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New ResearchThe two people I know of currently doing Macky family research are Robin Moran of the Fahan Presbyterian Church and Wanda Hopkins of the Cochrane line, which is closely associated with the Macky family. Jillian Dwyer is also researching Australian-born artist Constance Lillian Macky neé Jenkins, wife of Eric Spencer Macky [B.3.a] — see below, you might be able to help. Robin recently supplied us with photographs of various Macky family graves dating from the early part of the 19th century along with various transcriptions from the Irish press of the same period. Wanda's passion for genealogy is well documented. She has contributed articles to the New Zealand Society of Genealogists and various other media, and maintains two family history blogs. Wanda has enjoyed being involved in many research projects of her own and has recently collaborated with Robin to put together the booklet, Heeding the Call, which appears on this website. She has also been working with Kae Lewis of The Treasury at Thames, NZ to have two of her stories about the NZ goldrush put on-line. Kae has her own website with a database of mining records: Goldrush Online. Wanda relates that one of the spin-offs of carrying out her research has been having the opportunity to network with family, and discovering many more remote family connections including those descended from Sarah McElwain, John Cowan Cochrane, Dacre and the Goodfellow families, many of whom are mentioned in the letters on this site. Wanda's current research interests include the life of John Cowan
Cochrane who settled in Australia in 1850 whom she describes as a
A link to one of her stories about John Cochrane follows, albeit with some unexpected assistance from one of literature's masters. Wanda also wanted to share a letter the transcript of a family letter that she found in the Auckland Library archives in the Macky records held there. She believes that this letter is of great significance, not only for those who have been involved in documenting the 150th anniversary of the Thames goldfields, but for the family itself. A PDF of both the letter and the transcript are attached. Wanda welcomes your comments. She remains ever grateful for the information on this website and the help it has given her in her own family research, and ultimately, reaching for new personal goals. 
Even Wanda seeks help sometimes. Is anyone able to shed any light on this, please? To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Fahan Presbyterian church, Wanda put together several pieces for the committee to include in their 2019 celebrations:
Greetings to The Macky Family in New Zealand. I am an independent researcher, currently completing a biography of Australian-born artist, Constance Lillian Jenkins. As a young woman in the years prior to World War 1, Constance L. Jenkins (known as Connie) made her mark as an artist in Melbourne. In 1912, she married New Zealand-born Eric Spencer Macky [B.3.a], artist and arts administrator, and they made their home in San Francisco. As Constance L. Macky, in San Francisco she became a well-known artist, portrait painter and teacher across the inter-war years. For the title of my book, I acknowledge her as Constance Jenkins Macky, to bring together these two distinct phases of her life and career - Constance Jenkins Macky: An Artist's Journey Melbourne to San Francisco. Constance Jenkins Macky was an outstanding artist and remarkable woman. As Constance Jenkins, she grew up in suburban Melbourne in constrained Victorian times; enjoyed a more liberal ethos studying art at the National Gallery of Victoria; and earned kudos as the outstanding exhibitor at the First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work 1907, and first woman to win the National Gallery of Victoria Travelling Scholarship in 1908, predictors of a brilliant career. While at the Gallery Art School, she first met [Eric] Spencer Macky, who was also a student there. As travelling scholar, she studied first in Paris then London. In Paris, she was reunited with Spencer; in London, they became secretly engaged. In 1910, Spencer left London optimistic about the chances for a career in the United States, while Connie completed the final year of her scholarship crossing Europe to Venice, painting many small works as a record of her travels. They were separated for nearly two years. At the beginning of 1912 and back home in Melbourne, Connie mounted a celebrated exhibition, before packing her bags and, despite parental disapproval, rejoining Spencer now settled in San Francisco. The day after her arrival, they married. In association with Spencer Macky, she was co-founder of the Macky Art School, which was a highly successful endeavour. In 1917, it was absorbed into the California School of Fine Arts, an affiliated college of the University of California. Spencer became Professor of Painting and Drawing and eventually Dean of Faculty; and Connie was an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing and a much-admired teacher. Both were prominent in the San Francisco art world. Spencer had a stellar career as an arts administrator and Connie became an award-winning and highly respected senior artist, with a history of exhibition across twenty-five years. Academically trained, she created a transitional style incorporating classical and modernist elements, to become a leading portrait painter of her day, particularly known for her empathetic portraits of women. At the same time, she was a much-loved mother, dedicated to her family
and building her career around her family responsibilities. In this
respect, Constance Jenkins Macky presaged the dilemmas and successes
of women across the 20th century, who similarly balanced careers and
family life. In every sense, she was the emergent Ongoing Contacts with New Zealand Across the years, Spencer and Connie maintained contact with New
Zealand relatives. Connie visited the Macky family on her trip from
Melbourne to San Francisco in 1912 — there is a photograph of her on
the steps of the Macky home in Auckland, in the online archive The Macky
Family in New Zealand. Spencer's mother and his sister, Elizabeth, came
to San Francisco on several occasions and stayed for extended periods
of time. Spencer also travelled to New Zealand in 1922. Connie did not
join him. Always prone to seasickness, she was terrified to make the
trip by boat; and the care of two young sons also kept her at home. She
finally made the journey in 1953 and then by air. She and Spencer spent
a leisurely three months catching up with family members and taking in
New Zealand's natural wonders and beauty. Connie was amazed, wondering
why the whole country They also sent art works to New Zealand for exhibition. They both
had paintings in the Jubilee Exhibition of the Auckland Society of the
Arts in 1921. Connie sent two works, one identified only as a In 1925, Connie and Spencer exhibited again with the Auckland
Society of Arts. Connie submitted a work titled Beauty and the beast,
shown previously as The blue beast in San Francisco in 1918 and again in
1923, when it was illustrated in the exhibition catalogue. At the time,
her portrait style was compared to that of masters such as Reynolds;
but she was also credited with exercising a more modern I would love to have more information about this portrait and to see it in colour would be marvellous. Does it still exist in New Zealand? Does it remain in a Macky family collection? Is the subject a Macky relative? Did the treasured ornament — the Foo dog — perhaps have some connection to the Macky family? I only possess this black-and-white photograph of the painting, taken from a catalogue for an exhibition in 1923.
Another painting by Constance Macky, which went into the collection of Mrs Walter Pallot, was an early work titled Spring. I know this only from a poor black-and-white reproduction in a San Francisco newspaper. I would love to see a good image.
Also of interest are two paintings by Spencer Macky. I know one of these only as a black-and-white image. Titled Mother and child, it was painted in 1914. It is very likely a portrait of Connie with her baby son, Donald, given the date and the appearance of the young mother. Donald was born in June 1913. There is a battered photograph of this mother and child in almost identical pose, so the portrait may have been based on the photograph. Again, this painting was originally in the collection of Mrs Walter Pallot.
Another painting by Spencer Macky is a good one to finish on. It
resides permanently in the Auckland Art Gallery and there is an image
available in colour and online. It is a joyful work, a representation of a
young boy playing with a kite. It is very likely Connie and Spencer's
son, Donald, about to launch his kite on the open, windy spaces of
Corona Heights, near the Macky home in suburban San Francisco. The New
Zealand Herald, 27 May 1921, described it beautifully:
I would be delighted to hear from anybody who could provide me with further information about any of these paintings, particularly the two works by Constance Macky and the portrait Mother and child by Spencer Macky. My contact email is jidwyer@bigpond.net.au Jillian Dwyer |
