TRAUE Family
We all carry inside us, people who came before us.
TRAUE Family
We all carry inside us, people who came before us.
The origins of the TRAUE family are sketchy. This is due to the lack of consistent information documented in records on the first generation of family, in early New Zealand.
I am told that the surname TRAUE is not that common in Germany. There are some people with this surname found at Friedewalde near Minden, Westfalia, Germany. TRAUE descendants today are found in Canada, USA, England, Australia and New Zealand and are likely related.
Christian TRAUE was born around 1856, in either Bremen or Hamburg , Germany. He was the son of Christian TRAUE & Elizabeth MEYER. He became the first TRAUE to arrive in Auckland , in 1878.
According to family recollection, Christian TRAUE deserted from his German naval ship. This was due to harsh disciplinary action by the captain (likely a flogging if it was a naval ship). Christian was a sentry when the ship was anchored off the African coast. During his watch, some pirates managed to get on board, but were repelled.
The 1878 NZ Police Gazette (Auckland) records the following information:
Rau or Ran (could be TRAUE), Christian – arrested for ship-desertion of 15 Nov 1878 in Auckland. Charged in Auckland. Gaz 1878 p174.
The warrant cancellation shows:
The warrants issued for the arrest of Joseph Hass, G. Whipskong, and Christian Rau or Ran, charged with deserting from the ship "Carrie Wyman" at Auckland, have been cancelled.
This information would suggest that there were in fact three people who deserted the CARRIE WYMAN in Auckland. The surnames would suggest the men were of German origin. The warrants were possibly cancelled due to an expired deadline, by which the Captain did not respond to the police, or the Captain did not want these people back as crew.
The ship CARRIE WYMAN was an American barque which was charted in New York to bring goods to Dunedin and Auckland. It left New York around the 22 May 1878, arriving in Dunedin around 23 October 1878. The Auckland Star reported, on 9 Nov 1878, that the barque arrived the previous evening from New York via Dunedin. It carried 600 Tons of kerosene and general merchandise. She left on the 22nd October, experiencing strong gales and light winds on the passage of 16 days. After discharging her cargo she left Auckland on 10 Dec 1878 bound for Newcastle, north of Sydney.
Christian TRAUE married at St John the Baptist Church, Parnell. Marrying Mary, the daughter of Patrick FITZGERALD & Margaret CONWAY, in February 1882. Together, they had 11 children. My descent stems from the large Gisborne branch of William Thomas TRAUE and his wife, Lila VERGUSON.
Christian was described as 6ft 1in, 15 stone, blond haired with blue eyes, and solid with strong features. He never drank alcohol, nor smoked. He was Protestant and his wife Roman Catholic. Their sons were raised Protestant and daughters as Catholic. His occupations ranged from bricklayer, carter, carrier, labourer, coal & firewood merchant. The following are some residences they lived at:
An “alien” in New Zealand before 1914 was someone who did not have British citizenship. Yet large-scale international wars, which began with World War 1 in 1914, marked a change in attitudes towards many aliens. This caused a change of status for considerable numbers of them. “Enemy” aliens were regarded with considerable suspicion in both world wars.
Naturalisation is the process by which a person becomes a citizen of a country. On 29 Jul 1899, Christian signed his oath of allegiance to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, thus becoming a citizen of New Zealand. His character reference described him as a steady industrious man.
