Dear Great-great-great-grandfather Tom and great-great-great-grandmother Fran, Once again I'm extending an invitation for you both to join your Australian descendants at Christmas. It will be a busy time as all of us here have so many questions to ask - Tom where were you born and who were your parents? Fran I just can't seem to find your birth or parents' names anywhere. I know you married in 1808 at Swanscombe - but were you young sweethearts or "of full age"? Tom, did you do an apprenticeship to become a barge/boat builder? Did you follow in your father's occupation perhaps? I've discovered births of your children William (1811) and Belton (1814) and their baptisms at St George in Gravesend, but what of any other children? What about your son Tom, my great-great-grandfather; I can't find his birth/baptism anywhere. Was he possibly baptised in the Wesleyan church? He married in Australia in the late 1850s. I know you worked hard and deserved a holiday every now and then but did you have to go on holidays at the time of the census in 1841/1851/1861? Couldn't you have gone at some other time of the year? Frances I know you were a widow when you died in 1869, but when did Thomas die? Tom, was the Mary WATERS who married William BEADLE at Swanscombe in 1810 your sister or a cousin? How are you related to the William WATERS who married Elizabeth STARBUCK c 1826 and who had several children 1827-1848 baptised at Gravesend ? (one of whom, Robert, later turned up in Australia and possibly helped raise your four orphaned grandchildren (children of Tom junior). Your Australian descendants look forward to sharing Christmas in the sunshine with you. Please come. Alison :-) Sydney Australia PS It could be hot, so please bring a hat - we have plenty of sun block