I am trying to piece together some background of some of my German ancestors, namely my G/G/Grandparents Johann Mich. Mössner and his wife Christiane (nee Bochringer). Shortly after their arrival at Maryborough on 28 March 1856 via "Helene" they went to Wetheron. At that time they had 2 children Christiane (later known as Annie) aged 8, and Johann Gottl.aged 3. Another daughter Eliza was born abt 1858 at Degilbo. Naturally I would like to hear if anyone knows anything of the family, but also about Wetheron and Degilbo. I am not a Queenslander and am interested to know if those 2 places are (or were) actual towns, or the names of properties where perhaps these folk went to work. Thanks, Michael in Sydney

Michael, Degilbo is 6 kilometres west of Biggenden and Wetherton is about 25 kilometres north-east of Gayndah. Judging from the map I am looking at, there is a railway siding and a homestead with those names nearby. I have a copy of a book "The Gayndah Communes" written by Bill Metcalf and published in 1998 by the Central Queensland University Press, PO Box 1615, Rockhampton Qld 4700. Bill is an Academic at that University and researched the establishment and ultimate failure of communes (in the classic sense) which were established on the original Degilbo (1849) and Wetherton (1850) runs which were taken up in the "great Burnett land grab" of 1847. The above dates are when the runs were formally approved by the NSW government. The early part of the book sets the scene for the 1890s communes and describes the people involved in these two properties and something of the history of the localities. I bought my copy of the book at the local bookshop in suburban Brisbane. Perhaps your original immigrants were like mine. They came from Germany as young men and women to work on sheep and then cattle stations in the Gayndah area. If you would like more information from the book, let me know. Tom (Researching the HAUPT family when time permits!) -----Original Message----- From: Michael Rowley [mailto:mickeyr@optushome.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, 20 March 2002 4:19 PM To: AUS-QLD-SE-Germans-L@rootsweb.com Subject: SURNAME - MÖSSNER (aka MESNER, MESSNER) I am trying to piece together some background of some of my German ancestors, namely my G/G/Grandparents Johann Mich. Mössner and his wife Christiane (nee Bochringer). Shortly after their arrival at Maryborough on 28 March 1856 via "Helene" they went to Wetheron. At that time they had 2 children Christiane (later known as Annie) aged 8, and Johann Gottl.aged 3. Another daughter Eliza was born abt 1858 at Degilbo. Naturally I would like to hear if anyone knows anything of the family, but also about Wetheron and Degilbo. I am not a Queenslander and am interested to know if those 2 places are (or were) actual towns, or the names of properties where perhaps these folk went to work. Thanks, Michael in Sydney ============================== 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

Dear Michael, Degilbo and Wetheron were large sheep and cattle Stations,really a small settlement where many people lived and worked for the owners of these properties.Degilbo was the main settlement in 1856 and was on the road from Maryborough and would be about 80klms by road to there and Wetheron a further 20 klms to the west and on the Burnett River at Mingo Crossing.The area is rich in gold mines and other minerals and a large dam is going to built at the Gold Field at Paradise which is between the two places.There are lots of archival files on Degilbo,as this was the main centre before Biggenden became the new town 12 klms to the SE of there in 1865.The Qld State Archives at Runcorn Brisbane, and would be a good place to search. www.archives.qld.gov.au Regards Noel Hall ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Rowley" <mickeyr@optushome.com.au> To: <AUS-QLD-SE-Germans-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 4:18 PM Subject: SURNAME - MÖSSNER (aka MESNER, MESSNER) > I am trying to piece together some background of some of my German ancestors, namely my G/G/Grandparents Johann Mich. Mössner and his wife Christiane (nee Bochringer). > > Shortly after their arrival at Maryborough on 28 March 1856 via "Helene" they went to Wetheron. At that time they had 2 children Christiane (later known as Annie) aged 8, and Johann Gottl.aged 3. > > Another daughter Eliza was born abt 1858 at Degilbo. > > Naturally I would like to hear if anyone knows anything of the family, but also about Wetheron and Degilbo. > > I am not a Queenslander and am interested to know if those 2 places are (or were) actual towns, or the names of properties where perhaps these folk went to work. > > Thanks, Michael in Sydney > > ______________________________