My 3 x great grandfather George Tunnecliffe (or Tunnecliff/Tunnicliff/Tunnicliffe) arrived in New Zealand aboard the Dinapore, landing in Auckland on 5th of August 1857. Three days later he married a fellow passenger, Elizabeth Barber, and they made their home in the province of Taranaki.
Tag: Tunnecliff
My 3 x great grandparents George and Elizabeth Tunnicliff are buried in Grave 56 of St Mary’s Cathedral churchyard, New Plymouth (Taranaki, New Zealand). In 2014 John Pickering, graveyard manager of St Mary’s, spearheaded a project to repair all the old gravestones in the churchyard. Desecendants, where known, were contacted and asked to help fund…
It’s fascinating where surnames originated and how they evolved. In April I posted about my 3 x great grandfather, George Tunnecliff. Or was it Tunnecliffe? With an ‘e’, or without? What was the “correct” surname? My last lot of assignments for IHGS were all centred around surnames, and since we could pick a couple of…

This is how the Tower of London is commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red is an installation created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins with setting by stage designer Tom Piper, and has involved the help of hundreds of volunteer ‘poppy planters’. The Tower’s…
Edward Tunnecliff (my first cousin thrice removed) was born in New Plymouth on 9th May 1886, the eldest son of George Tunnecliff (Jnr) and Alice Kine. He was living in Dover Road, Okato, with his brother Leonard, and farming land in Tataraimaka, when he was conscripted into the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reserve in 1916….
I was recently contacted by John Pickering, graveyard manager of St Mary’s Cathedral in New Plymouth (Taranaki, New Zealand). He is spearheading a project to repair all the old gravestones in the churchyard, and is trying to contact descendants of those buried, to help fund the repairs. Council funds are being applied for where there…
I don’t seem to be doing very well on blog posting lately! I’d love to say that it’s because I’ve been concentrating on my IHGS assignment work, but that’d be a big fat lie. There has been some family history research going on though, however not much filing and recording. Most of the research I’ve…
We’re taking the kids off to a theme park in Staffordshire. I am hoping we’ll get up there in time tomorrow to visit the Black Country Living Museum, but it depends on how organised we are in the morning (ie. what time we leave!) Today I’ve been trying to follow up a Staffordshire ancestor. Unfortunately,…
Auckland Archives office Customs Inwards letter – The High Commissioner for New Zealand, London – Alexander Wright – passenger to Auckland per “Rimutaka” leaving London 12 June 1908 (possibly great grandfather) I decided not to visit the Auckland Archives in the end. I wasn’t sure the item would be connected to my family at all….
Auckland Archives office Customs Inwards letter – The High Commissioner for New Zealand, London – Alexander Wright – passenger to Auckland per “Rimutaka” leaving London 12 June 1908 (possibly great grandfather) Wellington Archives office Probate file for Patrick James O’Rourke – 1908 (great great uncle) Probate file for George Tunnecliff – 1912 (great great great…