Hi Everyone! Thought I would let you know of a very strange series of coincidences regarding my Cribb family. Today, 4 August, 2002, marks the 200th anniversary of the landing of the Perseus 1802 at Port Jackson, (Sydney), NSW. John Cribb - born 1773 England, received life for ? in Berkshire 1797, transported to Sydney Cove per Perseus 1802. John Cribb appears to be the first of the Cribb family to arrive in Sydney (source- per D Gosper Article ) eventually followed by George (per Admiral Gambier 1808); Robert (per Earl Spencer - 1813); Thomas, Isaac and Jacob (all per Baring 1815), James (per Atlas 3 1816), another Isaac (per Atlas 1 - 1819), another Thomas (per Agememnon 1820. We are now aware of the Cribbs' nefarious association with the Cock Road Gang (thank you Marie Young for sharing the article written by Veronica Smith about the "fearsome bandits and brigands of East Bristol") They may have all been "done" for activities associated with the Cock Road Gang - to be confirmed. As you may be aware, our line is that of James Cribb who married Jane Hewitt and had several children, Mary Ann, Hannah, several others, and last but not least, Emma (1841) with three other children bearing the Cribb name, but as James had predeceased in 1841... seems to stretch the realms of possibility even now! On Saturday, I attended my first Convict Discussion group, here in Toowoomba at the Darling Downs Family History Society. I have been concentrating on solving the Cribb side of the tree for the past week or so, and have been forturnate to receive wonderful information which has given me clues to follow. While waiting for the discussion to commence, I just happened to be sitting next to a lady but one, and I overheard her mention that her "convict" was James Cribb.... and I said - "excuse me? James Cribb per AtlasIII, and she said Yes!! Well, if I had a camera for the look on everyone's faces.. Just incredulous - here was this new member - and look what occurred!! Turns out her great grandmother was Emma Cribb! the youngest child - whereas my connection is via Mary Ann Cribb - the oldest child. So, of course, we exchanged addresses - photocopied some bits and pieces such as the Conditional Pardon of James Cribb ; a transcription of the Marriage Certifcate between James & Jane Cribb and I believe she also has photos of the Cribb Vault at Richmond which she has kindly offered to me to copy/scan! What was more interesting, - is that while we were both aware of the "history" side, we each had separate resources that we could share with each other!! No Duplication what so ever! Both Lucy and I were so excited about our discovery, that it made it difficult to contain! Lucy came around this afternoon and I gave her a copy of the abovementioned articles and printed off various family group records etc that I had formulated, as well as obtaining further information about Emma Cribb and her descendents.. quite an interesting family on their own - with Emma Cribb's son, becoming the Mayor of Homebush. What's more strange is that she lives literally around the corner from me - not more than 500 metres at most, however, does not have access to the Internet! However, seeing as she is also a distant cousin - guess we can make allowances for kin! I plan on uploading all documents/photos etc that I have re Cribb and will let you all know the URL as soon as it is available. Hope the Cribb Descendents take a "nip" or two tonight in remembrance of the Perseus, two hundred years ago today! I wonder what the odds would be on 2 Cribb descendants from the same James Cribb, sitting down together at a family history society convict discussion group in Toowoomba, 200 yrs after the first Cribb arrived in Sydney Cove .... mind boggling really! Regards, Liz Hulin Liz Hulin