That Watt is unexpected!

William Hogg Watt memorial Fountain

There comes a time in all family history research when you want to have a look down some of the branches that makes you wonder if there are anyone of interest. They are still your family members, but never been researched. I am one of those people who likes to have a look down some of the lines to see what there is to be found. Here is one story about one surprise that I encountered during my research.

One of my great, great Aunts married was married in Palmerston North to a man with the surname of Watts. The name of the aunt was Amelia (Minnie) Milverton and I decided that now would be a great time to see where the paternal side of the family could be traced back to. A quick search through Paperspast bought me an article about when they were married in 1904, so I was able to buy the marriage certificate. I was more interested to seeing a family member that had travelled from America listed on the marriage certificate. Amelia had married John Harold Watt and John’s father, John Paton was also present at the wedding.

I managed to trace the family back two generations to the town of Wanganui. One of the people was called William Hogg Watt and on a whim, I did a Google search on him. The result was one that had me very surprised and unexpected. I found that William happened to be a parliamentary member on several occasions and also the first mayor of Wanganui. I was very interested especially since I was actually going to visit the town on a trip to New Zealand and this would mean I have some research to do on the family. I did find that John Paton Watt also had a service record being a volunteer rifleman for the Wanganui area.

When conducting further research into the town of Wanganui, I found there was an archive centre and the museum, which could help me find information. The archives in New Zealand held the probate record for William H Watt, which I was going to look at. I soon learnt Where William and his wife were buried and there was a water fountain dedicated to William Watt. I was wondering at the time what I would end up finding and how long it would take me to find all the information that I was looking for. I wanted to explore the town as well to see what else there was. A picture of William Hogg Watt was also provided in my searches especially though Wikipedia.

Once I entered the town of Wanganui, the first thing I found was actually the memorial fountain to William Watt as I walked towards the place I was going to stay for the next several days. After dropping my belongings off I visited Drury Hill a war memorial and then to the Old town cemetery, where after a little bit of searching I did find the grave of William Hogg Watt and his wide Frances. The first research area I visited was actually the Wanganui museum and after a look around they directed me to the archives room to the side of the building. The people inside were expecting me, but not before the museum lady had given me a print off from Paperspast about the death of William Hogg Watt. They did mention that Trove was like Paperspast, which did surprise me that they knew about the website in Australia. The archive centre had a little bit of information that I was able to read and I also corrected some of their information as well. To get the family tree photocopied I was able to walk through the museum / archive storage area, which had plenty of interesting stuff in the background. I told them what I was studying at university and they all think I would soon be after their jobs in the future. You never know though it could happen.

The lady from the archives did mention that I should visit the research library, which was my next stop of the day. The day before I had the lady in the research room think I was after the borrowing library until I explained what I was after. I don’t know if this is because I am young, don’t look like a researcher or even that I have tattoos within view. I did find plenty of research material amongst the research library. There was a general outline about the life of W.H. Watt, who was one of the first settlers and was in the shipping business with another man by the name of Taylor. William’s son, John Paton was with the Wellington West Coast Regiment as a volunteer and promoted to Colonel once he retired. I managed to be shown a book about the history of Wanganui that mentioned William Watt several times including the business ventures and even his religious preference. One lady had written a children's book about the Watt memorial and it was interesting too. Towards the end of the day I had plenty of information to work on and also the contact details of the family members who had provided the information.

When searching for information many people are willing to help you out, although it might not be possible to copy everything you see. There may be restrictions, but knowing where the information is to be found does make everything easier in locating it at a later date. The only downside I did have was a record I ordered through the National Archives in Wellington was actually in the wrong area. The record was actually of someone else in Wanganui. I provided them with the record and last I seen they were searching for the correct record within the archives. I am happy I was able to help them with correcting the mistake. That is all part of the research process.