Hello Listers, My 3rd great grandfather James HICKS was transported to NSW in 1830. Briefly, his story is as follows: He was convicted of stealing lambs at Hertford Quarter Sessions in England in 1829, and was sentenced to death. This penalty was within days commuted to transportation to NSW for life. He was at the time married and was the father of one infant son. His wife Mary was expecting a second child, who was born as he was detained on a prison hulk awaiting transportation. That expected child was my 2nd great grandfather. Both James & Mary HICKS were illiterate, so it is unlikely that they were able to communicate after his departure from English shores. His family was never reunited with him in Australia, and no recollection of this traumatic episode was passed down the generations. I discovered these sad details only in recent years. Once landed in NSW in May 1830, James was assigned to work on Edward Sparke's estate. I understand that this was located at Woodberry and Woodlands in the Lower Hunter Valley. In 1839 James was granted a ticket of leave in the Maitland district. In 1845 he was permitted to change this to the Dungog district. By 1848 he had ended up working for a small settler on the Williams River, named James Slater. It was at that point that he got himself into further trouble when he abducted Slater's teenage daughter, the consequence of which was that he served a year in Maitland Gaol. A second ticket of leave was granted to him in 1851, when he was to remain in the Illawarra district. I have no further clear history following the issue of that document. However, I see that there was a James HICKS living back in Dungog in 1866 and 1872, who may or may not have been my ancestor. My purpose in offering this account is that I have an opportunity to visit these areas for just two days later this month, flying out from England on 17th September. I hope to spend 19th-21st September looking around the places where my 3rd great grandfather lived out the second part of his life. In order to make the most of this opportunity, it would be helpful if anyone could offer advice or information on the following questions which I have: 1. Where on the Williams River was James Slater and his family living in 1848? Is there any way of discovering this from local directories of the time? The only mention I have in the newspaper report says: "It appeared from the evidence of James Slater and Susannah Slater that Slater was a small settler living on the William River, and that in 1848 the prisoner was working and living with him for a short time". 2. There are a couple of references from James Hicks' ticket of leave, and I wonder where I should go to follow up these references, which are 50/3078 and 51/1815. 3. Does anyone have any ideas just where I might locate the old Sparke estate at Woodberry and Woodlands in the Lower Hunter Valley? 4. Apart from Dungog and Maitland and the Sparke estate, is there anywhere else you would recommend I try to see during my visit? Or is there anything else I might realistically do to prepare for my visit during the next two weeks? Many thanks for any ideas. From a grey, wet day in England, Chris Ralph