Hi Love reading about the brick walls and who gets invited to dinner to provide a bit of information and meat on the family. My dinner guest would be my great grandfather John Christie born in Elgin in 1862 the son of William Christie and Mary Gellie. John is a bit of a diffcult man to trace - he vanishes from the face of the earth in 1888 after marrying Isabella Morton Adamson in Sydney - she died about two months after the marriage and approximately one month after giving birth to my grandfather William Christie - I suspect this was considered pretty scandolous at the time. Letters kept by my dad show that John's brother, William - who went to New York in 1881 (marrying Fannie Skeltonizeth in 1887) and his sister Mary Ann - who married James Adamson of Aberdeen show they kept in touch with John who sailed on the Kosiouscko and the Alexander Duthie at different times. Reference is made in the letters to George Gellie Christie (John's brother) who married Susan Rust of Aberdeen and to his younger sister Olivia who married Jabez Trippett and went to live in Yorkshire about 1920 (these bits have been gleaned from Scotland's People). It would be lovely to know what John did after discovering his young bride had passed away - after his ship had sailed from Sydney. Family 'gossip' says he never saw his son again as he was raised by Isabella's mother in Manly, NSW. John wrote such detailed letters about his adventures on the ships and it would be so nice to crack the brick wall to see just where he went after leaving. Merry Christmas to all. Jan Christie in NSW --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox.