In an earlier post I mention three families, resulting from Miriama Potiki's partners. All of these partners were Pakeha (pale, imaginary beings resembling men - more recently New Zealanders of European descent). The first was my 5x great grandfather, Major Joseph Greenwood, the second a sawyer by the name of Solomon Clarke, and the third, the only one she married, a lighthouse operator called Richard Paltridge. Once her grave was discovered, word spread via email. Peter Clarke in Lower Hutt, near Wellington, had made contact with me via a site called maori.org.nz as we were both searching for the same ancestor. Peter is the great great grandson of Miriama and Solomon Clarke. This was back in 2009.
Fast forward to 2011 and we managed to track down members of the Paltridge family and the pieces of the puzzle gradually started to fit together. Before we knew it the family group had grown to around one hundred, and it was time to form a "committee", for want of a better word. It was obvious that Miriama's grave needed more than just a wooden marker and a crumbling slab, so one person from each family became the contact person. Peter and I were joined by Stan Scott, 6x grandson of Miriama and Richard Paltridge. It was Stan who ultimately organised the carving of the beautiful kauri headstone, and the replacement of the crumbling slab with an amazing fence surrounding it, as it would have looked in 1888.
The family met in 2014 and 2018 respectively for the unveiling of the headstone and the slab.
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