be priceless and life changing for so many.

I have always loved my family, nothing compares to the love I have for them. It is this reason that I put my heart out there for those who I help, because of how I feel about my own family. Not every story has a happy ending, lives are changed forever for not only those searching but those that are found (who may never have known they fathered a child or may not have told their families about this child who maybe searching for them).

It is the most incredible feeling to hit that 'jackpot' moment when you work out who the identity of the person is that you've been searching for, though I have learnt the hard way that critical steps need to be taken to have the emotions of all parties considered.

Are you searching for your bio family? Need answers? If so, don't hesitate to comment or inbox me on fb. I'm happy to help if I can.

My fathers side:

In 1874 my 4th Great Grandfather, James Maxwell, travelled from Glasgow to NZ in this ship called "Auckland". He is listed with 3 of his grown children, James 24yo, Alexander 21yo and Agnes 15yo. It is possible that his daughter Jane (My 3rd Great Grandmother) was also aboard this ship under her married name of Wyllie as she had married her husband, John Cloggie Wyllie, in 1867 in Kirkintilloch, Scotland. It is also possible they came 2yrs later in 1876, though this is being confirmed.

James Maxwell lost his wife Agnes McKay in 1861 in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, after becoming ill from child birth to their daughter Margaret. I believe Margaret passed away prior to 1874, this I am still trying to find the correct record for.
James never remarried even though he was 41yo and had 6 children left after her death, one of their babies, Agnes, had died during birth in 1856, the following baby was also named Agnes which was a common pattern in those days to rename the next child after the one that had passed.

James is buried in the Northern Cemetery in Dunedin in the same plot as his son in law John Cloggie Wyllie and grandson John Wyllie in Block 87 Plot 31. The plot next to them in Plot 30 is Jane Wyllie nee Maxwell (our ancestor), her son William Maxwell, Jane Derroch, and Agnes McKay Wyllie.

It states that James was buried on the 20th December 1894 though in the NZ BDM records it became near impossible to find his death certificate. Everyone else that has him on their tree was in the same boat as myself, until now!
You see James was a Cotton Weaver by trade, worked in the Agricultural Industry his whole life. He worked as a Weaver in Scotland and NZ.
Every so often there are human errors with data input and with the help of another I was able to locate a death certificate that is listed as 'First Name: James Maxwell' 'Surname: Weaver'. It is narrowed down to his death being recorded as the 15th of December 1894. I have purchased this record and am waiting for the copy to be received by BDM. What I am hoping is to be able to find out what his parents names were as currently all I know is that he was born about 1820 in Ireland (unknown where) and moved to Scotland where he married Agnes in 1844 in Glasgow before they settled in Kirkintilloch. It is believed he lived in Renfrewshire prior to his marriage. There is currently no proof as to who his parents were.
I'll be happy to share his record once I receive it.

James is our eldest ancestor that came to New Zealand, although he was not the first to arrive of our many ancestors. He is the grandfather of Agnes Wyllie who married John Hogg, the parents of Jean Walls nee Hogg.

Thanks for reading, if you believe you may be connected to this same family then I would love to hear from you.
Julia Martin nee MacLean.

I have been struggling with a wall in my family history for well over a year and it has played on me so much that I never gave up trying to figure out.

Mystery solved!!!!
I have found where my fathers great-grandmother ended up. Her husband John Hogg had died in 1920 and is buried with his parents in Dunedin but for the life of me I couldn't find where Agnes Hogg neé Wyllie ended up after his death. I had at once been led to believe that she had left for Australia but this wasn't substantiated. So many other persons research showed different conflicting stories which in turn threw me off. Lesson learnt from that was NEVER trust some elses built tree that has no sourced proof.

So what I knew what that she was definitely Nan Walls' (Jane 'Jean' Hogg) mother and her husband was the John Hogg who was the son of Thomas and Mary. The question was where did she go? Who was she?

Well here it is:
Agnes Wyllie born 13/12/1868 born in Kirkintilloch, Scotland came out to NZ prior to 1887 with her parents and her maternal grandfather James Maxwell who was an Irish national but had moved to Scotland and married a Scottish woman, Agnes McKay, prior to coming to NZ. Agnes died prior to their immigration so James came to NZ with his daughter Jane 'Jean' Maxwell, her husband John Cloggie Wyllie and their children.

Jane, John and James all died in Dunedin and interred at Northern Cemetery.
- Jane (Dads 2nd Great- Grandmother) died on the 03/07/1928 in Dunedin and is interred as Jeannie Wyllie alongside her niece Agnes McKay Wyllie, Jane Derroch and brother William Wyllie. They are in Block 87. Plot 30.
- In the plot next to them in Block 87. Plot 31 is James Maxwell (Dads 3rd Great-Grandfather) who died at 69yo on the 18/12/1894 in Dunedin. He is interred with John Cloggie Wyllie (Dads 2nd Great-Grandfather) who died on the 14/08/1931 - he was also born in Kirkintilloch.
Also in this plot is John Wyllie 14/07/1918 at 39yo he is believed to have been one of John Cloggie Wyllies nephews - this is yet to be confirmed.

So I finally purchased the correct death record for Grandma Ngaires grandmother!!!! She must have left Dunedin after her husbands death because she died 14yrs later in Wellington. Why Wellington? Something else I need to look into but she died of Pneumonia and Breast Cancer.
She died 24/08/1934. She died in the Wellington Hospital.
She is interred at the Karori Cemetery Section PUBLIC3 Plot number 10A Record number 15465. I can not find a photo for her plot but will reach out to get this. No one else is showing up in this plot.

There are suspicions in regards to this Agnes of ours but I would find it very hard to believe it is the same woman but can never rule out anything in our long long cupboard of skeletons I am finding.

Agnes Wyllie and John Hogg only had 2 daughters that are known which are Jane 'Jean' Walls neé Hogg and Sarah 'Sadie' Rosetta Stewart neé Hogg.

Photo: this is Agnes' statutory death record.

What are some interesting or amusing names in your family tree?
I have someone with the surname Hogg who married a Bacon.

A genealogists excitement is real. Those "Eureka" moments are what we all desire.

This right here is scary for anyone who loves Genealogy and has OCD when it comes to breaking down branches too.

How far do you go? Do you break down your GGAunts and Uncles trees too or do you stick to direct ancestors and siblings only?

The question we ask ourselves is, where do we stop!

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This is my 2nd Great Grandfather, John Baxter. John was born on the 21st October 1852 in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland. He passed away on the 27th December 1939 in Dunedin, New Zealand. He married Mary McColl. His sister Isabella Baxter married Mary's brother John McColl, so the descendants of these two couples have stronger DNA matches than that of other cousins. It is all very interesting what you can find.

Do you have a wonderful family photo or story? Please share, I'd love to see them.