PO Box 156, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands hilyard@oyster.net.ck

Month: November 2017

Adventurer?

An interesting story is told of William Marsters by Thomas Trood who was at one time the British Vice Consul at Apia, Samoa. Thomas Trood died in 1916 but in 1912, published an article entitled “Island Reminiscences –… Read More

Middle family?

Checking through an interesting discussion on the Genealogy.com Marsters Family Genealogy Forum I found a thread that was debating the issue of who was the “Middle Family” and why were they called the Middle Family when they say… Read More

Matavia or Matauia?

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, one of the things that William Marsters demanded of his children on the island was that they only spoke English in public. But he did allow some leeway for the parent… Read More

Rules and regulations

Another significant edict that William Marsters made for his wives and children was that he would only allow English to be spoken on Palmerston Island. It was noted by one of his grandsons that Marsters was often used… Read More

Anti-hero?

But what makes a hero appear to fall from grace to perhaps become an anti-hero? Again, sticking to Google, the definition that illuminates certain characteristics about our family hero includes: “…The character [has] ambiguous morals, or character defects… Read More