Hello All, I'll email this to my wife (as email is effective in addition to speaking to her, haha) to remind her to send the money off for the book as we certainly do want to buy it and agree totally with Pat that it's a great buy, a great resource for all who may be interested in Castlereagh and its early history. Next year two hundred years ago the 568 ton ship "Experiment" which left England on 4 December arrived in Sydney and carried my ancestor Ann Reffin (Ralphin). Ann died at Castlereagh and I've booked the small church hall next year for one day to hold a remembrance, to share information on Ann and her life and times etc. Ann and her immediate descendants (i.e. children) and their spouses moved entirely to the Nepean Valley it seems, mostly to Castlereagh and with another sizeable lot around Greendale (Wilkinson family). Persons like myself know of this only due to the painstaking work of Patricia Curry and we have a great debt to her. And I reckon there's unknown thousands of Ann's descendants, of many surnames, now spread across Australia who do not know (perhaps do not care?) that they came from this convict woman. I'm interested to contact anybody with any interests on any of these things, including the Experiment and other passengers on that transport vessel on its trip that brought Ann Reffin. My wife and I did a small display (A cardboard box coated on both sides with pictures) for 'Back to Castlereagh Day' held earlier in 2003; and since then I'm made websites for Castlereagh History and Byrnes and Irish History interests. However, from all that I've only been able to find contacts for very few people interested in such things. So if anyone interested in matters related to Castlereagh, the ship details or passengers of the Experiment (I also have a strong interest in another one of them "Molly Morgan"), celtic history and the many relocations of celtic peoples through history, social studies, religions (esp. early Methodism, Salvation Army, Quakers, Presbyterians, Catholics), the religious conflicts, other Irish/Scottish history, the Scots Irish after they went to America (e.g. Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Daniel Boone, Buffalo Bill Cody and other well known names were all of the Scots Irish line) would like to contact me at john.mail@ozemail.com.au I'd be delighted to meet you. It is hoped to have a CD ready in time to give out at the Ann Reffin memorial day next year, containing information about Castlereagh, geneology or family history, about the Leistershire Wolds in central England from where Ann came, and so on. If anybody has digital information they could email to me or post to me on CD-ROM (to PO Box 264, Summer Hill, NSW 2130) I would be very grateful, and happy to compensate for any costs involved. Please only send things you don't mind being in the "public domain"; no dark family secrets or anything of sensitive nature, as once material is compiled onto a CD for further distribution there's no saying where it might end up. I know there are active family history group/s focussed on futher down the river where it is called the Hawkesbury. I'm uncertain with my ancestry if it's possible to have any connecting links of common interests much with them. But I was wondering if there is a possible connecting link via the ship Experiment, i.e. if any of the 136 female prisoners who came on the Experiment out of England in 1803 ended up on the Hawkesbury? Hmmm, there's a lot to learn about history (if one has the time) is there not? Kind Regards, John Byrnes >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Pat Curry" <patcurry@bigpond.com> >To: <AUS-NSW-PENRITH-L@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Friday, October 10, 2003 10:09 PM >Subject: [AUS-NSW-PENRITH] New resource book > > >> Hi listers, >> >> >> >> Do you have an interest in the early Castlereagh area? Do you have >> ancestors connected with the early Castlereagh area? >> >> >> >> Here's a great new resource - a book by the Nepean District Archaeology >> Group - "In Search of the Early Nepean Pioneers - A Post Settlement >> History Celebrating the Bicentenary of the 1803 Land Grants." >> >> >> >> This book provides an outline of the life and times of the first 23 >> grantees of land along the Lower Nepean, and provides pointers for >> further research. It has a Flowchart of Ownership for each portion of >> land from 1803 until its eventual sale to the gravel mining companies >> and/or the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation. It has 7 pages of >> photographs of some of the old homes on the various sites, plus 2 full >> page aerial photographs of the Bird's Eye Corner and Farrell's Lane >> areas of Castlereagh in 1985 >> >> >> >> If you would like a copy, it costs $23 + $4 P & P from P.O Box 874, >> Penrith, NSW, 2750. Or you will find a copy in the Local Studies >> section of Penrith City Library.

Hi Listers, I just found this today. It is the 1872 Grevilles Post Office list for Penrith. http://www.family.joint.net.au/content.php?mid=1&cid=411 Has lots of lists for different towns. Kristine Wood