Hello all I hope you can help me! Along with many others, my great great grandparents were Thomas and Emma Bourne who arrived in Sydney from London on the Palmyra on Sept 26 1838 with their eldest daughter, Myra. Initially Thomas was 'engaged' to a Mr Edward Sparkes in Maitland. I know that 5 or 6 more children were born : Matilda 1849, George 1843, James 1845, William 1846, Emma 1849 and possibly Henry who died in 1933, giving his parents as Thomas and Emma - and that the family gradually moved northwards - Scone, Patrick Plains, Murrurundi, Quirindi and Tamworth. Using the NSW BDM records I have been able to trace most of Thomas and Emma's children and grandchildren but if you have information about them I would be very glad to receive it. In the process of discovering their family, I can see that other Bourne families also lived in NSW. What I would particularly like to know is : were there other Bourne families living in the Quirindi/Tamworth area and if so, were they connected to Thomas and Emma? ie his brother perhaps. Emma, the youngest child, is my great grandmother. She married a Henry Bourne (parents given as Stephen and Mary Reece) in Sydney in 1870 and they soon moved to Melbourne where their family was born. I would love to know where Henry was born and as yet, can find no trace of his parents, nor of Emma's death in Victoria. As I am sure you well know this work is really fascinating and I look forward to any help you can give My thanks Beth Flenley ( maiden name - Bourne