In a message dated 04/07/2004 11:00:49 GMT Daylight Time, Annathamble@aol.com writes: I see that there are some passports on line at the National Archivist. I have an ancestor who deserted his wife c 1870 and went to Australia ( so the story goes). Would he have had to obtain a passport or were these only for the gentry? Ann Lavery Ann . . While I don't know the definitive answer, my first thought is that since I understand that Australia was still a colony in 1870, it was still British soil and there would be no need for any British citizen going there to have a passport. Perhaps someone will correct me if I am wrong! . . Geoff Nicholson . 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU Ask for details of NBL/DUR family history research in depth by THE local expert, working for YOU.

Hi Geoff and Ann :) I have a friend in Australia who is English born. She's never had a passport and I think her parents migrated there some time around WW2, possibly earlier. She always boasted that if I wanted to visit England I had to have a passport, whereas she didn't! ;D So my guess is you're correct, that in those days there wouldn't be a need for a passport. Take care, Rob. IBSSG Stuttgart, Germany Honey's Home of Genealogy www.honeyshome.com ----- Original Message ----- From: GNicresearch@aol.com To: ENG-DURHAM-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2004 5:31 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-DUR] Re: Passports In a message dated 04/07/2004 11:00:49 GMT Daylight Time, Annathamble@aol.com writes: I see that there are some passports on line at the National Archivist. I have an ancestor who deserted his wife c 1870 and went to Australia ( so the story goes). Would he have had to obtain a passport or were these only for the gentry? Ann Lavery Ann . . While I don't know the definitive answer, my first thought is that since I understand that Australia was still a colony in 1870, it was still British soil and there would be no need for any British citizen going there to have a passport. Perhaps someone will correct me if I am wrong! . . Geoff Nicholson . 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU Ask for details of NBL/DUR family history research in depth by THE local expert, working for YOU. ==== ENG-DURHAM Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe send the command unsubscribe to ENG-DURHAM-L-request@rootsweb.com (if in mail mode) or ENG-DURHAM-D-request@rootsweb.com (if in digest mode.)