My paternal 3 x great grandparents were Roderick McKenzie and Isabella McDonald. This  website details information on their children who emigrated to New Zealand (via Australia in some cases) in the  1800's, with the exception of Ann one of the younger daughters who stayed behind in Scotland to  look after Roderick who died at the grand age of 99 in 1862. (Ann's death certificate together with her fathers are on this site). My 2 x great grandmother Isabella McKenzie was left a widow at a relatively young age and with a number of  children. (Her husband was the somewhat elusive Colin McKenzie). After many years of searching for Colin I paid a professional Genealogist in Scotland to track him down in 2012) and now know that he was one of 9 children. His mother died relatively young and his father remarried to a Margaret Ross.  One of Colin's 1/2 siblings Thomas McKenzie emigrated to Australia in 1852 farming at Underra near Shepparton in Victoria.  He married Jane Cameron and they had 11 children, all but one surviving to adulthood, so we have a lot of McKenzie relations in Victoria. We also have a lot of MacDonald and Morrison cousins in Melbourne.  Some of the MacDonalds are buried in Scots Church in Campbellfield, Melbourne.  In 2014 a cousin and I visited Inverness and the Highland Archives and with the help of their genealogist found further information on Rodericks daughter Ann McKenzie and John McKenzie (one of Rodericks nephews).    One of my gggrandmothers  (Isabella) brothers is reported to have paid for her to emigrate to New Zealand, and most of her children emigrated with her in 1865.  In 1985 I spent 2 weeks in Edinburgh undertaking research and was  fortunate to get to see the beautiful hand written ledgers recording births, death and marriages  from 1855.    This site also records details of the families that the Mac/Mckenzies have married into.  I have  collected a lot of information from when I first started this journey in 1972 with a hand written  foolscap sheet with 10 names given to me by my Uncle Jack (Alfred John) McKenzie, and am adding this info to the website  progressively.  A lot of my initial research in the 1980s was done by utilising the Church of  Latter Day Saints genealogical centre in Thornbury Melbourne and then sending off to Scotland with  a money order or postal note, and waiting 6-8 weeks for the certificate. I obtained a number of certificates from New Zealand and Scotland during the 1980's (this was long before you could do things online).  It was very exciting when you received the  document as you never knew what other little gems of information the certificate would hold.  Thank  you to all those other genealogists from around the world who have helped in this journey by  sharing the information they have researched - I love putting more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle into  place.  Particular thanks to cousins Isabel in Canada,  Berris in Melbourne and Sharon in WA.  
  
I have for some years been adding details of my mothers (maternal) side of our family which includes Goddard, Lewis, Liverton, Oliver, Longman, Dunn, Steele and many more. There are some very interesting stories with these families with some branches emigrating to Canada and the USA.  The Livertons are a story in themselves.  NZ Birth  /death registrations stated in 1848, 1854 Marriage Registration Act Introduced, Registry Office Marriages Introduced.  1875 Marriage details/age and birthplace of Parents recorded on birth registrations.
Death registrations include occupation, parental details, where born, when and where buried, marriage details, ages of children of deceased, length of time in NZ.
Compulsory registration of births/deaths/marriage started in England/Wales on 1st July 1837 and in Scotland in 1855.  Prior to these dates you are reliant on Old Parish Records. (OPR).  It is not uncommon for these records to have gaps in them as often registering B/D/M incurred a fee.  Census in England have been undertaken every year since 1801, and in Scotland since 1841.  Endogamy in these early communities in Scotland/England/Wales/Europe/USA & Canada is another challenge.  There are other records, but all in all it is very time consuming and can be expensive - but can be very exciting when you make a new discovery!

There is not doubt in my mind that the McKenzie's contributed a great deal to the formation of the  colony of New Zealand in the 1800s. Hannah (nee McLennan) and Catherine McKenzie have had chapters  written about them in the North Island book called Petticoat Pioneers  It must have been a really  tough and trying environment and they would have had to overcome many challenges, but they had also  come from a very tough environment and sailed half way around the world for a better life for them  and their children. I am happy to add information you would like to share - but would prefer  information that has been verified through supporting documentation. If you feel any of my details  are incorrect I would greatly appreciate knowing.  When and where ever possible I endeavour to  verify information through documentation e.g. birth death and marriage certificates, newspaper  clippings, shipping records and census data.  As I am a great believer in sharing family history  information I am happy to email copies of documents I have on this site.  The only courtesy requested is that you credit the original publisher/provider of  the information (not always me).  
Hopefully by us all sharing verified information it will make the journey a bit smoother not only  now but for those who come behind us, but will also provide an idea of the life our forbears lived.  Roderick is supposed to be descended from the McKenzies of Redcastle via his father John McKenzie and mother Mary McDonald and the family tree dates back to 1150, however, our connection has not been able to be verified, and possibly never will.  I  will be adding this information to the website, however, you will note that I have TBC beside a lot  of this information.  I'm still working on verifying this info which can be a challenge  as there are some significant gaps in the Scottish records in the 1600/1700's. The Scottish naming patterns are both a help and a hinderance and   endogamy in early communities is another challenge.  However, on the  positive side there is a lot of information that has been published on the various branches of the  McKenzie Clan over the years.  Alexander McKenzie published a book in 1894 that is available in 12  parts on the internet.  One of the Earls of Cromatie also published a history in the 1800's that is  readily available and there is also a lot of documentation available now on the  sale/fortfeiture/and inheritance of McKenzie land that all assists in the genealogical process as  well as the Findon Tables to refer to.  Ministers of Parishes were usually well educated and  documented affairs of their parishes which provides a host of information on the lifestyle and cost  of living in the late 1700's/early 1800's in Scotland.   DNA testing is being widely used for genealogy, through the  male line in particular due to males inheriting a Y chromosome that is unique and doesn't recombine in the way that other chromosomes do.  The MacKenzie Society of Canada set up a DNA  database in 2006.  In 2021 I undertook DNA testing and am busy following up my 7,500+ connections (some of which are a real mystery) from the USA, Canada, Nova Scotia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK.
Cousin Isabel in Canada's brother undertook Y DNA testing in 2022 and has joined the MacKenzie DNA Project.  To date it has unearthed McKenzies we are related to - but not a clear path to the connection!  We live in hope...