A quick post to let you all know that the “Home” page has new been updated.

New features include;

• A Search box
• Stanaway Family Portraits
• A link to the Facebook page
• Blog Stats
• List of Recent Posts
• List of the top 10 Pages and Posts
• A Site Map – listing every page in the website alphabetically.

All these new features appear on the right side menu column, along with the archive of posts.

After numerous phone calls and e-mails from people who are enjoying this site but are not too sure how to interact with it e.g. search or find pervious articles, comment on articles, get advice on updates, I thought it might help if I posted a few blog tips.

Firstly to get the most out of the site you need to be a follower, relax its not some new cult, all you have to do is click on the ‘Follow’ tab that appears at the bottom of your computer screen on the right when you have johnjamesstanaway.com open. You then enter your email address in the box that appears and now you will be able to:

(a) Receive an email advising you when new articles have been posted or updated. (Means you no longer have to check in all the time).

(b) Allows you to make comments on articles that have been posted.

(c) Search for articles by almost any topic e.g. someones name

The search box has been added on the ‘HOME’ page in the right-hand side column under the posts.

I hope this helps.

Through my research of John James Stanaway , his children and grand-children, I come across descendants of the highest pedigree. The latest is the great-grandson of John James Stanaway, through his daughter Phoebe Maria Rowlands (nee Stanaway).

Sir Donald David Rowlands KNZM CBE AM (17 June 1926 – 18 March 2015)

The following was published by Rowing New Zealand, 19 March 2015.

It is with great sorrow that Rowing New Zealand report that Sir Don Rowlands has passed away aged 88. Rowlands is a huge loss for the rowing community and sadness will be felt throughout New Zealand and across the world. It has been a real privilege for New Zealand rowing that Sir Don Rowlands was such an active member of the rowing community and he has achieved some extraordinary things throughout his lifetime not only in the sport as a rower and an administrator but also as a businessman.

Sir Donald Rowlands

Donald David Rowlands was born on 17 June 1926 and grew up in Owhango as one of five children born to Ruby and Horace Rowlands. His father Horace ran the local sawmill for the Dominion Timber Company and would teach him many lessons around quality, hard work and managing people. Rowlands rowed at the highest level, he was a Rowing New Zealand selector and vice patron, he showed a breadth of vision that transformed the sport of rowing in New Zealand. He was a great leader of the sport and had a talent for managing people, he was an excellent communicator and listener.

In the 2015 New Year’s Honours list Rowlands was acknowledged and he became a knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rowing and business. Governor-General, Sir Jerry Mateparae conducted a private investiture for Sir Don Rowlands on 9 March 2015 in Auckland Hospital. In 1973 he received his first honour when he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to rowing; he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979. In 2015 Rowlands was appointed an honorary Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the sport of rowing in the Australia Day Honours.

Rowlands had an outstanding rowing career which saw him win nine New Zealand rowing titles between 1949 and 1957. In 1949 he was part of the West End Rowing Club crew that won the clubs first red-coat (Premier title) with victory in the Premier Eight on Lake Karapiro. He won a total of three premier titles in the men’s eights for West End, in the double sculls he also won in 1957 in St George’s colours. He was a top single sculler winning the New Zealand premier title in succession from 1953 through to 1957. In 1957 he won under St George’s colours, but the previous four occasions for West End. He was also an Australian National Champion. In 1972 he coached a West End double which won a premier title.

Donald David Rowlands 1953.

The West End eight crew of Donald Rowlands, Donald Adam, Kerry Ashby, Murray Ashby, Bruce Culpan, Thomas Engel, Grahame Jarratt, Edwin Smith and Bill Tinnock were selected as the New Zealand eight for the 1950 Empire Games where they finished a close second, only a foot behind the Gold Medallists, Australia. Sir Don Rowlands won a total of two medals as a New Zealand representative rower at the British Empire Games in 1950 and 1954. In Vancouver in 1954 he raced in the single scull to win gold.

He was the chairman for the organising committee of the World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro in 1978, when the World Rowing Championships returned to New Zealand in 2010 he was the Patron of the event. The role in the lead up to the 1978 World Championships involved 18 months of weekends at Lake Karapiro with an army of volunteers that built facilities which were in use until 2010, when the facilities were upgraded for the 2010 World Championships. Sir Rowlands has played an integral role in rowing at Lake Karapiro and has been a leader in the maintenance, development and event management of world-class rowing events through Karapiro Rowing. The rowing course and facilities at Lake Karapiro will be his legacy for generations.

From 1960 to 1977, he was a New Zealand rowing selector. He selected a number of crews which went onto win Olympic gold including the Men’s Coxed Four at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games and the Men’s Eight in 1972 at Munich. He managed the 1962 New Zealand Commonwealth Games rowing team and the 1997 World Championships team.

Don continued his involvement in the sport until his passing. Rowlands was the Vice-Patron of Rowing New Zealand (New Zealand Rowing Association) and a Life Member. Rowlands has also served for the World Rowing governing body FISA, from 1974 to 1992 where he represented New Zealand and Australia. His involvement saw him building rowing courses all around the world including the Olympic courses in both Los Angeles and Sydney. He was the FISA Continental Representative in Oceania from 1974 to 1992, a member of the Events Commission, and an Honorary Member of Council. He was also a former Vice President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee. He was awarded The Olympic Order Medal in 1982 and FISA Distinguished Service Medal in 2009. Rowlands has also won two Halberg Awards for leadership and service to sport.

Don and Coralie Rowlands with Prime Minister John Key.

Rowing New Zealand would like to acknowledge that Rowlands was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2014. His dedication to business has been far-reaching; his journey began with an engineering apprenticeship at McEwans in Auckland. He also worked at Mason Brothers Engineering where he began his rowing career as part of a business house competition. He also worked in Thames at Charles Judd Ltd, before he embarked on a 48 year career at Fisher & Paykel. He held roles including chief executive and director of Fisher & Paykel Industries from 1978 to 2001. He was also the chairman and then director of Mainfreight. He was a director at Hamilton Jet, Progressive Enterprises, Nestle, Henderson Pollard and Champion. He has had many roles such as President of the Auckland and New Zealand Manufacturers Federation; he also sat on the Sports Foundation, Rotary and The Business Round Table.

The Don Rowlands Centre Plaque.

Rowing New Zealand sends its love and best wishes to his wife Lady Coralie, his son David and extended family and the rowing community at this difficult time. Don is a huge loss for the rowing community and he will be sorely missed.

We have been working on the following pages;

• James John Stanaway
• Stella Graham Clark-Stanaway
• Sarah Stanaway
• Edward Percy (Ted) Stanaway
• Rex Leigh Stanaway
• Frederick James Stanaway
• Clarence (Clarrie) Stanaway

We are progressing through (These are in draft form);

• Harold William (Bill) Stanaway
• Percy Henry (Harry) Stanaway
• Stanley John (Jack) Stanaway
• Grahame (Blue) Morton Stanaway

As we get corrections or more information on different descendants we are updating their page almost immediately, so please keep sending in information, and if you have not visited your branches page lately you may want to as these get added to regularly.

We have been working in the background at adding further information which has come to light on John James and some of his children.

The Hokianga page has been updated, and we think we have his movements mostly tied down. We have a good idea on when he arrived in New Zealand, his movements, occupation, who he worked for, and when he moved to the Kaipara. We are now going through the Kaipara page and hope to have this at a similar point soon.

We have been working through Charles George Stanaway and his children, we are about a third the way through his children. Also we are at about at the same stage with Ihapere (Isabella) Stanaway.

As we get corrections or more information on different descendants we are updating their page almost immediately, so please keep sending in information, and if you have not visited your branches page lately you may want to as these get added to regularly. A case in point – we have added some more pictures onto Joseph Patrick Stanaway’s page  after receiving these form a family member.

We are getting closer to the identity of the mystery girl from our earlier posts. We hope to confirm her identity soon.

Just to let you know that we have completed the pages for Henry and his 12 children as far as we can go. We now require you input and help if you are willing.

If there is any information on these pages which is incorrect or you have some more information you would like to share, please use the “leave a reply” box at the bottom of each of the pages.

This reply will be sent to me, along with your email address, we can correspond via email outside this forum and then we can update the information on the relevant pages.

We have yet to finalize who the last Unknown Stanaway’s were/are, but we did get a huge number of you all viewing – please keep looking.

We have another fantastic photograph thanks to Claudette Adams, the children in this picture are the children of Montrose Stanaway 1892 -1918. We know who four of the children but the older girl in the middle is not one of Monty’s children, although she looks as though she could be.

We suspect that she could be a cousin. Therefore either a niece of Montrose Stanaway or his wife Muriel (maiden name Featherstone).

We do not have the date or location of this photograph, but the other children’s details are as follows;

• Left: Eileen Ellen Stanaway B 1912
• Right: Leonard James Montrose Stanaway B 1913
• Front: Twins Millicent and Montague Stanaway B 1915

I have some thoughts on who it could be, but I would like to have some other researches who want a challenge to see if they can track this girl down.

Back row left: Eileen, Unknown, Len with the twins Millicent and Monty in the front – Adams Family Collection.

The following was an introduction I was going to post a few months back, but have not done any thing with. Rather than leave it sitting in my computer I have decided to release it. If you have not had a chance to visit the final resting place of Captain John James Stanaway, you must put it on you bucket list. On the two occasions I have been there I did not venture up to the top of Tokatoka Peak, due to the weather conditions, that is on my list for the next time.

I tentatively pull into a gravel roadway. I’m unsure this is even the correct place. There is not much around, no signs, no gate, nothing to indicate I have arrived at my destination. The grass berm has almost devoured the gravel roadway, which seems to suggest that there aren’t many visitors to this place.

I have been told about this place by my father who many years ago along with his two Uncles visited. I have seen the photographs, but 25 years has passed since that date. The Uncles have long since passed and my father is now a retiree.

John James (Jimmy) Daniel about 1990 – Skinner Family Collection

My Uncles were old men by then, but to me the only way I had ever known them – “old enough to have wonderful stories of the past, sharp enough to have you hanging on their every word, and quick enough to keep you in line”. It would have been their first visit to this place and for my father’s Uncles, their last.

Slowly, I work my way up, following the winding roadway. A large grass area opens up, which is trimmed by a rickety timber fence and gate with flaking paint. Beyond the fence set out over the rising hill in two directions are a few headstones, some with broken and decaying wrought iron fences, some just concrete slab. Most if not all are in a “worse for wear” condition.

Tokatoka Cemetery – Mark Adams photograph

There is one timber headstone all rotten at the base and missing a third of one side, in memory of a “Mr Charles Heath died 20 Nov 1869” leaning inside a timber picket plot. I think to myself it has done well to survive this long!

I make my way round the different plots. Half way up the large slope in amongst the long grass and weeds is “Sarah Ann Sanders died 1908”. It has a large marble oblex on a concrete base. Next to her with a rusting wrought iron fence and a headstone broken in half, is “Frederick Stanaway died 22 years and 9 months”.

The westerly which is blowing straight across the river swirls around the hillside, the trees whistle noisily. I note that the north side is too steep for any plots, so I make my way under some over grown trees sheltering another two impressive marble headstones, I then spot what I have come to see.

Grave site about 2012 – Skinner Family Collection

Tucked away under an overgrown pine tree on the south face is the final resting place of Captain John James Stanaway. It does not look anything like the scene 25 years earlier, the pine tree was not even a sapling then but now it dominates.

The original timber headstone I had seen in my father’s photographs is gone. The solid red Kauri post with his name engraved is there, the same as in the earlier photos but it is now rotting from the inside out. In parts, it looks as though the paint is holding it together. A recent addition which was not there before is a concrete plinth with a brass plaque mounting, along with a paver under, which protected in a plastic bag are names and numbers of descendants.

Looking around I can see why this spot may have been chosen. With a bit of trimming and upkeep this spot would give a spectacular view looking south straight down the river towards the Kaipara Heads, to the east Tokatoka peak. The Tokatoka Cemetery is located off Tokatoka Road close to the tavern, on a head land jutting out into the Wairoa River.

John’s Grave – Colleen Stanaway Collection.

The early settlement of Tokatoka has completely gone. The cemetery is the only surviving record pre 1900. The wharf, post office, store, hotel, houses and sheds have all disappeared, only a tavern built-in the 1920’s remains. The new State Highway 12 runs between the river and the headland, I would suggest that the old road ran between the headland and Tokatoka Peak in front of what was an abandoned Maori Pah in pre European settlement times.

Authors Note:

It would be great to think that a new headstone can be arranged in the near future, perhaps at the next family reunion money can be raised to enable a memorial fitting the resting place of the “Old Salt.”

A big thank you to Colleen Stanaway for the photograph supplied and to her father who had the foresight to place the Kauri marker before all trace of John’s grave was lost.

If anyone else has any pictures of the original headstone we would love to have a copy.

A big thanks to Claudette Adams, with her help we have been able to update her Great Grandfathers page – Montrose Stanaway. We now have some family documents and pictures of not just Monty but his wife, and children. Check out this revised page Montrose Stanaway, but before you do, this new information has however also unearthed some more mysteries.

I have attached a photograph which has Monty’s four children – but there is a fifth child. This “photo bomber” is the older girl in the centre, she does look related if not part of the family, but we know with a certain degree of accuracy that she is not one of Monty’s children, we suspect however that she may be a cousin to the other children in the picture.

Best guess is she would likely be one of Monty’s siblings children – his niece.

I assume picture taken about 1919 this girl would be about 10-11 years old so born about 1909.

The question to you all is does anybody know who this is? Please let us know.

Back row left: Eileen, Unknown, Len with the twins Millicent and Monty in the front – Adams Family Collection.