Author Ann Thwaite's eight great grandparents all arrived in New Zealand between 1858 and 1868. Their family names were Harrop, Sales, Campbell, Brown, Valentine, Maxwell, Jefcoate, and Oliver. In this book, Ann Thwaite looks at her grandparents' reasons for migration, at how they fared once they settled, and at their participation in gold-digging, farming, road-making, school-teaching, and surveying. Both of her parents were graduates of Canterbury University and A.J. Harrop was a respected New Zealand historian. Ann explains how she and her brother David came to be born in England and how, early in World War II, they were taken to their New Zealand relatives for safety, returning to the UK five years later, with a deep love for the country. This highly readable family history is an engaging portrait of a brilliant and unconventional New Zealand/British family.