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Patrick clan to gather for family reunion

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About 240 descendants of William Patrick will meet in Geraldine this weekend to celebrate 150 years since the pioneer arrived in New Zealand.

Mr Patrick moved from Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1860 and settled in Lyttelton, where he worked for six years on the railway tunnel.

His great-great-granddaughter, Andrea Patrick, who lives in Timaru, said Mr Patrick then moved to Kakahu with his wife, Mary. They had 14 children, most of whom married and stayed in Geraldine.

In 2007, Ms Patrick published a book on the family's history, titled Kilmarnock to Kakahu, which inspired the family to organise a reunion.

She spent about 17 years researching the history for the 350-page book that features old photos and stories from her grandparents' generation.

"It stirred up interest in the family history. There were a couple of family members that had started it but hadn't gone to the length that I had."

While Ms Patrick was gathering information, 23 of Mr Patrick's grandchildren were still alive.

"The last grandchild was Jessie Lang from Geraldine, she actually was the only one around when the book was published. She was the only one who saw her family history in print."

Mrs Lang died just weeks after the book was launched.

Although Mr Patrick moved to Kakahu to farm, only Ms Patrick's great-grandfather remained in farming.

"All his [Mr Patrick's] blocks of land were bought by neighbours over the years."

Her brother still owned a farm in Gapes Valley, which was expected to be taken over one day by his sons, Ms Patrick said.

She started researching her family history so she could find out more about herself.

"People are interested in their family history, certainly at some point we all want to know where we came from."

However, it became a bigger project once she discovered interesting family information she couldn't keep to herself. "Once [I started], I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. I'm going to need some therapy to divorce myself from the research side of things."

Since the start of this year, a committee has been organising the reunion in Geraldine.

The event will start with a mix and mingle night tomorrow, followed by an opening ceremony on Saturday morning at the Geraldine Primary School hall.

The Lieutenant to the Lamont clan chief will attend, in full dress, Ms Patrick said.

A dinner and dance will be held on Saturday night, preceded by a cemetery tour to see Mr Patrick's and other family members' graves. On Sunday there will be a bus tour of the district, and a picnic.