Greetings from the 'Land Down Under', I should be somewhere else but because my geography is not that flash I stumbled into Bute. The list boss said "Just in case you decide to stay.... Why not start off by introducing yourself - telling us who you are.........." Well I was actually looking for Colonsay but I must have missed Oban and got on the wrong ferry :-). And you have all been so nice about it how could I possibly leave now! I am, Dean Newman of a little tropical paradise named Bingil Bay on the far North Queensland coast of Australia. Just in case you go looking; you probably won't find our little village on a map but we are about halfway between Townsville and Cairns and down on the coast from Tully. The Coral Sea is just at the bottom of our street and I go walking on the beach there every morning (almost!). Probably a little bluer and calmer than the waters of Bute (or yet Colonsay) but I love it - but then I'm not the one with Scots blood in me (well not much anyway - there is a Dawson or is it a Davidson lurking). My wife Patricia is the true and proven descendant, and it is on her behalf that I am here. I am a retired 'animal nutritionist', once specialising in beef cattle on the big 'runs' of the Northern Territory (we lived in Alice Springs for 21 years) and North Queensland. Gave it all away for a quieter life just over three years ago and now concentrate on my genealogical pursuits of mystery men and women. The Internet is a new 'baby' of only four months gestation for me, and my experience of 'mailing lists' only started last Friday!! So there you are - and here I am. >You may well find > that you already have a 'cousin' out there, also 'listening > in'! Well I hope so, Peter. I will provide detail that will identify my searches in a separate message to follow. In the mean time, thanks for having me at your place. Regards, Dean Newman. [email protected]