Elias Kytölä

Elias Kytölä was born at Alavus in 1885. He was a sailor at the Baltic Sea, sailing between England and Germany. Later he was a postman at Uusikaarlepyy until 1916, when he left for New Zealand. The family did not hear anything from the father for seven years. Then Elias asked them to come to New Zealand. The family consisted of mother Senja, born in 1888, daughter Aili Tellervo, born in 1910, son Kauko Oswald, born in 1913 and the most recent newcomer, Sonja Margareta, born in 1926. Her real father was a man named Häggblom from Pietarsaari.

Before his departure for New Zealand in 1916, Elias Kytölä was a postman in Uusikaarlepyy. The family arrived later, in 1927. SI, Turku.

The family left Finland in 1926 on the Ionic via England and Panama Canal for Auckland. The journey took over five weeks and cost 39 pounds, which Elias paid. In Gisborne the family first lived in Mary Street until they moved to Motuhora. After that they moved to Stanley Road and further to Riverside Road. At first Elias did factory work but from 1932 he sold lumber using a horse and a cart. During the last years before his retirement he did haymaking and worked for the County Council as a roadman. After his death in 1949 the widow moved to Birrell Street. In 1928 the eldest daughter Aili got married to an Australian, Nathaniel White, whom she had met on the boat on the way to New Zealand. The couple moved to Melbourne in 1937, and for some time they also lived on Nauru Island. Aili divorced and got married again in 1955, this time to George Masters. The son, Kauko Oswald, sold fruit and worked for a while for Nathaniel White. He married Lynda May Williams in 1935. The youngest daughter, Sonja, married George HowChow of Chinese descent in 1948, and they are living in Gisborne. 33