Dear Listers, Five or six years ago I posted an enquiry about Catherine Clark/e (1805-1856), whose origins remain a mystery to me. I have discovered a little more about her and I now renew my enquiry in the hope that someone has come across further information about Catherine's life, particularly her early life. According to Catherine’s own account she was born in Sydney in 1805. I can find no other record, apart from her own account, of her birth or baptism. It was a largish family: in 1836 she said that her mother, two brothers and three sisters were still living. I do not know their names or whether some or all remained in Sydney. Catherine came to Launceston from Sydney in August 1822 on the colonial schooner, ‘Governor Brisbane’. This was the only Sydney/Tasmania journey undertaken by the Governor Brisbane. Some of the passengers on this voyage are named in contemporary news accounts, but Catherine is not named. One who is named was Anne Clarke, a servant to Mrs Reibey, a passenger who made a brief visit to Tasmania. Newspaper accounts don’t indicate whether Anne returned to Sydney with Mrs Reibey. There is some evidence that Anne remained in Launceston and was associated with Catherine, who certainly remained. It is at least possible that they were sisters. It is possible that Catherine also came as a servant to one of the other passengers on the Governor Brisbane. In 1823 Catherine married Peter Fowlser, a convict who had embezzled money from the widow who employed him. There was one child, Frederick Peter Fowlser, before Peter Fowlser died in 1826. Catherine married John Connelly in 1829, by whom she had three more children. From 1829 her life is reasonably well documented. It is her origins that are the puzzle. Her first marriage to the convict, Peter Fowlser, suggests that she enjoyed no elevated social status. She was probably a convict’s daughter. I will be grateful for any suggestions or help. The Clark/es are a difficult group to research. Ian Ian Leader-Elliott, Emeritus Fellow, University of Adelaide, Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia, School of Law