Hello Wendy, Have been following your postings with much interest, and have a few details to add. You probably have them yourself already, but maybe they could be of use to someone else. re John Cockcroft: John Cockcroft died on 16 December 1900 (ref: The Gosford Times issue of 21.12.1900). He was known as "Jack the Butcher" according to this very small mention. I note that you have his death date as 1901, and wonder if this came from the Births, Deaths and Marriages Index online. In a few instances where I was able to cross-check an entry I was researching, I realised that some events which occurred in December (usually very late in the month) appear in the index as having occurred in the following year. I can imagine baptismal records in (sometimes) sparse church records of early times being assumed to be births, but it is rather strange in the instance of a death in 1900 when official registration was compulsory. Comments anyone? John married Jane Ann Turner on 13 May 1846 with the Consent of the Governor, meaning that a convict was involved. The witnesses were John Broadbent and Ann Broadbent of Wyoming, and Mary Hagan of East Gosford. The women all signed with a cross. Re John's occupation: the Church of England records for Gosford (microfilm) show that: At the time of son William's birth in 1847, the father was a labourer living at Wyoming. James was born in 1848, father a butcher of Wyoming. Mary Ann was born in 1849, father a bullock driver of Wyoming. Eliza was born in 1854, the father was a butcher and carrier of Wyoming. Ann Augusta was born 1861, the father is now a carrier of Gosford. John's son William died in 1848 aged 14 months and 2 days, "son of a butcher" John's son James became the master of a coastal trading ship. Certificate No. 44 was issued to him on 3 Sept 1873 (within jurisdiction - limited distances). He was then 25 years old. Best wishes from Gwen