Relatively Rabbitt - Written By KI & WT Guttery
RELATIVELY RABBITT is a review of a branch of the Rabbitt family in New Zealand and Ireland. The review focuses on two generations during the period between 1840 and 1970. It was a remarkable period in our family history and it is a story that needs to be told. The review describes a family that contributed to their communities, and their countries, as did many families of their era, and it includes some very special people. The review highlights them as is necessary.
In the earlier generations in both New Zealand, and Ireland, some consistent personal characteristics appear. They include; a pride in being Irish; a commitment to the faith, a love of the land, a strength of character, and a determination to achieve their goals often in very demanding circumstances. Present generations owe them much, as their lot was not an easy one. They persevered through hard times, and family tragedies, to achieve a great deal, and in doing so, they displayed the personal characteristics and traits that are still very evident in the family today.
The review started from the wish to record the information about the author’s grandfather John, who was the first of three brothers to settle in New Zealand. It became a much larger exercise than anticipated, and it has revealed a wider family history to be proud of.
The authors hope that in "fleshing out" the lives of our ancestors from the bare bones of official documents, they have conveyed an accurate picture of the family members, their place in their society, and the social conditions of their time. Extensive use has been made of photographs in the review and this was possible by the significance many family members placed on the keeping of photos and documents that were important to the family. To describe our earliest known ancestors and a little of their lifestyle it has been necessary to include some background information about earlier times in Ireland, and particularly in Galway. Clearly, detailed descriptions of the lives of our ancestors cannot continue into the present generations. It will be noticeable as this review moves into current generations, that it becomes a summary of names and line charts etc.
It is over 20 years since work began on the earlier editions of RELATIVELY RABBITT. Since then the authors have visited Ireland, and gained information not available in earlier times. Of special interest is the information confirming the involvement of our ancestors in the Irish independence activities of the 1920’s. We are in-debted to the Rabbitt/Clarke/Holland families in Galway, for their contribution to this part of our family history. Also, advances in technology now allow improved presentation of photographs, and on-line access to information that was not available when the earlier versions were produced.
The authors have met with many wonderful people who have given of their time and patiently answered our many questions. Thank you all for your support, and digging into the past to produce the details and photos that are the essence of this review. Finally, although the details included in this review have been checked, and double checked with official and family sources, there is a possibility of errors and important omissions. We have included what we believe to be correct.
It is hoped the review will be of interest to those who are in any way associated with the Rabbitt family name. If it achieves that, then it will have achieved its purpose.
We are but ‘one link in a wonderful family chain’
In the earlier generations in both New Zealand, and Ireland, some consistent personal characteristics appear. They include; a pride in being Irish; a commitment to the faith, a love of the land, a strength of character, and a determination to achieve their goals often in very demanding circumstances. Present generations owe them much, as their lot was not an easy one. They persevered through hard times, and family tragedies, to achieve a great deal, and in doing so, they displayed the personal characteristics and traits that are still very evident in the family today.
The review started from the wish to record the information about the author’s grandfather John, who was the first of three brothers to settle in New Zealand. It became a much larger exercise than anticipated, and it has revealed a wider family history to be proud of.
The authors hope that in "fleshing out" the lives of our ancestors from the bare bones of official documents, they have conveyed an accurate picture of the family members, their place in their society, and the social conditions of their time. Extensive use has been made of photographs in the review and this was possible by the significance many family members placed on the keeping of photos and documents that were important to the family. To describe our earliest known ancestors and a little of their lifestyle it has been necessary to include some background information about earlier times in Ireland, and particularly in Galway. Clearly, detailed descriptions of the lives of our ancestors cannot continue into the present generations. It will be noticeable as this review moves into current generations, that it becomes a summary of names and line charts etc.
It is over 20 years since work began on the earlier editions of RELATIVELY RABBITT. Since then the authors have visited Ireland, and gained information not available in earlier times. Of special interest is the information confirming the involvement of our ancestors in the Irish independence activities of the 1920’s. We are in-debted to the Rabbitt/Clarke/Holland families in Galway, for their contribution to this part of our family history. Also, advances in technology now allow improved presentation of photographs, and on-line access to information that was not available when the earlier versions were produced.
The authors have met with many wonderful people who have given of their time and patiently answered our many questions. Thank you all for your support, and digging into the past to produce the details and photos that are the essence of this review. Finally, although the details included in this review have been checked, and double checked with official and family sources, there is a possibility of errors and important omissions. We have included what we believe to be correct.
It is hoped the review will be of interest to those who are in any way associated with the Rabbitt family name. If it achieves that, then it will have achieved its purpose.
We are but ‘one link in a wonderful family chain’
Foreword - by Joan Coleman (nee Rabbitt)
It is with a great deal of pleasure, and a very humble feeling of privilege that I have accepted an invitation by Kathleen to write a foreword to her history of our family. Kathleen has spent many years gathering all the information and stories to make the Rabbitt clan come alive. I know that all my brothers and sisters as well as our many cousins will enjoy this look into the family from which we are the seeds.
Kathleen has traced the lives of our various grandfathers from their homes in Galway, Ireland to Kauana, near Winton in Southland, New Zealand. They came to New Zealand in sailing boats, spending long weeks at sea, and bringing with them a pioneering spirit and a strong Catholic faith. They sailed to a land so far away, that most of their contemporaries could not imagine that such a place existed. The boat journey was only the start as New Zealand in those days was far from the civilised place it has become. The courage of our grandparents can only be judged by the hard times of the country they had left.
My father, Jack, often told a story about his father, (John), who had lived to a ripe old age, and whom I can just remember. John had prospered in his new country, but never forgot his roots. He was often heard to remark, "There's no place like Ireland". John returned to Ireland for a visit in his later years, and after that, he changed his often heard saying to; "There's no place like New Zealand".
Kathleen, in gathering all this information, has shown the loyalty and devotion which are part of my early memories of her father. Uncle Paddy was the most loyal person I have ever known, and his weekly visits to my father during the last 10 years of Dad’s life are an example I will never forget. Kathleen has the same loyalty and I would like to thank her and her husband, Walter, for putting together all the information, so that we may have this record of our pioneering family.
Some years ago I was privileged to read the history of a Ford family, not the Ford's we are related to, but very good friends of theirs, from the "oldcountry". A poem in their book appealed to me and I give it to all my large extended family with much love.
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row
Would you be proud of them or not
Or don't you really know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees
And some of them, you know,
Do not particularly please.
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row
There might be some of them perhaps
You would not care to know.
But here's another question which
Requires a different view;
If you could meet your ancestors
Would they be proud of you?
(Anon: from the dairy of James Roche)
Kathleen has traced the lives of our various grandfathers from their homes in Galway, Ireland to Kauana, near Winton in Southland, New Zealand. They came to New Zealand in sailing boats, spending long weeks at sea, and bringing with them a pioneering spirit and a strong Catholic faith. They sailed to a land so far away, that most of their contemporaries could not imagine that such a place existed. The boat journey was only the start as New Zealand in those days was far from the civilised place it has become. The courage of our grandparents can only be judged by the hard times of the country they had left.
My father, Jack, often told a story about his father, (John), who had lived to a ripe old age, and whom I can just remember. John had prospered in his new country, but never forgot his roots. He was often heard to remark, "There's no place like Ireland". John returned to Ireland for a visit in his later years, and after that, he changed his often heard saying to; "There's no place like New Zealand".
Kathleen, in gathering all this information, has shown the loyalty and devotion which are part of my early memories of her father. Uncle Paddy was the most loyal person I have ever known, and his weekly visits to my father during the last 10 years of Dad’s life are an example I will never forget. Kathleen has the same loyalty and I would like to thank her and her husband, Walter, for putting together all the information, so that we may have this record of our pioneering family.
Some years ago I was privileged to read the history of a Ford family, not the Ford's we are related to, but very good friends of theirs, from the "oldcountry". A poem in their book appealed to me and I give it to all my large extended family with much love.
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row
Would you be proud of them or not
Or don't you really know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees
And some of them, you know,
Do not particularly please.
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row
There might be some of them perhaps
You would not care to know.
But here's another question which
Requires a different view;
If you could meet your ancestors
Would they be proud of you?
(Anon: from the dairy of James Roche)
