In December 2000 having purchased my first PC I decided that it was time that I should endeavor to trace my family tree and answer some of the questions that had perplexed  me since my pre-teen years.
 In the first instance I was intrigued to know why my father,Arthur Joseph Curtis,who  had parents of English background,was born in Chefoo,North China and equally  intrigued that his father Frederick Joseph Curtis,was born in Yokohama,Japan in 1869. Having never known my Grandparents and gaining little information from my father,the  Internet with its ever increasing data-base has been a wonderful source of  information that has helped me unravel my Curtis Family story. Of course this is not only a Curtis story but also a story of the families of their  wives such as Harriet Vaughan,Elizabeth Mary Parker who left China for Australia  after the untimely death of my Grandfather,and the Hewlett's,Parkers and Craddocks who will be found within this tree.
 My dear mother the former Helen O'Brien who lost her mother,the former Marion Wells,  when only 15 months old,passed on little of her family background so it has been  fascinating tracing her Wells/Emery family to Donnington,Lincolnshire,England and  Irish heritage to Galway,Ireland and the Scots heritage to the Isle of Bute,Scotland. Of the O'Brien and Reilly line in Galway I have been unable to trace very little but of the  Currie's and McKellars of Bute I have found much.
 The Journey of Janet McKellar from The Isle of Bute accompanied by her first husband John Keith,son Duncan McKellar Keith on The Australian Clipper "Blue Jacket" 1864, to Australia and her trials and tribulations have inspired me to record this family history.

It is now February 2011 and information continues to flow in to the degree that at times one is inclined to feel overwhelmed,nevertheless the sense of excitement felt when new family members are found makes genealogy a most rewarding adventure.
 The descendants of John James Curtis of Gravesend,Kent and Elizabeth Shillito of Yorkshire have made their imprint in countries such as England of course and China,Japan,Korea,Singapore,the notorious Changi Prison(Walter Shillito Vaughan Curtis),South Africa,India,Canada,America,New Zealand (Christina
 Curtis O'Toole,Katy Fortesque,and Mark and Marian Hutchinson)and Australia particularly Western Australia where the family of Walter Shillito Curtis
 settled after WW2 and NSW where the family of Frederick Joseph settled after his untimely death by drowning in Chefoo Bay,Chefoo North China.
 I will be forever grateful to Cabot Sweeney who found me in 2011,for the amazing contribution of Curtis/Eaves family information letters and photographs. 
 I feel a degree of satisfaction that I have been instrumental in bringing together many members of the Curtis family via the internet across the world.

Also recorded herein is the family tree of my wife the former Margaret Claire  McLachlan whose father Max migrated to Australia at the age of 13 in the company of  his mother Margaret Little McLachlan(mn Aitken) and his Auntie,Jessie Richmond Aitken. From Scotland there are Lumsden,Frame,Little,Jardine,Gardiner,Stoddart,Banks,Lightbody names and from England,Clements,Wills,Nash. 
 I am indebted to Amy Johnson my latest contact(June 2011) for filling in some of the missing Clements information.
 On the 19th August 2012 Christine Louise O'Brien (born New Zealand)makes contact through Ancestry message service.Christine a second cousin to Alan and descendant of David O'Brien aka David Davis reveals in part another chapter in the O'Brien Family story.Never seen before photographs of my Grandfather James O'Brien and his parents Martin O'Brien and Janet McKellar O'Brien are sent to me by Christine.  
 September 2012 Donald Geoffrey McLachlan who lives in Canada makes contact with information adding further branches to the McLachlan Tree.
 March 11 2013 Gedfile upload of Curtis family information submitted to me  by Norman Francis Vaughan Curtis.This welcome contribution by Norman updates the many descendants of Walter Shillito Vaughan Curtis and his wife Rosita Emma Esther De Las Parras who settled in Western Australia post WW2. Also contained in this update are the details submitted by Christine O'Brien,New Zealand,of her research into descendants of Martin O'Brien and Janet McKellar. Today,11th March 2014 I am with my beloved wife Margaret at the home of son Vaughn in  Belgrave,enjoying
 the company of his two daughters Rachel and Charlotte,reflecting on the journey this family tree has taken me and wondering who will continue it into the future.Perhaps one of the girls or one of Benjamin,Dale,Michael,Robert,Shaylee Anne,Max or Toby children of our daughter Vanessa or perhaps Lexi Georgia our first Great Granddaughter?????????
 21 Sept 2014,So here we are again in Belgrave, Vaughn has left for Philadelphia, St Louis ,London  and Europe and we are with Rachel and Charlotte, Rachel soon to be off to her part time job and  Margaret, Charlotte and myself are off to meet grandson Michael and his son Mitchell. This will be  the first meeting of granddaughter Charlotte and great grandson Mitchell. 23 November 2014 Lachlan John Field born, brother to Mitchell,2nd son to Michael and Stacey,3rd  great grandchild to Alan and Margaret.
 13 February 2015,Ryder Edward Field born, first child to Ben and Jodie,4th great grandchild to Alan  and Margaret. Ryder is brother to Jodie's daughter Lillie and brother to Ben's daughter Lexi  Georgia who is great grandchild 1.
 8 March 2017.Receive email from Katrina Speedie seeking information in regard to birth father of  Gail Michelle Morrison.
 30 July 20018.This day I received through Ancestry a brief email from EMILY LADOW and I am most  excited to receive this message as I had been trying to contact or rather hoping to contact Emily  for some time.