Memorial to Tanya Burr, 1981-2002

Tanya's female lineage

This page came about after I realised we had a photo of Tanya's great great grandmother in the maternal lineage taken when she was the same age as Tanya at the time of her death. This discovery, in turn, was the result of being contacted on 2 January 2003 by a descendant of that woman's younger sister in England. As there are also a wide range of photos to hand of all the intervening women around the same age, this seemed like an interesting genealogical exercise.

As a result of the contact with England, the female line has since been extended a bit further (albeit minus photos way back then, so enjoy the bunch of 'Forget-me-nots' instead):

Jemima Self (details presently not available, but died before 1881), Tanya's great, great, great, great grandmother, married James Rowe and lived at Peasenhall, Suffolk, England. James was still alive at the time of the 1881 Census, at which time he was living with his widower son-in-law Samuel Hayward, and his children. At that time, James was listed as a retired farm labourer. He was aged 75 years and had been born Walpole, Suffolk. Details of Jemima and James' family are not yet known, other than that they produced at least one daughter, Naomi.

Naomi Rowe (baptised 29 September 1833, Peasenhall - died before 1881, possibly around 1871), Tanya's great, great, great grandmother, married Samuel Hayward on 27 November 1856, the witness being Naomi's father, James Rowe, who gave his mark (i.e. he couldn't write his name). Naomi and Samuel produced seven presently known children, of whom the younger three were born in Dieppe, France, where Samuel had managed a branch of an English agricultural implement firm. The second of the couple's five daughters was Gertrude.

Gertrude Ruth Hayward (27 December 1859, Peasenhall [or nearby Sibton according to an early Census], Suffolk, England - 15 April 1938, Wanganui, NZ), Tanya's great, great grandmother, who was photographed by J.L. McLanachan, 2 The Mall, Ealing, England, in approx. 1880, when aged 21 years. Gertrude emigrated to New Zealand as a domestic servant with her employers, the Rutherford family, aboard the ship Wanganui in late 1883. She married London-born George Potticary Holland, a widower with two very young children, at Napier on 6 December 1884. The couple then produced five more children including one who died aged one year. The fifth of these (and Gertrude's second daughter) was Ida. For further information on this couple, click here.

Ida Constance Holland (4 August 1893, Waipukurau, NZ - 1 December 1980, Palmerston North, NZ), Tanya's great grandmother, photographed at Easter 1914 during the Ingestre St. Baptist Church of Wanganui's first Bible Camp, when aged 20 years. Ida mostly grew up in Wanganui, but also worked in Rotorua and Auckland as a V.A.D. (a nurse's assistant) during the First World War. She married Ralph Hansen Allen on 29 September 1920 and the couple settled in Palmerston North, where Ralph was a Land Valuer for the Government. They produced four children, of who the third (and second girl) was Adrienne. For further information on the Allen family, click here.

Adrienne Jean Allen (10 February 1926, Palmerston North, NZ - 12 September 1995, Palmerston North, NZ), Tanya's grandmother, photographed by G.S. Framjee, Palmerston North, seemingly about 1937-8, when aged between 21 and 22 years. She became the source of Tanya's modified second name. Adrienne trained as a Karitane Nurse and also worked as a shop assistant and clerical worker prior to her marriage on 16 February 1952 to Kelvin Grove dairy farmer Leo Sidney Burr. The couple produced five children, of whom the oldest is Val. For further information on Leo Burr's Scandinavian maternal family, click here. For information on his paternal family, refer to V.L. McLennan-Boman's book 'Glimpses into Early Manawatu' and others covering the Kelvin Grove and Whakarongo districts that are not too had to trace.

Valerie Anne Burr, i.e. me (born 1953, Palmerston North), Tanya's mother, photographed following a wedding reception at the old Kelvin Grove Hall, in June 1975 when aged 22 years. Other than that, for reasons of my privacy on the internet, not too much on me (or my kids' father) sorry. If you are someone who needs to know, you will probably already know everything about me/us - or you can always ask us of course...... (and so on)

With Tanya's death, for our immediate family this female line ends here, as my only sister produced only sons and thus Tanya was the only girl. This has created a situation with regards to things that normally are passed from mother to daughter - including the passing of 'female' family information. A similar situation exists on our father's side, where that information was also focused on Tanya as the nearest in the female line. We have nieces, however, who now have a double responsibility for both their own maternal line and both of ours.

Tanya Jeanine Burr (12 May 1981, Palmerston North, NZ -15 September 2002, Rotorua, NZ) photographed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 25 August 2002 during her Contiki trip, about three weeks before her tragic death, aged 21years. Her unborn baby naturally died with her.