My project for 2022 is to publish some details on my family tree. Any readers who are able to contribute facts or stories about these ancestors are very welcome to get in touch with me, either directly or through putting a comment on one of my postings under The Blog.
To begin with this will look at the families of my (Bruce’s) four grandparents: Annan, Macrae, Ferguson, Grove. Later, I will hope to add Pip’s four grandparent families: Bruce, Stilburn, Seymour and Hansen.
This project was inspired by a get-together of cousins in early 2021, followed by a larger gathering on Labour Weekend 2021, coming together in order to ensure that documents, photos, and memories were preserved for future generations. Thanks are due to Chris Gibson, our “senior cousin” for his leadership and encouragement.
One of my few famous ancestors was Alexander Macrae (1816-1895). He was the author of a book on Deerstalking, published in 1880 and still in print as late as 2015 and available from Amazon.com. A copy of the first edition can be seen here.
All of the people mentioned on this site can be found in a formal family tree held online at familysearch.org by using their 7-digit FamilySearch code. This will give access to wider family details.
A note on names: all women in the family are known here by their birth names rather than their married names to assist in tracing the family lines.
Annan
| Mary Jane Flanigan, 1854-1941. Married Theophilus George Love, 1848-1913. |
| ……….Peter John Annan, 1870-1951. Married Edith Sarah Cann, 1874-1951. |
| ………………..Mary Gertrude Lily Annan, 1891-1892 |
| ………………..William George Francis Annan, 1893-1963 |
| ………………..Peter John Samuel Annan, 1893-1895 |
| ………………..Frederick John Andrew Annan, 1895-1969. Married Annie Isabell Macrae, 1897-1971. |
| …………………………William Donald Francis Annan, 1919-1940 |
| …………………………Joyce Isabel Annan, 1921-2014 |
| …………………………Raymond Frederick Annan, 1922-2017 |
| …………………………Edith June Annan, 1925-1996 |
| ………………..Edith Lillian Dorothy Annan, 1897-1968 |
| ………………..Daisy Pearl Annan, 1899-1991 |
| ………………..Peter Charles Annan, 1900-1987 |
| Mary Jane Flanigan, 1854-1941. Married William Annan, 1841-1897. |
So, to begin with the Annan family. And here we straight away run into our first problem – they are not really Annans at all!
Our matriarch, Mary Flanigan, married Theophilus Love in 1869 and they had one son, Peter John, who is our ancestor. Before Peter was two years old, his parents had separated and his mother began living with William Annan. Although not married, they had nine children and for the rest of their lives were known as Mr and Mrs Annan. Peter was effectively brought up as the eldest Annan child and he retained that surname throughout his life, as did all of his children.
For family history purposes, Peter is part of the Love family but for our purposes, he is an Annan!
We are occasionally asked if we are related to the prominent Maori Love family in any way, but the answer is no, we are not. Their forebear was Captain John Agar Love who came from the Isle of Skye, whereas “our” Loves were Irish in origin, from Dublin.
Click on any of the above linked names to access more of their details and life stories.