Dear Colleagues Recently travelled through Casterton and Penola, hoping in the former to find the graves of my GGGrandparents James Frederick Rowley and Mary Ann Thom (formerly Rowley nee McElroy). James died Casterton 1874 and is supposed to be buried Casterton Old Cemetery. This is in a very sad state and I was appalled. Mary died 1921 in Merino (after 14 children aged 81!) supposed to be buried at Casterton New Cemetery. Could not find either grave. I was given the burial information for both from a wonderful lady involved with the Portland Family Historical Association. Re James in 1874, the local records were supposed to have been burned during a fire in Casterton in 1896. The local shire / town had no info. Another lady who was a trustee of the Casterton New Cemetery had records but not of Mary. So can I ask the following : a.. Why would the Portland FHA have records and not the local sources? b.. Would Mary be buried in Merino and if so does anyone know where? c.. Would there normally be secondary records apart from lost ones? d.. Why don't the Casterton residents care about their pioneer ancestors and do something about their original cemetery? (This is probably going to raise some hackles). Best regards. John Rowley John Rowley Sound Services Pty Ltd ABN 95 006 817 125 103 Carpenter Street Brighton Vic 3186 Australia T +61 3 9593 2000 F +61 3 9593 2100 M +61 418 100 860 / 0418 100 860 E rowleyj@ocean.com.au ----- Original Message ----- From: <AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT-D-request@rootsweb.com> To: <AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT-D@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, 26 November 2000 06:00 Subject: AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT-D Digest V00 #74