I have learned yesterday that when the migration of Germans to New South Wales got under way in the 1840s they came from the Rhineland regions primarily. Those coming from this region had to go down the river by boat through Holland to Antwerp. From there they could go overland train to Hamburg or by steamer to London or Hamburg. My information was that Holland was not happy with this because it had some very nasty experiences with earlier groups going to America and virtually put in a protest refusing the intending migrants time in Antwerp. They had to pass through without stopping. Kirchner, who was the agent, overcame this by having them go down the Rhine and across the sea to London before stopping. As a result almost all the Germans to New South Wales in the 1840s give or take a decade went direct to London from the Rhine. From other parts of Germany they went to Hamburg. So it seems that we can easily establish some information about where in Germany they came by where they caught the boat. According to what I was reading they spent about two weeks in London while the paperwork was processed and medicals were completed. You could not rush the public service then either. The rules under which he contracted migrants were that they had to be married prior to departure. In some instances there were hurry up marriages in Germany but a large number of couples arrived in London not yet married. To resolve the situation he organised they be married in London and so they were married before departure because London was their port of departure. Actually I think Plymouth or Southampton might be the technical place of departure. Some couples still did not marry in London and were on board ship when it was realised they had to be married. Always one or two stragglers but I find it difficult to see how the migrant officers who would have been familiar with the requirements did not pick this up in London. The ship captain maimed them. There were problems with these when they arrived in Sydney but somehow Kirchner or his lawyer found a way to confuse the system and they were accepted. I wonder what would have happened if the system had refused them entry because they weren't married before boarding the ship. Another point is that there were on board a number of teenage sons and daughter. It was a long three or four months journey with nothing to do and teenagers in 1840 weren't that much different to teenagers in 1940 or 2005 for that matter. I owned how many of the ship board marriages came from this source. I might mention that I am learning that there was a steady stream from about 1817 onwards. Still searching Albert Grulke in stormy old flooded Melbourne