Perhaps I am labouring under a delusion, but there are various family stories regarding the ill-fated liaison of Sir Charles William Maxwell and Catherine Wade, nee Bird. It would seem there is some doubt as to whether any of her children belonged to Sir Charles, whether naturally or legally, yet the stories persist. I am curious as to whether anyone knows what happened to Laura Nithsdale Maxwell, William Robert Maxwell and Christopher James Maxwell. I understand Laura made claim to the estate, but beat a hasty retreat, as did the wife and children of Christopher Nithsdale Maxwell in the 1920s. We have a story of a Catherine Wade Maxwell, who married Ernest Costa [Antonio], probably of Portugese extraction, whose daughter Rosa Costa, was raised by the family of her second husband, Wiremu Raiti or William Wright, of the Mangonui district. One of his sons served in the Anglican Ministry and Church records accord him some relationship to the afore-mentioned Sir Charles Maxwell. Rosa Costa married Thomas Martin, who settled in the Mangonui district, and the Martins and my step-father's family, the Zainey's, are the descendants. The Wright family carried Christopher as part of their name, i.e Wiremu Kiritipa Raiti (William Christopher Wright). The youngest of the Martin family siblings was Catherine Wade Martin. I am attempting to decipher from which Cristopher Maxwell these families descend. Did all of the children of Catherine Wade (nee Bird) emigrate to NZ???