Hello Listers, I am trying to prove a connection between one ancestor and his supposed parents, and I thought maybe the convict musters/census may be able to help me. His name is Robert Hollis, who was born in 1850 at Auburn in Sydney. According to his death certificate his parents were William Hollis and Bridget O'Brien. I have found an application to marry for William Hallas (convict on Lloyds 1833) to Bridget O'Brien (arrived free) along with their marriage in 1844. I have found baptisms for children of this couple but not my ancestor, Robert. I thought I might be able to find him as part of the family on a convict muster or census, but can anyone tell me what years these census/musters were taken? and where I may be able to access them if appropriate. I live in Brisbane. Any other clues/suggestions would be most welcome as I have been stuck on this problem for some time. I am also having trouble finding the deaths of William and Bridget. I am also thinking about SANDS directories etc. What dates do they cover? On a death certificate for a William, it states that he has two sons in Lane Cove, so thought if I could find the sons listed in that area that would be a little more evidence for the file. Gary Gary & Donna Parker PO Box 89 Albany Creek Qld 4035 Australia pH 07 3862 8767 garyndonna@hotmail.com

Hi Gary, I found the following baptisms all before registration. V1846963 31A/1846 HALLAS WILLIAM N WILLIAM BRIDGET V18531598 39A/1853 HALLAS JOSEPH WILLIAM BRIDGET V18531597 39A/1853 HALLAS HARRIET WILLIAM BRIDGET All of these baptisms took place in the Church of England at Willoughby in Sydney. If you live in Brisbane you can look up these baptisms on the microfilm held at the State Library at South Bank as they are only Church records and not registered births, but they probably wouldn't be much help. Plus the following deaths V18586966 122A/1858 HALLAS WILLIAM 955/1858 HALLAS WILLIAM AGE 55 YEARS DIED SYDNEY SYDNEY (Church of England at Newtown/Camperdown Parish) As your William Hollas was 29 in 1833 when he was tried the age of this man is about right for him to be yours. The death is after civil registration so you could buy this certificate which should list all of his children. If you order through a transcription agent it will be less expensive. I also couldn't find a death record or remarriage for Bridget. I don't think the convict records will help you at all as convict records usually do not list children. There is a convict muster in book form for 1837 which should list William but will only tell you who he was assigned to. This is also held in the Qld State Library, along with Sands Directories for Sydney. I think the Sands Directories start in the early 1860s but not sure about this. There is only one complete census for Australia (1828) which is too early for William. The 1841 census has partially survived but only names the head of the household. There are no other census for Australia surviving. Carol