Hi John, Thank you for posting your informative email. It just so happens that I know of some interesting internet sites which seem to relate to the things you are interested in: # The Descendants of Convicts Group, Inc on http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dcginc/welcome.htm which I might also investigate myself at some stage, may be able to assist with that line of research. # You probably are aware of the Vinegar Hill information on http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~garter1/some.htm, but I've included it just in case. # A site I like is http://www.abcgenealogy.com/ where you could find lots to browse around. You might especially like the link to Famous People, where I noticed it has the ancestry of Daniel Boone etc. # and lastly, I feel it may help you to have a program on your computer that helps you to put in all the information step by step (provided you know who was married to whom, and who were their children and their parents, etc) into a very user-friendly database and then it sorts it all out for you and draws up your Pedigree Chart for you! You can download the standard version of Legacy 5.0 for free (as I have done) at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/. There are places for notes and stories about each person, where they married and lived, etc and so long as you back it up to disks or CD regularly and keep the backups safely 'off-site' (say, with relative), it's just as safe (or maybe moreso) as writing it all down on bits of paper. So much to do and no time to do it, eh! This should keep you busy for a while! Marlene (Mount Annan) > I agree Marlene, > > > I'll repost some of my current interests here now. I can't do family trees > for nutz. > > And when it gets more remote than my granparents I get confused trying to > comprehend relationships, so I'm not a good family historian of the > 'geneological' type but I make up for it by being also interested in the > history of the places and the times. > > I'm interested in the convicts of the Sydney colony, including Molly Morgan > who wasn't a relative of mine but came on the same ship as my ancestor Ann > Reffin (Experiment, 1804). > I'm also particularly interested in the Castlereagh area. > > Generally I'm interested in things such as in "Dharug and Dungaree", the > history compilation on Penrith area; and also in the mass relocations of > the Irish/Celts in general ~ the protestanisation of them in > England-Scotland, and re-plantation back into Northern Ireland, and the > later migrations to the new world of the Americas (Davy Crockett, Daniel > Boone, Buffalo Bill .. practically all of the frontiersmen were Irish, and > the "hillbilly/redneck" culture of the US in the Appalachians, and less so > in Texas etc., is claimed by many to directly descend from the many Irish > who went there. > > Am also organising a meeting at Castlereagh next year to commemorate the > arrival of Ann Reffin, from whose union with David Burns, many people (of a > wide range of surnames) descend. This will commemorate the passing of 200 > years from when Ann's transport ship sailed into Sydney Harbour, carrying > many other female prisoners besides herself to the young penal colony. I > also hope that it might lead to some standing links between the various > surname family history groups who can trace back to her. > > Ann married David in Australia and most of the offspring and spouses moved > to Castlereagh where there was association by intermarriage to the Lees and > others. As many on this list know, Mr John Lees donated a sacred acre of > his land to Wesleyanism which came to the colony in 1812. John Lees then > built there a small Wesleyan chapel, the first in Australia (maybe the > first in the southern hemisphere???). > > I'd be interested to see a small museum arise for Castlereagh, as it is > such a historic area. The area, although small, is highly significant in > Australian history. It has the first Wesleyan chapel and the first > Catholic cemetery (non-offical and started at a time when Catholicism was > still suppressed or not recognised officially in the colony -- but > nonetheless still the first), the first academy of higher learning > (Castlereagh Academy) which was well regarded and was run by Rev. Henry > Fulton who buried Ann and later on was buried close to her. A student of > the small Castlereagh Academy also produced the first Australian-published > native-born poetry, and a poem "Fair Castlereagh" which contains possibly > one of the first laments for the change to the environment through the > cutting down of the bush. > > Next year, 2004, is also the 200 year celebration of the Castle Hill or > Vinegar Hill uprising of a significant number of Irish convicts working on > a prison farm. Quite a number of Irishmen has been transported or exiled > to New South Wales following the failed 1798 Irish war of independence. > Ann's convict husband David came here with one shipload of this group of > transportees and apparently had been sentenced in Dublin for involvement or > sympathy with the 1798 uprising although no papers survive to show > definitively why he was sent to Australia. [David himself was not > associated with the uprising, and in fact was given a job as a Constable > not long after his arrival in Australia]. > > Well, that very quickly is some of my interests again. > > > Seasons Greetings, > > > John Byrnes > (Strathfield) > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >