I have to wonder if your Sharp /Smart is not a transcription or pronounciation error too. its very similar .Could they read and write? Interesting this change of name came up this week, when I too am battling with a possible change of name from Oakley to Allen in uk, I have found someone in another family who changed his nchristian ame from jonas to james, and found his father also jonas in debtors prison about the time of the name change, was this to avoid possible problems in confusing the two of them. Have yet to find any reason why this last change occurred but they did move counties at same time and it seems there was no legal requirement in 1800's in uk to record name changes. After years of searching it only came to light using a christian name search of census records with just christian name of siblings, date and place of birth. But without evidence its really hard to prove its the same family. Uk certificates dont list mothers names except for birth. I know this is not in itself geelong related but if anyone has any ideas love to hear them if you reply direct and if you have a family you can only find in one or two census' then try a few searches without surname you may be surprised with what you find. So good luck. Linda

Aahh, yes ... the spelling! And the accent. And the fact that so many people couldn't read or write. My g-g-grandfather shows on the shipping list to Australia as John Henfield, and married as Hemfil - the nine children registered in NSW as Hemfield, Hemfil, Heniful, Hempfield. His brother and sister followed him a year later as Enfield. And stuck to that name. The connection only picked up because his wife had a baby whose birth and death was registered by my g-g-grandmother (who was also John's first cousin), under the name of Hemfil. Family was from Tipperary and around 1850 made their way to Sheffield, before moving on to Australia. But the father died there, as Hemfrey, and one son stayed in England, mainly as Hemfield, but with the odd variation here and there. On the bright side though, the three brothers and two sisters all used the same names for their large families, so the variations in surnames made it easier to track them. It would be nice, though, to know what the 'real' name was. Cheers Barbara

Barbara OConnor wrote: > Family was from Tipperary and around 1850 made their way to Sheffield, > before moving on to Australia. Any idea of why they made the two moves? -- Terry Collins Email: genie200903spam-spam at woa.com.au (no spam) Researching: Aust, NSW, Collins, Errey, Hulands, Malcolm, McCann, Pitt, Steward/Stewart Aust, Vic, Errey, Finlayson, Hulands, Malcolm, McLeod. Aust, SA, Pitt, Stewart.