Hi all I should have introduced myself previously. I've been list admin for a few months now but have been really busy and really only did the message checking. However, it's the New Year now and I'd like to introduce myself. I'd also like a roll call to see who our families are and whether we can connect with any of them. My Brisbane interests are the families Whiteford, McGrath (both Brisbane and Ipswich), with a minor interest in the Pacey family. James Whiteford born Melbourne in the 1850s was a stockman in, I believe, Victoria before travelling north. He joined the Queensland police force and was posted to Cooktown, eventually becoming a Native Mounted Policeman in the Coen, Musgrave and Laura areas. On retirement in 1911, he moved to Rockhampton and then to Brisbane. He married Annie Helena Smyth in Cooktown. She was a governess born in Dublin, not sure whether it was the city or county, Ireland. They had two children, James Whiteford and Gerald Bertram Whiteford. James was an engineer who worked throughout Qld and Gerald was a draftsman who also worked throughout Queensland. James also was involved in installing power lines and possibly telegraph lines in Port Moresby around 1914. If anyone has an interest in Port Moresby, I have scans of a couple of photos taken by James when he worked there. James married Lucy Mary Mackay in 1914 at Harrisville, near Ipswich. They lived Fortitude Valley and then at Wooloowin in Brisbane. I have notes from my grandmother, Lucy, of corroborees being held down the end of her street near Kedron Brook which must have been in the period from 1915 to possibly 1920. McGrath - My great, great grandfather Darby McGrath can be googled up very easily, much to my surprise when I tried this when I first started my family history. He was a convict who arrived in Sydney on the "Royal Sovereign" in 1834. He was born in Waterford, Ireland around1800. His brother John, after whom, I understand, McGrath's Bridge was named, was also a convict. He arrived on the "Waverley" with Patrick Pacey in 1837. He married Patrick Pacey's daughter. John was sent to Brisbane at some point and I assume Darby followed him. Patrick and his wife had no children and, on his death, his property transferred to Darby. Darby separately held land early on in Brisbane, in what is now the city centre, but at some point he moved away from Brisbane and had lots of crown land holdings around western Brisbane and Ipswich, finally settling near Muttaburra. He's described in the "Mayne Inheritance" as "the historical Darby McGrath, an unscrupulous Irish land speculator". He certainly took out a large number of crown land leases over time. His ticket of leave notes he was an "Irish farmer and whiskey distiller" so I assume the move towards Ipswich gave him the opportunity to farm again. He was a keen race horse owner and breeder and a early member of the Ipswich Show Society (according to his obituary). He was a grazier at various places around Ipswich. He married Mary Ann Connolly in Brisbane in the 1850s. Their children included Mary Ellen, Patrick, Emily, Isabella, John, Thomas, James Rudolphus, Michael Dermot, Charles Francis and Cecilia Annie. My husband's Brisbane families include the Kellys who arrived on the "Royal Dane" in 1871. They included Ann (29), Bridget (18), Catherine (5), Ellen (infant), Margaret (27) and Margaret (9). My Ipswich or neighbouring area interests are the families Mackay, Brennan, Real and Devine. Hugh Mackay and Mary Brennan married in Athlone Westmeath Ireland in 1838 before emigrating to NSW in 1840-41. They moved to Queensland in the late 1840s/early 1850s and farmed at Esk and the Five Mile Waters before settling outside Harrisville on a property they called Thornhill. Mary Brennan also had family around western Brisbane and Ipswich. Her brothers, including Thomas Brennan emigrated also and farmed around the area, including possibly at Redbank. Hugh Mackay died in 1886 at Thornhill. Hugh and Mary's children were Catherine born about 1843, Ellen born about 1845, Hugh born about 1847, Bernard (Barney) born about 1852, Mary Ann born about 1856, Lucy born about 1859. There were three other boys but they had died before Hugh's death in 1886. Hugh and Mary's son, Bernard (Barney) Mackay born at Leyburn near Toowoomba about 1856, lived at Thornhill until his death in 1918. He married Isabella McGrath, d/of Darby and Mary Anne Connolly at Ipswich in Jan 1884. Their children were Norma Cecilia born about 1885, Lucy Mary (my grandmother) born August 1886 in Ipswich, Isabella born about 1889, Hugh Bernard born about 1892, Leona born about 1894, Leo John born about 1896, Francis Charles born about 1898, Leonard Thomas born about 1900 and Fergus James born about 1902. Family members married into the real family (Justice Real?) and the Devine families. I would be very pleased to hear from listers about their families. Anne List Admin PS A Happy New Year to all

My paternal g2-grandparents all had Brisbane connections: Thomas SIMS (Berkshire, returned there) & Jane Margaret OWENS (Ireland to Kedron) married in Brisbane 1865 Edward PICKERING & Hannah SANDERS from Coventry settled at Enoggera in 1862 Thomas Howard GREENHALGH (Manchester) & Jane EATON (Worcester) married in Indooroopilly in 1865 Carl Friedrich Wilhelm REINKE & Friedericke SCHUBERT from Brandenberg emigrated 1876, ending up in Toowoomba region. Lots of other connections especially through the large PICKERING and EATON clans. I'm also related to BAINBRIDGE of Pullenvale on my mother's side which is otherwise NSW & Tassie. Cheers, Steve Sims