Acknowledgement

This website, the eBook and the subsequent Newsletters would not have been possible without the effort of  all who contributed to the project.  But a very special thanks must go to the  few who were instrumental in getting me started and keeping me on track and to those whose prior work has contributed so much to this document.

To Mr. Alistair McLachlan of the Wallace Early Settlers Association in Riverton for his time, patience and willingness to answer all my questions; to Mr. J. Nigel Overton for his excellent account of early life in Otapiri and Lora Gorge and his permission to use excerpts from the book; to Louise Croot, Mrs. Charles Leslie Croot, for the Croot Family Album and her assistance in contacting other members of the family; to my life partner, Martin Catterall, for his patience, technological expertise and assistance; and to my uncle Ernest Stevens and my mother, Shirley Morait , for all their research, for their stories and memories and the photos and keepsakes that proved so valuable in the end.

 To you all, thank you.

In Memory of…

 Copyright © Lesley Catterall 2006, 2007. All rights reserved. This is a free website and no part of it can be reproduced or sold without the prior permission of the author.

Our New Zealand Heritage

The History and Heritage of Our Family

Les and Elsie Stevens with their five children on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary—24 June 1984.

About the Family

This website and the supporting Newsletters and eBook have come about from a desire to preserve the history and heritage of the families of Les and Elsie Stevens.

Since the passing of Les (1989) and Elsie (1992), the family has grown, branched out and is spreading to the four corners of the globe faster than we are able to keep track. There is a risk that unless we can capture the memories of those who knew Les and Elsie—their children, grandchildren, cousins, and friends—the stories of the past will be lost to time.

But this story is not just about one family, it is about all the families that have become interlinked with this Stevens family over the last century and a half. It is also a story of the land; a land that is home to us all—at least in the early years— a home made possible by the work of our forebears who carved a life out of the swamps of Murihiki. Through the efforts of Les Stevens’ father, grandfather and great grandfather, through the determination of Elsie Stevens’ mother and grandmothers, opportunities were created that have enabled much more than one family to survive.

Les and Elsie Stevens were my grandparents; I knew them well.  I had the privilege of knowing all of their five children, their two daughters-in-law, their three sons-in-law and all of the other eighteen grandchildren. I look back on those years and I know they were good years worthy of being remembered. But time and families of our own have caused us to drift far from the roots of the tree that bore the fruit of our family. I want to remember those times, and more importantly, I want the memories to live on so my son and his children can read about those who have gone before and so they can look back on these well lived lives and know that the story is continuing.

It was for this that I took up the challenge to pull the pieces together, to chase down the stories before they disappeared, to hunt out the photos and the documents, to contact the family and ask the questions in an effort to fill in the blanks. 

This is a story with many beginnings and is a story that has no end… and that is how all good stories should be.

Lesley Catterall
2006