The Bellini’s of Gifford Road

While still basking in a state of euphoria after publishing “The Lynn’s of Tennessee Ave” my wife Vicki caught me in a weak moment when she asked me if I would write a book about her family. I set out to follow a similar format as my previous book, but little did I know at the time just how much more difficult this project would be, I did not want it to be your typical family tree about a whole lot of dead relatives, but a journey that briefly chronicles our family since its arrival in New Zealand through to the present time.
The history of the Bellini’s proved a major challenge before they even got to NZ, with an unknown family story that evolved in Australia and the mystery that surrounds a series of name changes from Burley to Burleigh to Bellini and even family connections to the Berlei foundation garment empire in Australia. How a person that was born as Frank Arthur Burley in England would die in Western Australia as Adolf Franz Bellini, and the impact this would have on the New Zealand Bellini’s.
The book recalls the times growing up in Howick and Papatoetoe, and the recollections of Ivan and Kathleen Bellini along with the memories of the grandchildren of their grandparents. Then it looks at the families of each of the siblings and recounts their journey and where possible includes comments from their children of their memories.
The main endeavour with this book was to chronicle the journey of the passage through life, and to help the future generations of our family to better understand their parents and grandparents. As the youngest child in my family, three of my grandparents were dead before I was born, and my other Nana was dead by time I was five. It is a shame but I feel we are returning to this time as parents are now having families at an older age.
I trust that you enjoy your read and if this book inspires just some of you to use this as a template for a book about your family then I will have achieved something worthwhile.