SINGING MY FAMILY TREE
Additional Notes
Jackie Luke 2009
SOLE / LUKE / LETHBRIDGE / HELLIER
Track 1 WHO: WILLIAM LUKE (Snr) |
It is said that in the late 19th century that if you came across a hole in the ground, you'd likely find a Cornish miner at the bottom trying to extract its contents. My GG William Luke was part of the Cornish diaspora which spread to California, and Australia. He emigrated with Mary and 4 sons and worked in the Kapunda mines until his untimely death from Typhus, leaving the family to fend for themselves. A statue of a copper miner in Kapunda celebrates the contribution made by Cornish miners in South Australia. |
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Track 2 WHO: EDWARD SOLE |
Edward and Sussanah had 8 sons. When Edward died in 1833 she married Richard White Foreman who had 7 children The first threshing machine was destroyed at Lower Hadres, near Canterbury in East Kent on 28th August 1830. This was to be an uprising which would spread to West Kent, and then to a score of English counties over the coming months. The character at the centre of these "riots" was a mysterious person called "Captain Swing". The poorest of farm labourers, my forebears lived in a village which was at the heart of this movement. It is possible they knew him, his identity, and even took part. Ten years later Sussanah, Richard, and their huge blended family of 15 members joined the Oriental in Plymouth for the 4 month journey to New Zealand to start a new life on the other side of the world |
Track 3 WHO: RICHARD LETHBRIDGE |
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Another family on the Oriental would later become connected to the family. Richard and Louisa Lethbridge's daughter would eventually marry Henry Hine, and their daughter Dora Hine was my grandmother. She is in while in the middle of the back row in the picture below. An evocative modern tune, the title says it all. |
Track 4 WHO: SARAH HELLIER |
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Sarah Hellier was just a child when she emigrated with her parents in 1841. A remarkable woman, she lived to 98 and was interviewed by the Taranaki Herald at 97,.She could remember the voyage being a fair one, and seeing Mt Taranaki (or Egmont as it was then called) for the first time as the ship came into the bay. She described the raupo huts in the new colony, and the food of the times. She married James Sole in St Mary's Anglican Church, and folklore relates that the Sole's had earlier built the church by hauling the stone with bullock and dray from the Henui. "Taranaki Earth" details Sarah Hellier's life as she related it to the Taranaki Herald. I wrote this as a tribute to the early settlers in Taranaki. The songs contains actual statements by Sarah, about her life and times |
Track 5 WHO: WILLIAM HINE |
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William and Ann farmed at Meerbrook outside the town of Leek, in Staffordshire and when Ann died at 48, William never remarried. The Hines were quite well off, and lived in a substantial house on their farm "Frithbottom". At 64, William sold up everything and took his family of 8 to New Zealand. Letters back to Staffordshire tell of homesickness, and "putting a brave face on it"! Research shows that the Hines regularly attended the local Anglican church in Leek, and churches close by held concerts of Handel's music, hence the choice of music from the Messiah. Although I wasn't able to dsicover alot of collected music from Staffordshire, Flaxley Green is definitely from the county, and the two sit snugly together, (as in He shall feed his flocks on Flaxley Green!) |
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Track 6 WHO: WILLIAM LUKE (jnr)
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My Great Grandfather, William Luke emigrated with his parents from Redruth, Cornwall but grew up in Truro, South Australia and following the death of his father he joined the military as a way of making ends meet. This took him to Taranaki where he fought against the Maori, and later became a military settler. After marrying Ellen Sole he became a diary farmer. Despite being an experienced settler, he went one day to the back of the farm to cut a slip rail and was killed by a falling branch. Described as "industrious, genial, and social in his habits" in his obituary, he was greatly missed, not least by Ellen who was left to raise 6 children. She never remarried and continued to run the farm with temporary help. All the children helped in the milking shed.
The painting is “The Burning of the Bush” by William Strutt, taken from William Strutt Life & Times (own copy). The embroidery is from Ellen Sole’s chair which was reworked by my Cello Teacher, Molly Henderson. I am the proud owner of this chair.
This lament looks at the life of William from Ellen's perspective, and the tragic circumstances of his death.
Track 7 WHO: HENRY COX LUKE
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My Grandparents first owned the farm on Kurunui Rd Morrinsville where I grew up. Much later I learnt from my father that Grandfather had played the concertina - likely an Anglo, and according to Dad the whole family with the kids in the pram would walk several miles to the local hall at Motumaoho and Henry would play for the dances. Dad remembered him playing Ring the Bell Watchmen which we know as Click Go the Shears. That is the graceful introduction to this Polka which I recently found in the Music Australia collection. Barlow respectfully dedicates it "to the settlers of New Zealand".. There isn’t a large amount of collected Dance music in New Zealand so we just had to record it. |
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Track 8. WHO: JAMES HERBERT HINE LUKE (Bert) |
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During WWII Dad was stationed in New Caledonia as he put it "waiting for the Japanese to invade." During the course of his service there a gun blew up in his ear. Taken off gun duty he quickly volunteered for the Highland Pipe Band and found that a much better way to see out the war. He loved Scottish music, played in the Morrinsville pipe band, and his favourite poem was "To a Mouse" by Robbie Burns, which was not bad for a bloke with not a shred of Scottish blood. Dad would have loved this beautiful Scottish tune. Often heard as a jig we've slowed it down to a stately march with Harp & Dulcimer. |
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Track 9 WHO: MURRAY LUKE |
. One of my brother's great passions was fishing, in particular fly fishing. He learnt tie his own flies from his Dad and they were both legendary fisherman with great success. So much so, we all tired early of eating trout, usually a delicacy in modern restaurants.
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Track 10 WHO: THE ENTIRE FAMILY |
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According to Maori legend, Mt Taranaki was said to reside with all the other volcanic mountains in the middle of the North Island. Taranaki was in love with a small hill called Pihanga but she was already betrothed to Tongariro. In a monumental battle over Pihanga, Taranaki was banished to the West Coast. As he made his way there, he gauged out a great canyon which became known as the Whanganui River. It is said that Taranaki forever mourns his lost love and when the snows melt, his tears of grief fill the river. The song was Top 5 finalist in the MusicOz, and 2nd in the Pacific Songwriting Competition 2006. The song tells of the original Maori inhabitants of Taranaki before European settlement. This beautiful legend has a timeless quality about love, loss, and our connection with the land. Occupying a special place in this project I first performed the song in Narrandera, and discovered a new branch of the Sole family when a member of the audience mentioned that he had family in Taranaki. Such is the power of music that we can find be reconnected with our family. |