Europe to Australia to a life in the circus

Hi my name is Hosanna, I am fourteen years old and live in West Auckland. I am a New Zealander, I have lived in New Zealand all my life and so has my father David. My dad’s family migrated to New Zealand from the United Kingdom by ship. There are no real facts on how they ended up in New Zealand, but the family story is that there were three brothers from the UK and one brother migrated to America, another brother to New Zealand and the other stayed. My dad’s family have lived in New Zealand for generations so details on why they came here are fuzzy.

My mum Vivian was born in Papua New Guinea. However she is not from there. Her parents, my grandparents were missionaries and lived in Papua New Guinea for a few years. My grandmother Daisy was born and raised in Australia. Her family was a circus family and migrated around Australia a lot. When she was 2 years old her her family of five crossed the Nullarbor plains. It took them many days and they ran out of water half way through the journey. Also one of their horses died from dehydration, leaving a single mare to pull them the rest of the way. My nana grew up in Melbourne and she experienced many bushfires and floods. She studied nursing in Australia. She moved to New Zealand in 1974 with her husband and two kids.

My family heritage is very complex as both my mum’s and my dad’s families go back hundreds of years and along the way my mum’s ancestors have lived in France, Poland, United Kingdom, Australia, and there is a rumour that one of the uncles came from Greece but he had no birth certificate so no one really knows. My mum’s ancestors were related to Prince Henry the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. my dad’s ancestors have lived in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. They were related to a Princess of Scotland. My dad’s family have lived in in New Zealand for generations; someone along the line married a Māori woman. So I have a tiny bit of Māori heritage in me. My family never really stayed in one place. Still, I have relatives in Australia although we don’t keep in touch. My mum’s family dates back to the 1000s, so there is a lot of history, and also much migrating to and from different places.

Hosanna