Dear Listers, Funny that MargM asked "Hasn't any one had any 'brick walls' come tumbling down today ?". I haven't written to the list for quite a while, but when I did, I asked for help with my GGF, William Francis GOODHEW (WFG). He was my most aggravating brick wall, having frustrated me for about 18 years. His wall has crashed, but it wasn't "today", but over a few recent months. I have a theory that everybody has brick walls at the very end of all those branches of our tree. But the height of each wall is proportional to the time you have been trying to break them down. So now that I have broken WFG's down, it is replaced with many walls of very small dimensions, up to two generations earlier. My success depended on some perseverance, but more importantly, a whole lot of luck. It is a long story and some of the members of Newcastle Family History Society will remember it well, because I have told them. So I apologise to those who need to read it again here. But it is only a long story if told properly, so maybe I had better put it into serial form and send instalments to this list every so often to inspire you to keep searching, without boring you with a tome in this message. If you are wondering how relevant this is to this particular list, let me whet your appetite with the fact that WFG spent most of his life in the Hunter Valley and currently 'resides' in Sandgate Cemetery. In the next episode I will start his story in reverse, by relating his life in this wonderful valley. Please stay tuned ... Ron Goodhew, Adamstown.