This is to advise members of the Boyd list in the North Island of New Zealand that on my way home from the USA, I will be stopping the Thursday 12 May 2011 in Auckland before going to Christchurch to look up Boyd families in and north of Christchurch on 13-16 May I have just ask Boyd Miller ( Email boydm@vodafone.net.nz) and Murray Reid (Email mhhr@ihug.co.nz) said he would also assist him in contacting Boyds and Boyd researchers in and around Auckland. So if you would like to come or assist them in contact know Boyd researchers please Email one of them. I expect that the meeting will start about 6 pm, to allow those outside of Auckland to have time to drive home. While I have yet to book my accommodation in Auckland for Thursday night, I am hoping to get something that is not to expensive near the Airport which has a room that the meeting can be held in. Hopefully I will know those details this week. When I do I will post to the list. Even though I live in Australia, I have only been to Auckland once, in 1974, so now being retired I have no idea when I next might get to New Zealand. I will provide an outline of Clan Boyd's History since 1111 AD, its origins, Cadet Branches, Spread in Scotland outside of Ayrshire, the Battles it was involved in etc and help anyone who wishes to start to do their family tree to get started and also help anyone to link their family to the 630 known Boyd families that I have been able to collect to date. Since 2004, I have made 8 trips to either Scotland or Ireland looking for know/published Boyd families. Many of these I have yet to enter onto my PC for example, I estimate when I went to Scotland and Ireland last year I found an estimated 400 new Boyd families plus another 100 or so in the USA. Hopefully, I can get time remaining to sorted out the 10 or so folders and typed then up before I leave to go to America I would expect that many of the New Zealand Boyds came from Scotland rather than from Ireland. And that members of the meeting will "educate" me about the migrations to NZ. So hopefully we can get some NZ stories written for editor Kevin and Dean Road. Thank you Mike Boyd Chairman Historical Committee, HBS