Bo first came to England in 1979. To gain a work permit, she had to prove that she had UK ancestors. Her research triggered an enduring love of family history and uncovered forebears who lived through key moments in New Zealand\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>
Among them is James Harcus, one of her great great uncles<\/a>, who worked on New Zealand\u2019s railways. When the First World War<\/a> broke out, he enlisted in the Otago Infantry Regiment aged 28. \u201cHe was part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) and the Australian<\/a> and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC),\u201d says Bo. James departed from Port Chalmers, Dunedin, on the RMS Ruapehu<\/em> as part of the NZEF Main Body and 1st Reinforcements. \u201cThe units disembarked in Egypt along with Australian Imperial forces to finish training and help defend the Suez Canal,\u201d explains Bo on her website<\/a>.<\/p> On 25 April 1915, James was among the ANZAC troops who landed near Ari Burnu, now known as Anzac Cove, on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. \u201cThe NZEF were thrown immediately into the firing line when they waded ashore, as the enemy were already in the ravines and gullies above. Once above the beach, with shrapnel flying around them, they dug trenches to desperately defend their position.\u201d The dead and dying lay all around.\u00a0<\/p> James survived Gallipoli, but was wounded on 3 May 1915, probably during the Battle for Baby 700 (a key hill). He returned on the hospital ship Willochra<\/em>, and was eventually discharged: \u201cHe was one of the lucky ones. So many of them never came back.\u201d<\/p> His brother Robert also saw military service, but his was a completely different tale.\u00a0<\/p> A rabbiter by trade living in Macraes, Robert volunteered at 27 and became a trooper in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles (NZMR). He fought in the Second Boer War<\/a> (1889\u20131902).<\/p> Robert sailed to Durban on the troopship the Kent<\/em>, which left Port Chalmers on 12 March 1902. The journey took 31 days. \u201cMany men were seasick, and the 570 horses on board suffered badly when the ship rolled in mountainous seas,\u201d says Bo.\u00a0<\/p> The war ended a few months later, and in July 1902 Robert returned to civilian life unscathed \u2013 or so his family thought.<\/p> By 1909, it was clear that something was very wrong. \u201cHis father [also Robert] had to call in the police because of his son\u2019s violent behaviour,\u201d says Bo. \u201cThey arrested him on the grounds of insanity and he was committed to Seacliff, New Zealand\u2019s largest mental asylum just outside Dunedin, where he died a terrible death in 1912. At his father\u2019s request, he was buried with other members of his family in the Macraes cemetery.\u201d<\/p> Robert\u2019s medical notes suggest that \u201cGeneral Paralysis of the Insane\u201d \u2013 tertiary syphilis \u2013 was the cause. At the time, New Zealand was suffering the spread of the \u2018Black Plague\u2019: sexually transmitted diseases, particularly syphilis. Bo discovered that soldiers and sailors were often infected overseas, then spread the diseases when they returned home. Robert had probably been infected while he was in the army.\u00a0<\/p> It is Bo\u2019s great great grandfather Robert Harcus, James and Robert junior\u2019s father, who led her on her biggest journeys of discovery.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cJust before my mum died, she showed me Helen M Thompson\u2019s book East of the Rock and Pillar: a History of the Strath Taieri and Macraes Districts<\/em> (1949), which mentioned Robert.\u201d Bo was excited to learn that he came from Eday in Orkney. Her mum also remembered that he had a long beard, and rode a white horse: \u201cI think he was quite a character.\u201d<\/p> Bo began to flesh out her great great grandfather\u2019s story using records held by Archives New Zealand, Orkney Family History Society and ScotlandsPeople. \u201cAlso, the wonderful Toit\u016b Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin had passenger lists and arrival information.\u201d She adds that the Hocken Collection at the University of Otago had information about the ship they travelled on, the Nelson<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>![\"Black](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/04\/Robert-2.jpg\")