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The 3rd Tri-ennial PICNIC & BBQ DAY was held on Sunday 26th October 2008 At Maraylya Hall (near Pitt Town NSW). About 80 people attended and we all had a convivial day meeting new family members and connections as well as numerous old friends and family. Family descendants travelled from Queensland , Victoria , and a wide range of NSW locations. We thank them all for the effort made. Lots of information was collected and more will flow over coming weeks.

All seven children of Ellen & Joseph were represented by their current day descendants in varying numbers. A visit to the local cemetery and the Joseph Wright land grant was taken in a car convoy. A relaxing sunny day spent together with a good deal of good laughter and happy conversation. As announced, both Marion Taylor and myself feel that we have achieved the main objectives of our several years of input and now seek to retreat from the increasing demands of adding to and maintaining the data base of descendants as frequently as in past years. It is also time to pass the task on to others who will perhaps offer a fresh impetus. The key objectives of informing and disseminating a family history and genealogical data base to the descendants of Joseph Wright & Ellen Gott can never quite be finished and is of course dynamic over time. More information and snippets of family history and heritage matters will surely come forward, however from January 2009 we will only update the database of descendants at about six monthly intervals. So, any family information, old photos or other data contributions you wish added... Please let me know of them by end of November 08.

The other key purpose of our efforts and this website has been to make the family history available to a very broad range of descendants in an effort to ensure that the information which for so long existed only in a piecemeal manner, becomes widely enough spread that it will not be lost or destroyed.

I will maintain this website for as long as reasonably possible whilst the current level of enquiry and site visits continue, but please note that Marion & I are seeking to take much more of a back seat in relation to family history matters. Marion as our family genealogist will continue to attend to specific family enquiries where there is a special need, new information or interest. I will continue to attend to the web site maintenance and assist with enquiries for relationship charts, co-ordination and other data etc, while able. Of course we still hope that some keen younger generation members may take over the ongoing task. We stand ready to assist any suitably qualified or keen person(s) who step up to the interesting task.

Marion and I both wish to thank the so many descendants and connections who have assisted us with contributions of family records, photos and other general information, which have been incorporated within this the offering of this site . Numerous good warm stories of discovered history and family heritage have come from here. All of them without exception, are happy stories with responses ranging from exited whoops of joy and gobsmacked discovery, to quite amazing stories of current discovered connections. Many new bridges have been made. That has been our happy reward.

We would particularly like to record our warm thanks to Stephen Wright, now of the Hawkesbury Regional Museum who resides nowadays at Windsor and who, like many is of course also a descendant of Joseph & Ellen. Stephen and I only met in the last two years, he is a wonderful fellow. ( Stephen, please note I am trying to quietly tip you into the the job of replacing me as webmaster) Stephen has been such a comforting support to me, particular in helping organise this latest reunion. His mother Margaret, was also a quiet, calm, efficient wonderful helper to us all throughout the day. We thank them both for their efforts. Our thanks also to others who helped on the day, amongst whom were Clem & Di Allen and other folk who pitched in to quickly restore the hall to its neat rural status.

This web site will be maintained while sufficient interest or enquiry is shown. More than 4000 substantial, detailed browsings of the site take place annually and more than 500 detailed email correspondences take place with descendants seeking information or genealogical connection. This activity is increasing steadily. Many other contacts contribute details of family and their own descendants, or offer valuable assistance by correction to small details or adding another important missing links to the past histories of this extended family group. We hope this continues, but would be interested in hearing from any member willing to assist by hosting and maintaining this website. (Yes! - we are getting older and need a succession plan in place) .

It's the season for family and all that comes with the festive season. A very Merry and Safe Christmas to all descendants and family contacts. We have had numerous people contact us this year with some notable additions and other more obscure connections. The branches keep sprouting new leaves and adding information on those more dated small items that keep our data alive and of use to all those that come on behind us. Marion Taylor & I would like to remind all those who contact us ( often in a state of delight at discovering a connection) that we would like to fill in the information gaps. Perhaps a few too many seem to want information that we can very willingly give, but seem a little absent minded when it comes to replying with a little detail about siblings, parents or other simple data. We do not hound for information, but we do seek for the sake of all to get the base data as valid as may be possible. So.... please contribute with your information when you can.. Thanks and again a very Merry Christmas to all .

Family members and descendants, researchers, and others continue contacting us and finding descendants and family connections that are of interest. Many contact us with interesting snippets, minor corrections, ( yep! we can get it Wrong - not Wright all the time !) and new branches that we have known must exist but which have previously just stopped with dead end results. So it's most encouraging to Marion Taylor and myself to find the Web site serving it's purpose and that descendants are making good use of it. Our recent web page hits results reflect a growing interest. There are some very nice emails that reflect the surprise and happiness to discover the full "Family Story'. They make up for a lot of the sometimes tedious effort that is required and lets us know we accepted a worthy challenge many years back. Without your input, progress would be difficult... so we thank all that have been in touch.

We have quite a crop of 9th generation Austalian born children arriving on our family records. !! More updates and new branches added and gaps filled in. Marion Taylor our family member and determined genealogist continues to come up with quite amazing information. Please keep the snippets flowing in.

Recent contacts to the web site from descendants all over Australia who have discovered and contributed more to the descedants data include Matt Wright with additional information for us concerning his branch of the family. Greetings and welcome contact also recieved from Justin Lewis who has put us in touch with his Grandfather Dr Robert Waterford Wright and offered information on others of his family. More recenly this week we have had contact and more information forthcoming from Dr David Wright, from the Hunter Valley area. Greg Bradshaw has also been in contact and will be adding some detail shortly regarding the Buckridge and Henry family connections. Finally, just today we have Joseph Wright a serving Army man, making his discovery of our web site and contacting us with the joy of discovery out of the blue as a result. All good pleasant stuff . We just hope you can all get the sometimes boring stuff of data & dates to Marion and/or myself so that we can continue the integrity of the project.

Interesting that many descendants of the current generation have higher level computer skills (than my generation), and who seem to Google a good deal, or may be new parents, or heading that way. Contacts from descendants and family connections continue to bring forward with interesting connections and contributions to missing gaps and loose ends. We are constantly attempting to keep our records as accurate as possible and regularly update the data section of the website. Do please remember that the web listing is a compressed version of the full CD-ROM version available from Marion Taylor at token cost . If you get hold of a copy from her you can add all your other connections, print charts etc, and even start another full family file of "that other branch " of your own immediate family! We are now upadating this web site about every two months or more frequently. The CD ROM from Marion is very complete and with the included free program makes the overview of the whole family or your branch very easily viewable. I really suggest LEGACY free download as a great stable, easy to use program. It brings the web descendants listing alive to a new high, and as stated you can add and print all the stuff you want for Granny or your favourite Uncle. Yes ... this is a plug and we get nothing nor want anything from it. Just email Marion and get the goods.

I have been encouraged by your response to our first newsletter and hope we will be able to produce something of value to everyone. I will be relying on you to keep me supplied with items of interest – such as family gatherings, important events etc.

At long last !! Price $18 including packaging and postage. Order form attached

There are in excess of 6800 names and is a combination of many years of research, hours of typing and the contributions of many family members to whom I owe a huge thanks. With anything of this nature there is always the risk of the odd error or omission. It is not possible to verify every piece of information supplied, however care has been taken in compiling the data. Should you become aware of any corrections please advise me. No doubt, people will contribute information in the future and I will try to include this in future newsletters.

Many thanks to all who sent me details of their families, it was great to have such a response.

A very special thanks to Philip Wright who has worked with me, supported, advised and encouraged me to complete it, and he has kindly transferred all the data to a CD, which hopefully will be of use to many. The CD ROM has a full genealogy program and the data file which will allow users to have the complete known family records as at March 2005. This CD and its program will allow all interested to view print and manipulate the family data. Additionally, users may add extra family members and even start off new family records of their choice

Philip Wright has the web page up and running, and although he considers it pretty rudimentary and always a work in progress, it is there for all to see, and it provides all the family information in a format which allows viewers to access all descendants and lineage by hypertext linkage. Why not just click on the Descendants Listing below and have a shot at tracking your own connection to Joseph & Ellen ?

By the way…… If you're not sure of the Web address to tell your family… just tell them to search GOOGLE by entering the words, “Joseph Wright first fleet convict”. That will take them to the descendants & family site

Maybe you have some old photos of family members, Philip would love to hear about them and perhaps have a copy of them to add to the family history, With your permission they may be added to our “rogues gallery”.

Philip has also taken a suggestion from and set up a weblog on the site, so people can leave messages, drop in information, debate and exchange views and hopefully make contact with each other Why not have a look at what a Web Log (BLOG) looks like.

We have already had some pleasant responses to the new Web page which is encouraging, hopefully we will get contributions and input from far and wide. So don't be shy, send us your suggestions and comments. Philip will do his best to add your input onto the site.

Philip will be commuting interstate frequently for the next couple of months. Should you be unable to contact him in connection with website matters, please email me and I will see that he gets it.

He and others attended the Annual get together of descendants of William Henry Wright 1 st ,( son of John

Wright and Sarah Huggins) on the 12 th February 2005. About 30 descendants attended “The

Plantation ”, a private park in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane . Cec Wright from Wentworthville

organised hand written family history information for the group. A good time was had by all and

( Brian has since transcribed the information prepared by Cec regarding the family of William Henry Wright and forwarded it to me for inclusion in the data base)

Some of the older family members have lots of information but do not have access to a computer and it is great to see the cooperation between them and some of the computer generations. If you can help someone with their details it would be wonderful

I recently came across a tribute to a Dr.Drysdale in an article about Medical People

In the Hunter. It appears Dr. Drysdale practised medicine at Wollombi until moving to Morpeth

in April 1849. It quotes a letter from THOMAS MAHER of Wollombi which reads:-

“SIR- In returning you my most sincere thanks for the services rendered by you to my wife.

while labouring under the bite of a copper coloured snake, I now beg leave to publicly assert

that, had it not been for your experience and unremitting attention to her while in that state,

her family would have been left to deplore her loss; but, thank God, she has by your care

perfectly recovered. Therefore, dear sir,me,with my family, as in gratitude bound, will ever

pray for your welfare. –And believe me to be, dear Sir, your humble and obedient servant.

Evelyn Eaton of Narara (Thomas Wright/Mary Ann Harcourt) has sent me some information and photos of a Memorial Park created for the First Fleet at a small township called Wallabadah on the way to Tamworth . This Garden was opened on Australia Day this year. It has been created by a man named Ray Collins who discovered after years of research that he was descended from a Firstfleeter named Cross. During his search he was disappointed to find that there was no permanent memorial listing all of the First Fleet, so he set about planning one. Despite numerous approaches to and rejections by Councils he persisted and this is the result of the Liverpool Plains Shire Council allowing Ray to build his Memorial. It features garden beds for each ship of the Fleet with the name carved in stone, and upright Terracotta coloured stone slabs in which each person name is inscribed. It looks lovely from the photos, well worth a visit if you are passing. The whole project took over 2 years to complete and I thank Evelyn for bringing it to our attention. We may feature some photos of this project soon.

Pam and Don Wellham of Fennell Bay are wishing to contact anyone with information on Mary Maher and John Clarke, who married on 4 th April 1845 at Parramatta . They are having trouble locating their deaths. It is known that they were in the Maitland area in the 1860s. Don Wellham a is descendant of Julia Clarke, daughter of Mary Maher and John Clark/e. Anyone who can help can email either me, or Pam and Don on PamWellham@bigpond.com.au , I am sure they will be pleased to hear from you.

The next newsletter will be in May, so if anyone wants to contribute items, please email or write to me

Please supply me with …….copy/copies of the Wright Family CD at $18 each

Telephone………………………………..Email………………………………………..

Sunday 25th November 2001 saw the day warm then quite hot and sunny at Cattai National Park, right on the Hawkesbury just downstream from Pitt Town. There was an excellent gathering of a great range of descendant of Joseph & Ellen and I thank everyone for their attendance and friendly enthusiasm. I would have liked to have had more time to chat with everyone and the time just rushed by. About 120 people attended including some 9th generation children and refreshingly, an excellent representation of younger descendants who would be 8th generation Australians.
Descendants were attending from Queensland, Victoria, NSW, & New Zealand. A message of good wishes for the reunion were received from Florida USA and John Power a key figure in nurturing our history wished us well for the occasion. A pleasant barbecue - al fresco picnic was had and family papers and photos were much in evidence. We have gathered some extra data for incorporation into the database. This will be incorporated into the web site in the next few weeks and I would be grateful for advice concerning corrections.

The key note of this gathering was very informal and speeches were not given, however I took the opportunity to thank all for coming and to record that this gathering was a fun day as well as a mark of respect for the generation of all the families and prior descendants that have gone before us. Visits were made by some to the old Pitt Town Cemetery and to the 1794 land grant on the river.
The key points that arose from a show of hands during very brief Q & A session indicate that as a group we agreed:

A casual "Descendants & Connections" Picnic Day, should take place every 3 years and that the time of year should be as close to the last Sunday of November this date to be "enshrined " early on and promoted accordingly. It is envisaged this will take place in the Pitt Town area, and more possibly again at Cattai National Park which it was felt by all provided us with a good venue on this occasion. Brian Hobbs from Queensland was nominated as the Convenor of the next TRI -ANNUAL Descendants Picnic Day to be held late November 2004.
There was most positive support for the retention of this web site and its data base content which contains the brief details of over 3000 descendants and connections of Joseph Wright & Ellen Gott. I have bowed to the overwhelming response and have little choice but to maintain the site. I will therefore continue to do so until at least the next reunion. I make it plain however that the content of the databases is the work of many others including Marion Taylor & Shirley McLennan. I have made additions, corrections and alterations as advised by numerous people. No one person can "own " the family history but I am very conscious of the detailed work and time consuming effort put in by those that maintain and make this history available. Mistakes will always occur, but the existence of the web site gives us all the chance to add to, correct, refer to, and grow this data base in a dynamic way. I ask that you advise in writing (preferably email) of alterations, corrections and additions. These will be checked and incorporated about every three months.

I have been giving thought to ways of keeping up with the family on a more regular basis. While we have the occasional reunion, I feel it would be good to exchange news and information more frequently. So as well as appeaing here occassionally, I will be sending a quarterly newsletter to those that wish to go on my circulation list. Just email me if you want to be "ON IT"

Our family was spread far and wide over the past 200 years, but now with the wonders of modern communications we can at least keep in touch.

A group of descendants met at the Maraylya Hall on November 28 th 2004.This event was organized by Brian Hobbs and Robynne Winley.

Despite the sultry weather, everyone seemed to enjoy the day. There were representatives from most branches of the family. Beryl Curtis (MaryWright / James Maher) travelled from NZ, while Brian and Maureen Hobbs came down from Qld. Philip Wright and I travelled up from Melbourne and several members of the Hunter Valley Wrights came along as well as the local Sydney area folk. John Wright (the Millet Broom man) from Morpeth brought along a CD re his pastime and also gave a talk about the Wrights in the Hunter. Several others shared tales of the family.

Philip Wright and I have been working on a CD ROM to be available to interested members. We took preliminary copies to Maraylya & quite a few people showed an interest. We are endeavouring to make it as accurate as possible and include as much information as we can. There is a great deal of time spent coordination and collating the data and I really do rely on you all to advise me of any errors and omissions in the early edition.

Everyone who promised information should note that I am making the cut off date as mid February, so as to have the CD available by early March. The cost will be between $15-20 including postage (Some have prepaid)

Philip is coordinating the resurrection of the Web page with some help. He was not totally satisfied with his first attempt. Of course the Web page cannot be truly finalised until the database is updated. When this is up online, it will hopefully encourage others to come forward with new data. Philip is including a Web log as part of the website so that comments and added information can be gathered as it comes forward and is viewable by others.

A discussion took place at Maraylya regarding the relationship of George to Daniel. Some books claimed they were father and son, however this was not possible as Daniel was in NSW long before George was born. I spent some time researching the IGI indexes and came up with the following:-

Daniel Buckridge born London 9 th June 1772, Christened 19 th July 1772 at Shoreditch. Parents Christopher and Sarah. Daniel was the 4 th of 8 children. Daniel's eldest brother James Rowland Buckridge married Elizabeth Shelton. George Buckridge born 22 nd December 1801, Christened 6 th January 1802 Shoreditch, to James and Elizabeth.

A search of The Proceedings of the Old Bailey webpages gives details of Daniel's trial where he was charged together with 2 other youths of Highway Robbery on 12 th January 1791. Sentenced to Death, On 13 th April 1791 he was pardoned on the condition that he be transported for life.

On a personal note, I would like to congratulate my mother Elsie Taylor on attaining her 90 th Birthday on 31 st January 2005. Elsie is a GGG granddaughter of Joseph and Ellen. Despite her advanced years she still lives in her own home in Traralgon, does her own cooking and gardening, and drives her car to the shops and church on Sundays. Elsie was a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife and she claims good country living is her recipe for long life

DON'T FORGET TO SEND ME YOUR DATA FOR THE CD or if you wish to add ideas or “stuff” for the Web site you can email me and I will forward it to Philip or contact Philip direct on NOSPAMphilipw@pacific.net.au

-	News report 12 November 2008
-	News report 11 December 2006
-	News report 26th August 2006
-	News letter from Marion Taylor Vol 1 No 2 March '05
-	News letter from Marion Taylor Vol 1 No 1 Jan 2005
-	Report of Maraylya Hall re-union on November 28th 2004
-	News report December 2001

First Fleet Convict