Hi folks, I am looking for more information about my grandfather James Jesse Stroud who was born on a ship bound for New Zealand (I do have a birth date). I'm hoping there are lists of infants born at sea that I might be abkle to access to try and sift through in the hope of finding more. Apparently on arrival at Bluff (most southerly port of New Zealand, near Invercargill) his mother (an actress/singer travelling on the ship) handed the infant to people on the wharf by the name of Carter and she disappeared. I did hear some story about the birth father being the son of 'landed gentry' who didn't want to take on the responsibility of a wife who was an entertainer and her child and she didn't want to be hampered by an illegitimate child. The child was adopted by the Stroud family of Invercargill. This would have been sometime in the last half of the 1800s. I believe my grandfather travelled extensively in his late teens and early 20s before joining the British Army and serving in India where he met his wife to be who was part of the household of a British Army officer. I understand he was leader of the Vice Roy's Orchestra as well as taking part in regular army activities. The couple married and moved to New Zealand to live. Jim, a gifted musician, songwriter, composer, and string instrument teacher, had initially gone off to England to try and find out more about his birth family but I didn't ever hear if he was successful. He joined the British Songwriters Society. He also served in Gallipoli and France with the ANZACs before returning to New Zealand. Jim kept me entertained with his stories of exploits in India and in Europe - he was a great storywriter so I'm not too sure how many of his tales are correct - although I am sure there was some truth in them! Thanks in anticipation, Cheers Ainslie (in Adelaide, South Australia)