Oliver Genealogy
This page features the descendants of James and Ruth Oliver, and James' brother Samuel Oliver, who emigrated from Devon, England to New Plymouth, New Zealand in 1841.

Much of the work presented here is based on the extensive research carried out by Brian's aunt, Muriel Leo (nee Oliver), in the 1970's and early 1980's. Her work has been further built upon and updated thanks to the generosity of information received from the greater Oliver family.

Brian Oliver (b. 1950) of nzolivers.com welcomes any information you may care to contribute.

The Tree
Links are provided on this page to "The Tree". This tree sits alongside nzolivers.com as a separate website and provides navigation through family relationships and access to information.

Link to "The Tree" home page. Link to "The Tree" surname index.

Access the "The Tree" web pages at John Oliver born circa 1740

Access the "The Tree" web pages at James Oliver born in 1805

Access the "The Tree" web pages at Thomas Higgie born circa 1818

Access the "The Tree" web pages at John Carroll born in 1830

Access the "The Tree" web pages at Ambrose Woolford born in 1841

Access the "The Tree" web pages at Samuel Oliver (Alpha Mill) born in 1819

Articles and Documents
Click here to access high resolution scans of newspaper articles and documents related to the Oliver Family. Documents include a history of Boyton Mill, Devon, England and the Will of John Oliver, born 1774, tenant of the Mill from 1824 and owner from 1842.

Graeme Kenyon Publications - Articles and scrapbooks on Taranaki history and on the Oliver/Kenyon families by Graeme Kenyon.

Videos
Videos of places of special interest to the Oliver family. These videos were re-encoded to modern video formats in October 2024:

Richard Andrews Videos - features two video clips from his July 2007 visit to Boyton, Cornwall and Boyton Mill across the Tamar River in Devon, England.

Photos
This section features a large number of photographs and images of Oliver family members and places - in a number of different 'albums'. Within each album are pages displaying a number of photos. To enlarge the photos, either click on the photo, or click on "Slideshow".

Brian Oliver Collection - includes photos from Brian's aunt, Muriel Leo (nee Oliver), upon whose work the Oliver Family Tree on this website is based. Photos also include those from the album of Brian's father, Maurice Oliver, and a collection from Brian himself.

David Lloyd Collection - Originally contributed in September 2006, the format and captions have been updated as at May 2023. David's collection includes photos from the Mary Ann Oliver (b. 26 Apr 1863) photo album. Mary is the daughter of Samuel Oliver, son of James and Ruth Oliver. Mary's mother was Janet (Jessie) Oliver, nee Higgie.

Richard Andrews Collection - Richard is the great-great-grandson of James and Ruth Oliver. These photographs were scanned from the Andrews family album and contributed to 'nzolivers.com' in June 2007.

Visit to Devon and Cornwall - Over 100 photographs where Brian and Carol Oliver, with daughter Marie, in April 2008, visit the birth and living places of James and Ruth Oliver and James' parents, John (b.1774) and Grace Oliver.

Joy Nixon Collection - Joy has been interested in genealogy for many years and researched her grandfather's family (Samuel John Oliver) and her grandmother's (wife of Samuel John) family - the Philpots and Woolfords. Brian of nzolivers.com is related to Joy, not just through the Olivers but, also through the Woolfords! These photos were contributed by Joy in November 2008 and May 2009.

The Harrex Collection - Contributed by Denise Harrex (nee Oliver) and her daughter Katherine Cooke (nee Harrex). Denise is a half-sister of Joy Nixon, both having the same father, Leslie John Oliver. A photograph Denise had of her grandfather, Samuel John Oliver, is included and helped identify one of the photos in the Mary Oliver Album in David Lloyd's collection. The photos were contributed by Denise in February 2009, and by Katherine in November 2013.

The Cripps Family Collection - These include four albums of photos contributed by some of the children of Vincent and Reta (nee Oliver) Cripps in January 2009 and made live on the website in August 2009. They include two wonderful wedding group photos of the children's maternal grandmother's sisters, Telitha Carrel and Hilda Carrel. A fifth album of photos have been contributed by Merril Bourne.

Visit to Wanganui - Over sixty photographs where Brian and Carol Oliver, in January 2009, visited the old Heads Road Cemetery, the current Aramoho Cemetery, city landmarks associated with the Higgie family, and Okoia properties. It was Samuel Oliver, son of James and Ruth Oliver, that as a single man, moved from New Plymouth to Wanganui around the year 1860. He married Jessie Higgie in 1862.

Clarry Oliver Collection - Clarry is the great-great-grandson of Samuel Oliver who sailed to New Plymouth on the Amelia Thompson in 1841 and established the first flour mill (Alpha Mill) in New Plymouth. These photos were contributed by Clarry in February 2009.

Visit to New Plymouth - Brian and Carol Oliver, with daughter Emma, visited New Plymouth over Waitangi Weekend in February 2009. They visited the Te Henui Cemetery, St Mary's Churchyard, Oliver properties in Mangorei Road, sites of the Alpha and Union Flour Mills, and an intensive day at Puke Ariki Research Centre! The latter is a wonderful resource. It was James and Ruth (nee Batten) Oliver, with seven children, that sailed on the Amelia Thompson arriving in New Plymouth on 3rd September 1841 with other Devonshire emigrants. One of the children, James, died at sea. Another child, Charles, was born in New Zealand.

Rachel Oliver Collection - Rachel is the eldest child of the eldest child (Charles Oliver) of Louis and Maud (nee Carrel) Oliver. Because of this, she remembers many stories handed down from her father and holds a treasure trove of Oliver family photos. In fact, Rachel has been interested in family history all her life and we share here over 230 photos from her collection. These photos were contributed by Rachel in February 2009 and made live on the website in June 2010.

Sharryn McLaughlan Collection - Sharryn is the granddaughter of Madge Bennett whose autograph book features here. Madge had an Uncle and an Aunt that were grandchildren of James and Ruth Oliver. And, some of the autograph writings are by James and Ruth's grandchildren and their spouses, and by James and Ruth's great-grandchildren. These scans and photos were contributed by Sharryn in May 2009 and made live on the website in June 2010.

Neville Richards Collection - Neville is descendant from Samuel Jnr. (Sam) and Susan (nee Barnett) Oliver, Sam being the son of Samuel Oliver who sailed to New Plymouth on the Amelia Thompson in 1841 and established the first flour mill (Alpha Mill) in New Plymouth. These photos were contributed by Neville in December 2009 and made live on the website in July 2010.

Annabel Boland Collection - Annabel is the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Oliver who sailed to New Plymouth on the Amelia Thompson in 1841 and established the first flour mill (Alpha Mill) in New Plymouth. These photos were contributed by Annabel in January 2010 and made live on the website in July 2010.

Amelia Thompson 175th Anniversary Reunion - Photos from the reunion of descendants of the settlers who arrived on the Amelia Thompson in 1841. The celebrations were held in New Plymouth on Labour Weekend, 21 - 23 September 2016.

Katia and Tim Oliver Collection - Tim is the grandson of Ivor James Clark Oliver and Loma Elizabeth Florance. His great-grandparents were Jim Alexander Oliver and Olive Nesta Eleanor "Ness" Shute. Jim Oliver was the son of Samuel Oliver, who in turn was the son of James and Ruth Oliver. The albums here were made live on the website in March 2021 and include photos of the Oliver, Shute, and Florance families.

Descendant Charts
These provide an easy-to-view look at family relationships and may be accessed here:

The first four generations - link to Descendant Chart of John Oliver born circa 1740.

The children of James (born 1805) and Ruth Oliver and links to their descendant charts:

Mary Ann Oliver, born 1826 (This chart is large - may take time to load).
John Oliver, born 1830
William Oliver, born 1831
Samuel Oliver, born 1833 (This chart is large - may take time to load).
James Oliver, born 1835 (died at sea, aged six years)
Matilda Robins Oliver, born 1836
Francis Oliver, born 1840
Charles Oliver, born 1843

Link to Descendant Chart of Carroll/Carrel/Carrell family
Link to Descendant Chart of Woolford family

The children of Samuel (born 1819, Alpha Mill and brother of James above) and Elizabeth Oliver and links to their descendant charts:

DNA Test
Back in May 2017 Brian Oliver of nzolivers.com received the results of a genetic test he had done through AncestryDNA. A DNA test can determine a person's ancestry or biological relationship between people. At the time, Brian's results identified seven 3rd cousins, 156 4th cousins, and over 12,500 5th and more distant cousins that are currently in their DNA database. Communications with 'cousins' continue through these connections. Very exciting!

• 49%  Europe West (Primarily located in: Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein. Also found in: England, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic)
• 27%  Ireland (Primarily located in: Ireland, Wales, Scotland)
•   8%  Scandinavia (Primarily located in: Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
•   6%  Iberian Peninsula (Primarily located in: Spain, Portugal)
•   4%  Europe East
•   2%  Great Britain
•   2%  Italy/Greece
•   2%  Other - less than 1%

• Scots
• Southern English

From time to time Ancestry advise of new ancestral regions. As at October 2024, the ethnicity estimate on Ancestry was further refined and now shows:

• 61% England & Northwestern Europe (Paternal 26% Maternal 35%)
• 24% Scotland (Paternal 12% Maternal 12%)
•   5% Cornwall (Paternal 2% Maternal 3%)
•   5% Ireland (Paternal 5% Maternal 0%)
•   5% Denmark (Paternal 5% Maternal 0%)

Last updated: 6 August 2025