The Clendon Journey

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

Welcome, whanau, to this site! It outlines the genealogy of the “Clendons of Ōtautahi & Te Mamaku, (Christchurch & Ruby Bay which fronts on to Te Tai-o-Aorere or Tasman Bay) New Zealand from their roots in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England to New Zealand.

This is an unusual story because it starts with the Clendons largely based in Northamptonshire in England and ends with the majority of the family based in New Zealand. It is also unusual because the first Clendon in New Zealand, Captain James Reddy Clendon and his wife Sarah Isabella Hill arrived in 1828, well before there was any significant European settlement. Their second child was born off the coast of Hokianga where they later settled.

The site is built from William Ross Clendon and Carol Mary Dickie. It covers Clendons and their spouses but does not trace the latter back more than a few generations. There are currently some 600 born Clendons. Adding in spouses would take the total to 1,000 plus.

Heat Map of Surnames on site

W R Clendon Genealogy

Family size

It is and was a small family. In 1881 there were only 26 Clendons in the UK census of almost 30 million people distributed thus:

By 2014 the world data is shown below with New Zealand having 240 Clendons, the largest concentration by far. The table below summarises the Forbears IO report based on 2014 data.