This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: NEWITT TIPPETT WOOD MORPHETT HURTLE SNIDER Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/YB3.2ACEB/17.1 Message Board Post: Hi, I usually don't do this but thought I would give you the opportunity to get a huge chunk of NEWITT family info. I bought it at an auction because I like to collect old photo albums and pics. Anyway, when I looked further at what I had bought I realised that I had purchased a whole families history. It starts with the NEWITT family in BIRMINGHAM (?)ENGLAND and traces there emigration to AUSTRALIA. There are birth certificates (1847 onwards). There is a marraige certificate - 1903. A very old photo album including 47 photos dated around the 1860's (guessing by the clothes and the inscriptions). Some photos are from BIRMINGHAM and WOLVERHAMPTON in the UK, the rest are from AUTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND and strangely enough the cape of GOOD HOPE. There is a birthday book with family birthdays listed in it. Personal letters dated 1873 onwards, including one (October 18th 1874) back to family (Son in law and daughter) in BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND, from James NEWITT, lamenting on emigrating to Australia, how angry his wife is about it, his feared impending death, parcels he is sending back to England and various other tidbits of info about his life and family connections. There is also a letter dated May 24th 1873, from Joseph WOOD father of Emily NEWITT nee WOOD, he talks about his broken heart, his upcoming 69th birthday, illness and famly matters. A handwritten will for James NEWITT - dated 1877 bequething everything to his wife Emily NEWITT (nee WOOD). There are newspaper clippings of the families obituaries and exploits in Australia. There are also certificates of baptism - 1869 & 1881/1882. There is a work reference dated 1868. Someone a long time ago was a genealogist for this family because a lot of the photos and even a handwritten letter have family history info for eg. James Newitt married Emily Wood at April 11th 1868. Ada (?) Emily Born (?) St (?) Down January 9th 1869. Madeleine Constance Born Club House Buildings January 18th 1870. Lily Stillborn Club House Building Hindley Street (that is in Adelaide South Australia) May 25th 1871. Josephine Mary Elizabeth Mabel (?) Born 13th June 1872. James Thomas 5th of James and Emily 13th July 1873. Adelaide Louisa Born Septmeber died (?) not (?). Agnes (?) Born January 18th. George William Joseph Born July 27th Laura Beatrice (Daisy) Born 14th I believe this list was made by Emily NEWITT nee WOOD. Emily's Daughter ADA also made a list of the WOOD families DOB. It starts with the address: CARDEN Street WORCESTER. There is a lot of info regarding the dates of birth/death of Emily's siblings and Emily's DOB being May 5th 1847. There is a handwritten poem titled Be Gentle With Thy Wife. It is written in what looks to be James NEWITT's hand. They came to AUSTRALIA and seem to have spent time in Sydney and Melbourne before settling down in Adelaide South Australia. There are various names also referred to including TIPPETT, WOOD, HURDLE, SNIDER & MORPHETT ( a very wealthy and dominant family in South Australian history - a famous racecourse and exclusive suburb in ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, is named after one of the men in several of the photos in this box). I did my best to contact the family members by phone in Australia, but none of them seemed to be interested in their family history - one even said "Oh yes I sold that junk to a salesman it had been sitting in the shed for years. Why would anyone want that?" She also went on to say that she had sold old war medals and other family memorabillia that dated back to the 17th century to the same salesman. Before you ask, I don't know who the salesman is and where the items are I only know he put these items up for auction, which is how I got them. If you are interested in these items please email me : ilaakmosaic@optusnet.com.au Please note that these items are for sale to the person making me the highest offer. There will be no negotiating or pushing up the price tactics, I just want to ensure that these items get to their rightful owners. You MUST however be able to prove that you are related to the people in this family or I won't sell these items to you - I want to ensure that they will stay in the family this time and not be broken up and sold as has been the case in the past. These items would fetch a lot of money on Ebay and that is why I am trying to get them to their rightful owners and provenance must be proven, before the sale is complete. I can provide digital photos for you if you need them. Thanks for your time, K. Gray.