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Comments
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Rutherford's Ancestors
John Campbell

AAS Publications, 1996
ISBN 0-473-03858-7
58 pages.
Soft Cover.
27 illustrations embedded within the text.

Purchasing Details
NZ$20 including postage within New Zealand.
For orders other than New Zealand contact AAS Publications, books [at) ask-a-scientist.net for the current price including postage.
AAS Publications are not set up for credit card purchases.

My Comments on This Book.
This book tells the story of the families of Rutherford's mother and father; their background in England and Scotland, why they emigrated, and their early life as pioneers in New Zealand. For example it tells the story of the earliest two of the lucky breaks for Ernest Rutherford: that his grandfather was 2nd reserve as a sponsored emigrant to New Zealand but two other applicants withdrew; and that his mother was sent to Nelson as a refugee from the Taranaki Land Wars and would otherwise never have meet his father. This work required considerable research in original archives in Scotland, England and New Zealand and it had the blessing of the Rutherford family in both England and New Zealand. I published this as a separate book because no publisher wanted such detail in a major biography but I wanted the detailed information made available to the public prior to the appearance of the main biography, Rutherford Scientist Supreme. Nelson Pine Industries Ltd donated a copy to the library of every school in the Nelson Education District.

Errors Noted
p40 The Bank of England arrived in Auckland in Dec 1855.

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Contents

Author's Notes

ii

Contents

iii

Illustrations

iii

Patrons of the Research

iv

Foreword Jim Rutherford

v

Prologue

vi

Chapter
1 Settling New Zealand Scotland to 1842

1

2 The Sea Journey 1842-1843

13

3 The Rutherfords at Motueka 1843-1844

21

4 The Rutherfords in the Waimea 1845-1871

33

5 Martha Thompson's Background England and Taranaki to 1871

39

Epilogue

49

Sources of Information

55

Index

57

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Reviews

New Zealand

Taranaki Daily News Aug 1996 Kim Batchelor
New Plymouth Midweek 21 Aug 1996 Angus Fisher
New Zealand Herald 12 Oct 1996 Gordon McLauchlan
Nelson Evening Mail 26 Oct 1996 Mary Gavin
Otago Daily Times 7 Dec 1996 Ron Tyrrell
Chem NZ v65 43 1996 Kelvin Chapman
Historic Places v69 Jul 1998 Hugh Wilson
Australian and NZ Physicist v33 244 1996 Colin Keay

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