Peter - > I looked up the Heritage Search as suggested and it seems that Alfred > Joy wrote a dairy,a copy of which is held by Oxford Heritage > This could perhaps answer my query as to what happened to the family > tailoring business in that he has given his reason for moving from > Oxford to Melbourne. > As I live in Derbyshire and as such it is difficult for me to look at > this diary is there some kind soul out there who could have a look for > me? Yes, I'm happy to do so. Wendy (Archer, not King!)

Peter - Following Wendy King's suggestion, you said: >> I looked up the Heritage Search as suggested and it seems that Alfred >> Joy wrote a dairy,a copy of which is held by Oxford Heritage >> This could perhaps answer my query as to what happened to the family >> tailoring business in that he has given his reason for moving from >> Oxford to Melbourne. >> As I live in Derbyshire and as such it is difficult for me to look at >> this diary is there some kind soul out there who could have a look for >> me? My husband looked at this document yesterday. He says: Author: JOY, Alfred Title: Copy of Alfred JOY's diary written on his voyage from London and during his early settlement in Melbourne 1853 - 1854 Publisher: S.l: s.n. 1853-1854 Location: Oxfordshire History Centre, St. Lukes, Cowley, Oxford Ref. PA Pamphlets (strongroom) OXFO/325.2 Barcode: 306378903 The document in the Oxfordshire History Centre is a typescript transcription of Alfred JOY's diary. There is no indication of who made the transcription or where the original is. Alfred JOY (31 years), described as "gentleman", and his wife, Henrietta (24 years), were cabin passengers on the barque "Thomas Harrison" , which sailed from Gravesend on the 22nd April 1853 to Melbourne, arriving on the 22nd Sep. 1853, after "a tedious journey of 155 days". The diary speaks almost entirely about the details of the voyage - mostly sea-sickness and disasters. Letters exchanged with "Mother", "Tom", "William", "Jane", "Floyd", "Mr. Miles", "Mrs. Solari". Henrietta has a baby boy on 4th October 1853, name not given. Alfred buys some land in North Melbourne on 18th October, and starts building a house. Alfred gets a job working for Mr. BLISS in his Office, no explanation as to the nature of the business. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ See Wendy King's post with more detail of Mr BLISS & his business. Wendy