Sunday, March 26, 2006

An initial note for Richard Lopez

The H in the url for this blog is for Houghton, possibly a corruption of Haughton, which I'd like to think is a corruption of haughty one which describes me well.

The C is Cawte, a family surname on my father's side, probably originally Caoute, & from some Huguenot ancestor. I share both names with my brother & sister.

My waybacks were Scottish, but with some European influence since my mother's maiden name of Bremner originally meant from Bremen, & was bestowed on German fisherman who had been blown across the North Sea & decided to stay in Scotland.

My closer ancestors were amongst the first European settlers in New Zealand, arriving within the first ten years of its proclamation as a British Colony in 1840. I do not have the embarrassment I would have if they had been amongst the first European settlers in Australia, because at least, in New Zealand, there was some recognition of the rights of the Maori inhabitants, including an acknowledgement that they owned the land (even if the settlers then proceeded to try to buy large tracts off them for, mainly, pittances).

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