Still working my way through this fascinating story of Germans to New South Wales in the 19th century. The more I research the more amazed I get. My amazement comes from the fact that nobody has ever really concentrated to tell this story in full. A long time back I came to a conclusion that there is a huge story in New South Wales and slowly but surely I am getting the evidence to prove me right. I must say now that it has been the people on this list who have helped me make that story. I am so very deeply indebted to the many subscribers to this list for the snippets of information provided over the years. Unfortunately I have simply extracted the snippet and not the sender in too many instances. So I must thank all those who have subscribed. I have worked my way through the Camden valley and through the Hunter regions. I learn that most of the migrants ventured north and south once their contracts in the Camden were completed. This led me to start working down what I have called the Hume Corridor being the area between Camden or Campbelltown and Albury. This is interesting because there seems to have been small pockets of Germans who came to Australia after 1840 and settled in various places. I suspect that often it was only one or two families. Holbrook was named Germantown yet I can only find at this time one family that settled there. Surely they did not give it that name because the publican was a German. I find references that suggest there were a number of families there but nothing concrete. I have recollections of seeing articles and emails about Germans who came out and went to Goulburn area. I have titbits about possible Germans all along the road. I am interested in anybody who has ancestors that lived anywhere between Sydney and Albury. Thanks Albert Grulke in wet miserable Melbourne

Hello Albert Just a quick thought, do you think the Germanic Clubs in Sydney may have documented any of this history? Just wondering if you have been in touch to ask? Thanks Michele Darwin NT ----- Original Message ----- From: Albert Grulke To: AUS-GERMAN-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 8:44 AM Subject: [AUS-GERMAN] The Hume Corridor Still working my way through this fascinating story of Germans to New South Wales in the 19th century. The more I research the more amazed I get. My amazement comes from the fact that nobody has ever really concentrated to tell this story in full. A long time back I came to a conclusion that there is a huge story in New South Wales and slowly but surely I am getting the evidence to prove me right. I must say now that it has been the people on this list who have helped me make that story. I am so very deeply indebted to the many subscribers to this list for the snippets of information provided over the years. Unfortunately I have simply extracted the snippet and not the sender in too many instances. So I must thank all those who have subscribed. I have worked my way through the Camden valley and through the Hunter regions. I learn that most of the migrants ventured north and south once their contracts in the Camden were completed. This led me to start working down what I have called the Hume Corridor being the area between Camden or Campbelltown and Albury. This is interesting because there seems to have been small pockets of Germans who came to Australia after 1840 and settled in various places. I suspect that often it was only one or two families. Holbrook was named Germantown yet I can only find at this time one family that settled there. Surely they did not give it that name because the publican was a German. I find references that suggest there were a number of families there but nothing concrete. I have recollections of seeing articles and emails about Germans who came out and went to Goulburn area. I have titbits about possible Germans all along the road. I am interested in anybody who has ancestors that lived anywhere between Sydney and Albury. Thanks Albert Grulke in wet miserable Melbourne ==== AUS-GERMAN Mailing List ==== For your Aus-German resources go to http://www.ainsleehooper.com/germlinks.htm ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx

H Albert Just a little more info to add to your evergrowing collection. While this article deals with the emigration to the USA it does also give some info on why so many did emigrate. It is particulaly pertinent to my gg grandfather as he was not the eldest son so no chance of inheriting land. He also lied about his age and said he was 2 years older than he was when arriving in the US. This is believed to be so as not to arouse suspicion, being 23 would have mde him old enough to have done his 3 years compulsory service in the Prussian Army, he was actually only 21 and we were told he was literally smuggled out of Prussia??? He spent time in the US Goldfields, he must have made good $$ as he was then able to pay for his own passage from US to NZ then to Australia where he purchased land shortly arriving here in 1866. Hope this is of interest Cheers Michele Darwin NT - wet, humid and overcast! www.westphalia-emigration.de/History/history.html Brief History of Emigration Around 1755 some farmers of the Sauerland began to leave their homes in order to start new farms in the Banat area in Hungary. They were promised land by the Austrian Emperor in that depopulated area, which was newly reconquered from the Turks. Till 1790 thousands of farmer families took the chance to settle in the Banat, because in Germany their land holdings were either too small or they didn't own land at all. The emigration to the Banat was the first "wave" of people leaving the Sauerland, which lasted till around 1790. By the year 1833 population had increased that much again, some people discovered it was best to emigrate to the USA. The economy of the Sauerland was based on agriculture, and had almost no industries besides a few iron- and copper-works. The farms were merely self-sufficient, and if there was a surplus of the harvest it was traded for things that could not be made on the farm itself. Agricultural acreage was limited, while population kept on growing and growing. In America, they heard, they would be able to start their own farm, because good land was cheap in the West. In America land could be bought from the land office for $1.25 per acre. It looks like most of the first emigrants from rural areas like the Sauerland came to America in order to start a farm in the new western states. They took the sailing ship from Bremen or Antwerp and arrived in New York or in New Orleans. From NY they went on by boat to Detroit, MI and from New Orleans they went to St. Louis, MO, because in the hinterland of those cities they could expect the promised cheap land for farming. A very good and well known example is the group of Sauerlanders under the leadership of Rev. Anton Kopp, who founded a Catholic settlement in the wilderness of Michigan in 1836, which they called Westfalen in honour of the province of their origin (there are also places named Westfalen in KS, IA, and MO, which were founded later). Some families, who had sold their house and land in Germany, brought enough money to start a small farm in the wilderness right away. But certainly a great many of the emigrants - especially the young, unmarried men - needed first to make some money in the city, before they had saved the necessary dollars to start a farm. By the time working in the city a great deal of the immigrants decided it was easier to start a small business in the city than working on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Thus quite many of the Sauerlanders who first had in mind to farm preferred to stay workers, craftsmen, or became eventually businessmen in a fast growing city like Detroit. Detroit soon turned out to be the destination of most of the Sauerlanders, because former neighbours or related families in Germany were attracted by encouraging letters, and later by the story of success told on visits in Germany. By 1880 there was a very big Sauerlander community in east-side Detroit along Gratiot Ave., mostly members of the Catholic St. Joseph's parish. Young men, who came to America often were deserters. But the reason for emigration was not the fear to serve in the Prussian Army for three years, the reason of those young men to emigrate was poverty and hopelessness. Close to all those young men who deserted the army, did not have any property, and they couldn't expect to inherit the farm of their parents, because they were not the first-born sons. The regional inheritance custom was, that the oldest son, sometimes the oldest daughter usually inherited the farm, while the siblings got a small amount of money - their "KINDTEIL" - which was often merely enough to pay the one-way-ticket to America. This way the farm and its land holdings was not split into four or more equal shares. But it made those second-, third- and fourth-born sons and daughters look for better economic conditions in America. Why should the young men waste three years of their life in the Prussian Army, if they had already in mind to leave Prussia forever? Also the fact, that the older first-born brother usually served in the army for three years, demonstrates, that having to serve the Prussian Army was not the decisive reason to leave Prussia, but an additional reason to leave Prussia before turning 21. Beginning in 1833 the peak of emigration from Southern Westfalen, Prussia to America was reached in the late 1840s and in the 1850s. The number of people who left Prussia was so high, local government officials would speak of an "emigration-craving" or "America-fever". Around 1880 till 1885 there was a last mass-emigration taking place in Southern Westfalen. This time families who wanted to start a farm had to settle much further west, e.g. in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. Due to the economic development in the Sauerland and its neighbouring region (the very fast growing industrial Ruhr-area) emigration to America came out of fashion. There is almost no emigration recorded from 1885 thru 1922. But after WW1, when the German economy was down, and inflation was incredibly high (at the peak of inflation in November 1923 a normal bread would cost several billion Reichsmark) a few young men and women remembered they had an uncle in America, who could help them make a start there.

Albert & others, Holbrook was named Germanton till about 1915, the reasons for change have been discussed elsewhere in this forum in association with the Holsworthy detainees. There were several German families that I have identified who have been associated with the HEPPNER line of my wife's ancestors. I have done a search of my records only for the keyword "germanton" and found :- GROCH - marriage and death HEPPNER - marriage PECH - marriage and death BARTCH - death PERTZEL - deaths SCHOLZ - deaths note: this only covers up to 1915; there would be many more if I had also searched using Holbrook. Of these half dozen families, most came from South Australia. In this general area (Albury, Walla Walla, Gerogery, Jindera, Culcairn) many of the 1867 migration from SA settled, but examining many of the names marring into these families you find those that can not be traced back to SA, hence they came from other settlements/areas. Much information can be gained from some of the family histories. I have used HOHNBERG, SCHOLZ & HARTWIG histories researching this area and I believe other families associated with this area have also produced family histories. (I suspect some are readers of this forum) My interest in your research of this area is my 'brick wall' I have a Johann Heinrich WILL, reportedly born: 5 April 1846 in Schleswig, Holstein, Germany. Who is supposed to have migrated as a child with family. He crops up in this area 1868-9 and marries Joanna Elizabeth HEPPNER at Jindera on 24 January 1870. His early movements are my mystery. Brian Rhynehart Canberra. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Albert Grulke" <grulke@bigpond.com.au> To: <AUS-GERMAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 10:14 AM Subject: [AUS-GERMAN] The Hume Corridor > (snip) > > Holbrook was named Germantown (sic) yet I can only find at this time one family > that settled there. Surely they did not give it that name because the > publican was a German. I find references that suggest there were a number of > families there but nothing concrete. > > > I am interested in anybody who has ancestors that lived anywhere between > Sydney and Albury. > > Thanks > > Albert Grulke in wet miserable Melbourne > > > > ==== AUS-GERMAN Mailing List ==== > For your Aus-German resources go to > http://www.ainsleehooper.com/germlinks.htm

Albert, Friday Mount by Margaret Carnegie, SBN725601086, is an interesting read on the history of Holbrook. Jackie This is interesting because there seems to have been small pockets of Germans who came to Australia after 1840 and settled in various places. I suspect that often it was only one or two families. Holbrook was named Germantown yet I can only find at this time one family that settled there. Surely they did not give it that name because the publican was a German. I find references that suggest there were a number of families there but nothing concrete. I have recollections of seeing articles and emails about Germans who came out and went to Goulburn area. I have titbits about possible Germans all along the road. I am interested in anybody who has ancestors that lived anywhere between Sydney and Albury. Thanks Albert Grulke in wet miserable Melbourne