One of my favourite bloggers, Cassmob, has issued an Australia Day Challenge C’mon Aussie geneameme and as usual I can’t resist. Anyone can join in and all the details are at the C’mon Aussie link.

CLIMBING YOUR FAMILY’S GUM TREE

My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was: Adam Johnston in 1861 (the only way I managed to get convicts in the family was to marry someone with convicts)

I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with): My partner’s ancestor Samuel Pyers arrived on the Third Fleet.

I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from: England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway

Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam? Some came free, some assisted.

How many ancestors came as singles? Four

How many came as couples? Five

How many came as family groups? None although one had a brother already out here.

Did one person lead the way and others follow? Not really, all my families were quite disconnected arriving in SA, VIC, NSW and QLD

What’s the longest journey they took to get here? Only about 4 months as the earliest was in the 1860s

Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place? No

Which state(s)/colony did your ancestors arrive? SA, VIC, NSW and QLD

Did they settle and remain in one state/colony? SA, VIC and NSW went to QLD, and QLD mostly stayed in QLD except one couple went to NSW but came back to QLD

Did they stay in one town or move around? Mostly answered above but they were miners following the gold or copper in most cases.

Do you have any First Australians in your tree? No

Were any self-employed? Yes, mostly miners and farmers and one oyster farmer.

What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in? Mining and farming as above

Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation? No

Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”? No

NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU

What’s your State of Origin? Queensland

Do you still live there? Just returned home after living in the ACT and Victoria for a decade or so

Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child? We either went to the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast for holidays so I always loved the beach

Any special place you like to holiday now? I still love travelling around in a caravan but I’m past the camping in a tent stage!

Share your favourite spot in Oz: So many places, how to pick just one – probably where we retired to, Bribie Island and it hasn’t changed that much since I first came here with my parents in the early 60s!

Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had? I’ve done an enormous amount of travel within Australia but I always love going to Alice Springs and Uluru, the night sky is simply magnificent!

What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list? There are two places I haven’t been yet, both in Western Australia – Kalgoorlie and Broome, the remoteness is a challenge but I will get there. My partner has been to both so it will probably have to be a solo trip!

How do you celebrate Australia Day? I don’t remembering celebrating it as a child but over the last few years or so, we have had a BBQ and had friends round or gone to their place. This year we have an old friend from Canberra staying the weekend and our new friends on Bribie have suggested they come round to our BBQ so it might be a bigger event for us than usual. It will make a change as last year, and our first Australia Day in our new home, we had the remnants of Cyclone Oswald hovering over us for days and everything was washed out!