Welcome - a very warm welcome to this book. A book which I feel will be of immense value to all Australians in the years to follow who are interested in genealogical and family history.
This book's greatest asset to family historians is that it is a time milestone. The names of all persons living in Newcastle in 1828 are recorded and all male citizens on the Newcastle Electoral Roll for 1880 are also recorded. Of course in 1880 ladies had not as yet been given the right to vote and that is the reason why only males are recorded on the Roll. So we have two very valuable time stones by which we can establish whether a pioneer was living in Newcastle in 1828 or 1880 or not.
When the 1828 census was taken, most of the people instructed by the Governor to prepare the census were very careful in their work, that is, in all areas except Newcastle. In Newcastle the census taker did not seem to be really interested in his work and most of the entries for Newcastle in 1828. No indication was given as to whether the person was a convict of not, and most of the names are recorded as living in the barracks at Newcastle.
Now we know that in 1828 there were two large barracks at Newcastle, a military barracks and a convict barracks. Now as the soldiers were not recorded on the census it would be safe to assume that all persons stated as residing at the barracks at Newcastle were convicts.
The names of as many pioneering families as possible have also been recorded. I would like to be informed of any names that I may have missed so that I can include them in the next edition of this book.
I do hope that you enjoy this book, and I do hope that the good Lord takes good care of you and your loved ones in the generations that are to follow us. James McClelland, OAM
ISBN: 978-0-908492-42-8
A4 Comb Bound with laminated covers. 82 pages
