52 Ancestors in 52 weeks: Week 5: In the Census

For over 30 years the BIRD flight from England to New Zealand was a mystery to me. All we knew was Beatrice was a minor, but I couldn’t for the life of me find when or on which ship the family voyage took place. It seemed ridiculous that it was so difficult to solve, after all it was my mother’s mother... such a close family link!

We knew it happened because George, Sarah and Doris were recorded in the 1901 UK census https://www.ancestry.com.au/sharing/12604691?h=2de17a&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=share-url ... and then they were definitely here in New Zealand.

The breakthrough came when I found separate census entries for Sarah & Beatrice (staying with Sarah’s sister Maria RILEY), and Doris (staying with George’s sister Annie BARTON). All 3 were noted as visitors....

...but where was George? And why were the daughters separated?

An aproximate starting date, a bit of lateral thinking, a free weekend to view immigration indexes on Findmypast’, and 100 years since his departure to the day, I located George. He had emigrated to New Zealand aboard the 'IONIC', listed as a single man, departing London, UK on 11 Nov 1910 and arriving in Wellington, NZ on 29 December 1910.
From there it was easy to locate Sarah and the girls. Eleven months later they set sail for New Zealand aboard the 'SS TONGARIRO', departing London on 20 October 1911 and arriving in Wellington 09 December 2011.