I thought it was about time we had a roll call. I've sat for awhile before calling it but think it would be good to have a list of everyboy's interests. James Whiteford bn Melbourne in the 1850s worked as a policeman in far north Qld (Coen, Laura & the Palmer) from the 1880s to 1910/11 when he retired. In 1883 in Cooktown, he married Annie Helena Smythe, a governess bn 1858/59 in Dublin Ireland (not sure whether county or town). Annie Helena emigrated to Cooktown in the 1880s. After James's retirement they lived in Rockhampton and then Brisbane. Their sons, James (Jnr) and Gerald Bertram, were born in Cooktown but were sent to school in Brisbane (Nudgee College) at an early age. The family lived at Coen, 180 miles north from Cooktown so it would have been extremely remote. I'm not sure why they didn't send the children to the Coen school rather than all the way to Brisbane, where as far as I know they didn't have any relatives. James Snr is my great grandfather. James Jnr married Lucy Mary Mackay, daughter of Bernard Mackay and Isabella McGrath, at Harrisville near Ipswich in 1914. They lived in Brisbane with James' parents, initially at Somerset St Fortitude Valley and later at Norman St Woolowin. James Jnr was an electrical engineer who worked in north Qld and also in Papua New Guinea. If anyone has interests in Port Moresby I have a couple of original photographs taken by James Jnr in Port Moresby around the early part of the 20th Century when he worked on putting electrical lines into the town. I also have an interesting section of a letter my grandmother, Lucy Mackay, wrote about early days in Woolowin, noting that this was probably during the First World war or shortly thereafter, about corroborees being held just down the end of their road on the banks of the creek. Her Mackay family, which was from Athlone Westmeath, mostly settled around Ipswich, Esk, Darling Downs with her father, Barnie Mackay, having land in the Fassifern Valley. The property was called Thorn Hill. Gerald Bertram Whiteford married Julia Finn in 1926. As far as I know they lived in Brisbane all of their life. They had no children. I don't know anything about the Finns and would be pleased to hear from anybody with any connections. The McGrath connection is from Darby McGrath, convicted in 1833 in Ireland and transported to NSW in 1834 and his brother John, convicted in 1837 and transported. Darby was initially assigned to the Berrima area in NSW before getting his Ticket of Leave and making his way to Qld, following I believe his brother John who had been sent north earlier. Darby can be googled up all over the place. He was an early settler buying land in the first sales at Ashgrove. He had a lease on land on what my husband and I think is now the old Treasury building on North Quay, now the Casino (sadly). We wish he'd kept that piece of the land in the family!!!! Darby is mentioned in the Rosalind Siemonds book, "The Mayne Inheritance" where he's described as the "historical Darby McGrath, an unscrupulous Irish land speculator". His land records show he was certainly a busy buyer and leaser of land. At some point Darby moved towards Ipswich. He provided a building on his land at what's now Amberley for the first school in the area. He settled at a grazing property he called Willowbanks. Darby is my great great grandfather. His brother John remained in Brisbane with McGrath's Bridge named, I believe after him. He married Patrick Pacey's daughter. They had no children. Patrick Pacey was also a convict who arrived on the "Waverley", the same ship as John. Finally the Roberts connection is through Hugh Bernard Mackay who married Catherine Gladys Roberts in 1914. Hoping to hear from you all with your Brisbane interests. Anne