Ferns Origin and Family Tree
In 1919 my mother, Tui Ferns, was born the seventh of thirteen girls and boys raised by Hubert Ferns and Isabella McQuilkan in Invercargill, the southern-most town in New Zealand. Hubert was raised in Australia in an Irish Catholic family and Isabella was born in Southland and had a Scottish Protestant upbringing. The question of what religion their children should follow was resolved by letting them choose their spiritual following for themselves.
I eventually became interested in genealogy through recording my own family tree, and soon expanded this into keeping track of the large Ferns family as well. Sharing family tree information had always been a chore, but with the development of web-based database systems it was great to be able to use these tools for both sharing the family records, and to have a much improved research capability. My current tool of choice for recording the family tree is MyHeritage.
But what about the yarns?
An issue that concerned me was a large collection of family material written either as poetry or stories which I had inherited. These records provided great insights about the family and its various personalities which were not recorded in the family tree database. As an alternative to writing a book to share this material I have chosen to record the family stories and research into the NZ Ferns family origins on this website.
Ferns Roots is born
So, Ferns Roots is not a family tree, it is a family history which records Hubert's and Isabella's ancestry from Ireland and Scotland, including family branches in Australia and New Zealand down to the level of my cousins, the children of the original thirteen NZ Ferns girls and boys. The writings of various family members are included to give greater insight into Ferns family personalities. Also given are guides about further family genealogical material, such as an on-line family tree and family videos.
Your thoughts are welcome
Family research is an interesting, and seemingly never-ending hobby. So while there will be much here that is new to the family, I am very likely to have left out other items which my cousins may think are relevant. I am happy to consider any suggestions or content to support Ferns Roots as a usefull family record. I hope it may act as a base for other folk to build their own family research on.
Best wishes,
Rex Johnson
Cromwell
09 November 2022