Hello MargM and listers, I have been reading a transcript of the diaries of Rev. Alfred Glennie, which were written after he left the Brisbane Waters area, and moved to the Hunter Valley. In it he refers to the family of William and Elizabeth Muddle. 8 December 1863 - "In the morning I received a letter from Mr Coulter - Gosford - conveying the sad news of the sudden & untimely end of poor William Muddle. His death was caused by his running against the limb of a tree, which must have ruptured some of the intestines." William Muddle had married Elizabeth Creighton on 21 July 1853 at the Anglican Church, Kincumber. From this time until William's early and tragic death ten years later, they had six children. [Amelia, Eliza Anne, Robert, Harriet, Margaret and an unnamed child]. Elizabeth was pregnant with their seven child, Wilhelmina, when William was killed. William was 35 years old when he died on 2 December 1863. He had worked as a Sawyer, but was working as a farm labourer at Maiden Brush when the accident occurred. Two years later the Rev. Alfred Glennie wrote - 5th October 1865 - "...Went to Morpeth to attend the Quarterly Committee Meeting. Dined with the Walshes, & then rode on to Paterson viâ Hinton. The object of my journey thither was to see Mrs. Henry Brooker, (formerly Elizabeth Muddle) & see whether they could render any assistance to poor William's Widow, by taking one or two of the children. Remained the night with Mr. Addams. 6th October .... Called on the Brookers first thing after breakfast, but did no good thereby. Came home by way of Maitland; where I called on Mr Paskins, & made an exchange of Harmonium with him. " I know that William's widow, the former Elizabeth Creighton, eventually became a midwife. How dreadful it must have been for her at this time, to consider splitting up her family and sending them to relatives [in this case her sister-in-law, Mrs Elizabeth Brooker, at Pattison in the Hunter Valley]. I think that there are Muddle descendents on this list. Could they or anyone else on the list, expand on this story. Do they know if the children were split up or was Elizabeth Muddle able to keep her children together. When did she become a midwife? I have a photograph of Elizabeth on my wall with other family members and there is a striking resemblance to her nieces [children of her brother, William Creighton], one of whom is my great grandmother. These human stories are what makes family history so interesting. Elizabeth outlived her husband by about 44 years. She died in 1907 and is buried in Point Frederick Cemetery with her husband. I would love to be able to read the diaries of Rev. Alfred Glennie, that were written during his 13 years in the Brisbane Waters area. regards Wendy McKenzie

Hi Ian Rev Alfred GLENNIE's Journals have been published by the Gosford District Local History Study Group, you may be able to get them on interlibrary loan as they are now out of print. Years 1855-1860 and 1861-63 plus index ISBN Series No. 0 7316 0651 5 Vol I No. 0 7316 0636 1 Vol II No. 0 7316 0637 X Mentioned are; The 2 - from Maiden Brush. Vol II No.166 19 March 1861, After breakfast I rode out to the Maiden Brush, & called upon Dixon, the two Creightons, & Mr Rankin, who has lately arrived with his family from the Hunter. Margaret CREIGHTON, married Robert WHITE 14/9/1854. William CREIGHTON, son of Robert CREIGHTON, Wheelwright & Eliza (DUNLOP) formerly of Ireland. There is a later online jounal on Hunter Valley Genealogy http://www.huntervalleygenealogy.com/ There are also a set of four books by C SWANCOTT, published 1953 called The Brisbane Water Story, Part one Gosford, Part two Woy Woy & Hawkesbury River, Part three Enchanted Waters and Part four The rest of the story. There is no ISBN No's. on these books. Richard CREIGHTON is mentioned. MargaretB Lake Macquarie NSW Australia