Hi Ray I wish that some of your story tied in with mine, but it doesn't seem to do so unfortunately. My Margaret Plunkett was a daughter of a Gerald Plunkett and a Roseanna Fitzgerald, who was apparently born in Newry, Armagh in 1833. She arrived in NSW in 1850 on a ship bringing out Irish orphans. She lived in Gympie, Qld, where she & John Punter had 12 children. It is presumed that they were married, but like your case, no documentation exists. Their grand-daughter, my grand-mother was Alma Davies, who was nursing at Maitland Hospital in the early 1900's when she met my grand-father, who then lived at Ellalong. They later moved to Muswellbrook. There are a lot of Plunketts in Ireland, but the families are almost impossible to trace unless one comes from one of the aristocratic lines. Then it's easy, as they're documented in places like "Burke's Peerage". Mine aren't there, but perhaps you might find something in one of those places. There would be connections way back, but finding them are the problem. Your Catherine seems to be an earlier generation than mine, and trying to find out why she travelled to the colonies seems part of the puzzle. Best of luck! Cheers Liz P > Hello Liz & Janice. > > Just jumping onto the bandwaggon here with my own PLUNKETT ancestor; who is > a major brick wall in herself. > > Mine is Catherine PLUNKETT who later is supposed to have married Thomas > Leach DAY; however we have never encountered any marriage record for them, > neither in London where he originated, nor in New Zealand where it seems > that they might have met, nor in oz where it was thought that they might > have to gone to NZ from. > > We first encounter them in Auckland, New Zealand, between 1843 and 1850 when > and where their first 5 eldest children were born; the baptisms for whom > give their mother's maiden surname as PLUNKET or PLUNKETT. > >

Thank you for your great synopsis, Liz. Yes: not one forename in common there. Oh well, it was worth a try! About Burke's Peerage: yes, I photocopied the PLUNKETT pages from that several decades ago, just in case I might someday have enough to go backwards with, but as you can see, that has never happened. I am also very conscious of the working class context of all of my families on that line; so I 'know' that there would never be any landed gentry connections. Thank you nevertheless for the kind thought in that regard. With gratitude: Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Liz Parkinson" <[email protected]> > Hi Ray > > I wish that some of your story tied in with mine, but it doesn't seem to > do so unfortunately. My Margaret Plunkett was a daughter of a Gerald > Plunkett and a Roseanna Fitzgerald, who was apparently born in Newry, > Armagh in 1833. She arrived in NSW in 1850 on a ship bringing out Irish > orphans. She lived in Gympie, Qld, where she & John Punter had 12 > children. It is presumed that they were married, but like your case, no > documentation exists. ...

You never know about the working class/landed gentry thing. I've seen a few who "fell from grace" and lived their lives very differently once they came to Australia. I have one whose father was a physician with very good connections and credentials. His sponsor at university was George Washington's physician, but my man went from being a pillar of society to a disgraced smuggler in one fell swoop. The son ended up as a stockman on a farm out in western NSW. On 18/05/2009, Ray <[email protected]> wrote: > > > About Burke's Peerage... > ...I am also very conscious of the working class context of all of my > families > on that line; so I 'know' that there would never be any landed gentry > connections. Thank you nevertheless for the kind thought in that regard. > > With gratitude: Ray > >