Links

“I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me, those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front, to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond. And their eyes were my eyes”…………..from Richard Llewellyn’s “How Green Was My Valley”

If you like jigsaw puzzles, detective novels, Cluedo and the Thrill of a chase, you’ll love GENEALOGY @Janet Reakes Historian 1986

Tracing one’s ancestors can be a thrilling and rewarding experience – but it can also be frustrating and expensive. GENEALOGY helps you gain an appreciation of your ancestors as you delve into your Family Tree.

And, importantly, remember that you can’t change what has already happened!

GOLDEN RULES OF GENEALOGY

1. ALWAYS work backwards from the known (yourself) to the unknown (your forebears)

2. NEVER believe everything on a Birth, Death Marriage certificate

3. NEVER completely trust the spelling of surnames, place names etc

4. ALWAYS check surname variants when researching

5. ALWAYS have at least two separate sources of proof for each event

6. REMEMBER that everything is only speculation until verified

7. ALWAYS photocopy or scan certificates and important documents and leave the originals in a safe place

8. IF a document exists, read it!!

9. JOIN at least one Family History Group, Genealogy Society or Historical Society

10. SHARE your information and documentation (copies only) with other researchers

Source: Australian Family Tree Connections Magazine December 2011

Useful Links

1.  First Fleet - Museum of Sydney - Museums of History NSW

https://mhnsw.au/tags/first-fleet/?page=1

Stories of the Fleet - including the ships and some of those who sailed on the Fleet

2. ADB - Australian Dictionary of Biography

https://adb.anu.edu.au/

Australia's premier dictionary of national biography produced by National Centre of Biography, Australian National University

3. Society of Australian Genealogists

www.sag.org.au

Established in 1937- Helping people trace family history for over 75 years. Publish a monthly electronic newsletter advising upcoming events and courses. Have also started giving podcasts on history. - Publishes quarterly ‘Descent’ magazine

4. Royal Australian Historical Society.

www.rahs.org.au

The Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS), Australia’s oldest historical organisation founded in Sydney in 1901, exists to encourage the study of and interest in Australian history. The Society boasts a membership network of individuals and local historical societies, libraries and corporate partners. As a not-for-profit organisation, its activities and facilities are largely funded by contributions from its members and benefactors.

Address: History House, 130 Macquarie St Sydney NSW 2000

5. The Australian Society of Mayflower Descendants

www.mayflowersociety.org.au

Established in 2020 by charter from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants in Plymouth USA.

Our mission includes helping to tell the story of the Pilgrims to honour their strength, courage, faith and commitment to the principles of liberty.  Our members are descendants of the original Mayflower passengers who seek to preserve their heritage in Australia.

6. How to write a biographical story about your ancestor - Guidelines for the Fellowship of First Fleeters' website - from the Arthur Phillip Chapter of Fellowship of First Fleeters

https://arthurphillipchapter.weebly.com/how-to-write-fff-biographical-profiles.html

7. Arthur Phillip Chapter of Fellowship of First Fleeters - many resources!

https://arthurphillipchapter.weebly.com/

First Fleet Family Associations

1. ROPE - PULLEY FAMILY HERITAGE ASSOCIATION

www.ropepulley.org

The Rope-Pulley Family Heritage Association is a group of descendants from the two First Fleeters: Anthony Rope and Elizabeth Pulley.

Contact: Rosemary Roberts, Chairperson-email: rosemary@ropepulley.org

2. THOMAS ARNDELL FAMILY ASSOCIATION

Contact: Secretary Bob Davis: email: bob.davis.au@gmail.com

3. TUNKS DESCENDANTS ASSOCIATION Incorporated - to be amended

• http://tunksaustralia1788.com.au

• https://www.facebook.com/TunksDescendantsAssociationInc 

Contact: Ron Baird, President-Ph 02 4822 9383

4. Descendants of First Fleeters EDWARD PUGH & HANNAH SMITH Association

https://www.facebook.com/groups/120600707952020/ 

We are a group of family history researchers who are all descendant from Edward Pugh and Hannah Smith (or spouses or friends of descendants). Edward arrived in Australia on the First Fleet ship The Friendship, and Hannah on the Lady Penrhyn . We found each other mainly through the Ancestry.com website and family contacts.
Contact: Secretary Colleen Moss- email: ffps_secretary@hotmail.com.au

5. JOHN NICHOLS Family Association

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~johnnichols/genealogy/index.html

6. JOHN SMALL and MARY PARKER Descendants Association

https://sites.google.com/site/smallfamilyda/

7. ILLAWARRA SMALL Bradley Hibbs UK First Fleet Family

http://illawarrasmallbradleyukfirstfleetfamilies.wordpress.com/

8. OWEN CAVANOUGH Family Historical Society

Contact : Pat Holdorf- email p1234@tadaust.org.au

9. The THOMAS ACRES Society- FACEBOOK Page

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063739410556

10. FREDERICK MEREDITH DESCENDANTS GROUP

https://frederickmeredith1788.org/- https://www.facebook.com/groups/58060176063/

Contact: Secretary: Coral Broder - email: hcbroder@bigpond.com

11. HOBART TOWN (1804) FIRST SETTLERS ASSOCIATION

www.htfs.org.au

The Association was founded to foster and promote awareness of Hobart's historical heritage and to encourage members in the research, collection and writing of their family historical background, and to preserving material of all types relating to the first and early settlers of Hobart.

Contact: PO Box 337 Glenorchy 7010 Tasmania, Australia

12. MARINES OF THE FIRST FLEET - NAVAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

https://www.navyhistory.org.au/the-marines-of-the-first-fleet/

13. Tunks Descendants Association Inc.

Archivist Marian Perrem is continually updating the Tunks Family Tree records. The last version has 6,508 individual records. Marian has revealed some interesting data: Of the 6,508 individual names listed to date, 4,483 are direct descendants and 2,025 are spouses they married.

NOTE, the 7th generation coincides with Australia's 'Baby Boomer' Era but the 8th generation that produced the most direct descendants.
For further information contact: Marian Perrem - Email: marianperrem@bigpond.com

14. Lydia Munro & Andrew Goodwin "Heaven and Hell Together"  Website - located in NLA Pandora Archived Websites

15. Books on the First Fleet, First Fleeters and Their Times

FirstFleetBooks.html & Fellowship of First Fleeters Library Catalogue

16. Other Useful Web Sites:

17. Journals of the First Fleet

The world's largest collection of original First Fleet journals and correspondence are held by the State Library of NSW. There are 11 known journal manuscripts, and 9 of these are held in the Mitchell Library and Dixson Library collections, at the State Library of New South Wales. These journals also form part of the Australian Establishing Settlement items listed as part of UNESCO's Memory of the World Documentary Register - Documentary Heritage - see MORE.

"The State Library of NSW's First Fleet Collection includes journals, letters, drawings, maps and charts created by those who travelled with the First Fleet of British ships to Australia"

From the HMS Sirius:

• John Hunter, Second Captain; - Transcript
• Philip Gidley King, Second Lieutenant; Transcripts -  Vol.1, Vol.2
• William Bradley, First Lieutenant; - Transcript
• Jacob Nagle, a seaman - Transcript;
• George Worgan, surgeon, - Transcript

From the Friendship:

• Ralph Clark, Second Lieutenant of Marines; - Transcript

From the Prince of Wales:

• James Scott, Sergeant of Marines; - Transcript

From the Scarborough:

• John Easty, private Marine on the Scarborough; - Transcript

From the Lady Penrhyn:

• and Arthur Bowes Smyth, surgeon. - Transcript

Letters

• David Blackburn Master of HMAT (HMS) Supply, 1779 - 1796 - Letters
• James Campbell - Captain of Marines Lady Penrhyn - Letters
• John Campbell - Lady Penrhn - Letters
• Newton Fowell - Midshipman HMS Sirius - Letters
• Rev. Richard Johnson - Golden Grove - Letters
• Henry Waterhouse - Midshipman  HMS Sirius - Letters

The State Library of NSW also refers to early published accounts of the NSW Colony:

•  Extract of a journal from England to Botany Bay was written by Richard Williams, a common seaman on the Borrowdale - published c.1789
• Governor Phillip’s The voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay : with an account of the establishment of the colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island… published in 1789,
• the illustrated journal of surgeon John White, published in 1790,
• Judge Advocate David Collins' detailed account published in 1798, An account of the English colony in New South Wales - Volume 1. 

At the Gutenberg Project website:

• William BRADLEY (1758-1833), Journal of A Voyage to New South Wales, December 1786 — May 1792; compiled 1802.
• David COLLINS (1754-1810), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, COMPILED, BY PERMISSION, FROM THE MSS. OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR KING. Vol 1 London, 1798.
• David COLLINS (1754-1810), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol 2 - COMPILED, BY PERMISSION, FROM THE MSS. OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR KING. London, 1802.
• John Hunter,  An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island - with the Discoveries which have been made in NEW SOUTH WALES and in the SOUTHERN OCEAN, since the publication of PHILLIP'S VOYAGE, compiled from the Official Papers; Including the JOURNALS of Governor PHILLIP and KING, and of Lieut. BALL; and the VOYAGES from the first Sailing of the Sirius in 1787, to the Return of that Ship's Company to England in 1792, London 1793
• Richard JOHNSON (c.1756-1827), An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies Established at NSW and Norfolk Island
• Arthur PHILLIP (1738-1814), The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, London, 1789. This book includes the Journals of Lieutenantss Shortland, Watts, Ball and Captain Marshall, with an account of their new discoveries. The book also includes a List of Convicts sent to New South Wales on the First Fleet, in 1787.
• Arthur Bowes SMYTH'S Journal of a Voyage from Portsmouth to New South Wales and China, edited by Colin Choat.
• Daniel SOUTHWELL (1764-1797), Journal and Letters of Daniel Southwell. Southwell embarked as a midshipman in the Sirius in 1787 and was made a mate on the voyage to NSW.
• Watkin Tench's "A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay...", 1789,
• Watkin Tench "A Complete Account of the Settlement at Botany Bay in New South Wales"
• John WHITE (1757-1832), Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. White was the principal surgeon on the First Fleet.
• George WORGAN (1757-1838), Journal of a First Fleet Surgeon. Worgan was the surgeon of the Sirius.

Gutenberg: EARLY NEWS FROM A NEW COLONY: BRITISH MUSEUM PAPERS.

University of Sydney - Philip Gidley King, The Journal of Philip Gidley King, RN 1787 - 1790

Convict Narrative - Jeremy Bentham Papers - James Martin - Convict - Charlotte  Memorandums

Founding Documents of Australia - 110 Documents that are the foundation of our Nation

• Governor Arthur Phillips Secret Instructions - Transcript
• NSW Courts Act - 1787 - Transcript 
• Charter of Justice - 1787 - Transcript