WELCOME to ANNA's ANCESTORS
I have created this site to track back into my past and find my ancestors, who they were, where 
they were from and why they emigrated and settled in New Zealand. 

I have made the central 'character' in this family tree my great, grandmother JOHANNA OSTOYKE.  Johanna was born in Oxford, North Canterbury to early Polish immigrants, Johann Ostoyke &  Wilhelmina Fabean who arrived, via Hamburg, on the Friedeburg into Lyttleton 30 Aug 1872.

There is a very interesting article in the "Useful Links" section below on the hardships these 
Polish immigrants endured to settle in a better land  
... The emigration port of Hamburg was busy with ships arriving and departing and government 
agents coercing potential passengers. For the Poles used to rural life, and in many cases 
unable to read or write, in the urban hustle and babble of a their second language, it is no 
wonder that some may have had the impression that they were leaving for America and ended up on 
a longer journey than they expected. Many untruths were told. German agents employed by [other] 
governments offered free travel and free land in America and some of the families who arrived 
in New Zealand sincerely thought they were joining their relatives already in America ...  

Please feel free to look around, I hope you find it interesting and that there are some of your 
own family ancestors here too. You are encouraged to sign the Guest Book above
~~~ Anna

OF NOTE  ... The Clan of Ostoja (ancient polish: Ostoya) was a 
powerful group of Knights and Lords in late medieval Europe