Welcome friends and cousins to 'our' family tree website.  I hope you find this site  helpful in your endeavours to find information on your family.  As you can imagine,  the coalation of this tree has been a labour of love for a very long time, and with the input of  many wonderful cousins who have been happy to share their family lines.

If you would be so kind as to sign my guest book, then I will be sure you got into my  tree ok.  Dont worry that too many people will see what you have written.  Only  family have access to this tree, and it is password protected.  So go on....write  what you mean.  :o)

I must thank my Uncle Bob Hissey of Sth Aust, for being the one to light the fire. (Yes, Bob was my  Uncle!)  He gave me the initial spark to become interested in my family's history.  Bob was integral  in the organisation of the Hissey family reunion held at Sandy Creek, Sth Aust.   
 Also, to Fred Hissey of Lake Macquarie, NSW.  Whom I will always think of with deep affection.  He  was another tireless family researcher who wrote many many letters and sent them out all over  Australia.  And this was in times well before computers.  Fred's stories and tireless motivation on  the tree, right up into his 90's was an inspiration to me.

So I would like to dedicate my family tree research to both Bob Hissey and Fred Hissey. You are both deeply missed.

I started with the Australian descendants of Charles Hissey and Emily Mills.  This was inspired by  Rayleen Krause's book, "A Shepherd Came from Buttermere." Much thanks must go to Rayleen for her  research for the Australian descendants.

Next I decided to go a different tract and go backwards from Charles and Emily, and find their  family in UK.  This lead me on an interesting journey.

I found some very interesting characters in our history.  From complete Royalists to Regicides in Cahoots with Oliver Cromwell (Henry Marten).  Even a few ties to blue blood as Lady  Diana Spencer is a cousin descended from the same family as us....The Yates or Attayates family.   There is a tie to Sir Winston Churchill, and even Henry II, and William the Conquerer!!   And just recently Ive discovered we are related to an unfortunate person name George  Jacobs who, sadly, was burned at the stake as a Witch in the witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts,  USA. Its amazing what you find sometimes!  Talk about skeletons in the closet.

Helen Murphys book "Heirs to the Gaston Genes" truly helped fill in alot of gaps in the Gaston tree.   And much thanks goes to Helen.

Then of course is our very own Gaston Guru...Marilyn Read.  Without her help, her emails, her many  hand written letters, discs of photos, and much much more, then the Gaston side of this tree would  be much less complete.  Her research has astounded me.  She doesn't have a gedcom, but can recall  from memory, most details.  She is incredible, and I am very much indebted to her.

I know there have been many many wonderful cousins who have shared with me over the past 20 years,  and I know if I try to name you all, I am certain to leave someone out, so please, just accept this  as my heart felt thankyou to all who have contributed to our tree.

And a special note to Felicity.  You have helped me in areas of our tree that aren't even connected  to your own.  You are tireless, inspirational, and above all, Im proud to call you cousin.  You  quite often will have a different slant on things, and I love your input.  You have helped me in  more ways than you will ever know dear friend.  From my heart, a BIG thankyou.

Now back to the tree.....

As you can imagine, this is a work in progress, and is being updated all the time.   So please check back regularly to see what I have found and added.

I have added about 50 photos or paper clippings on Captain Thomas Lacey Lawson.   Ive just updated to the paid site, so I can add more photos for us.  What I have here is only a  small representation of the old photos I have.  Collecting them is a passion of mine, and if you  would like a copy of any pics, or different resolutions, please dont hesitate to ask. My photos go back to GGG grandparents in some cases, so dont be put off by age.  Many photos have  been supplied to me by various cousins over the past 20 years of collecting.

If there is any information in my tree that you wish to use, please feel free to do  so.  I believe in sharing my research.  If we dont share, it will be lost when we go,  so I hope my research will continue to grow.  If you do use any of my information,  then you agree to put me as your source. Thankyou.

I have tried to be as professional and as impartial as possible.  I have tried to  find sources for everything I can.  But with any really large tree, (nearly at 32,000 people!).  there may be few some typo errors. If you come across anything that doesn't look right, I would  appreciate if you would contact me. Some information has been supplied by cousins who have filled  in their lines.  I have not got birth certificates for some lines, just family as proof on these  lines.  As always, I try to give all credit to who ever has supplied their parts of  the tree.

If you feel that you can add to the tree, I would love to hear from you.  If we all work together  to preserve our history, then it will be there for future generations to see, and not  lost with us.

Research is a wonderful past time, but it is very time consuming, and in some cases, costly.   I'm most grateful to all of those who have helped me, steered me in the right direction, given me  that gentle nudge or just out right shared with me what they have found.  You have helped to keep  our family history alive.

In February, 2010, we attended the Leahy family reunion in Adelaide.  It was so wonderful to not  only meet family we didnt know we had, but to now leave with them as friends.  This family reunion  opened up a whole section of the tree to me.

The area of the tree I am working on currently is the Maternal line from myself.  This is the  Savage/Savidge and Murphy lines.  I feel compelled to thank publicly my cousin Felicity for  not only breaking down a brick wall I had for a long time, but for having my son and I as house  guests for a week.  Flick and I spent time in the Unley Geneaology centre together and she helped  me look into the Murphy family.  Also we spent time together in the Mount Barker library doing  research.  We also visited many many cemeteries and spent one full day on the road through the  Adelaide country side tracing our family's properties once owned.   Our other cousin, Loretta was integral in this days drive. Loretta organised us and another car load  of visitors to do our day trip and it was wonderful to see where the families lived and worked.   Thanks Loretta and Flick (Felicity).

Just as a little side note, the cemetery we were taken to at Kapunda, is listed as Australias most  haunted place.  St Johns Reformatory once stood on the site.  There was a TV program with Warrick  Moss as presenter, and they went to our little cemetery in the middle of no where.  Cornelius Leahy,  his wife Catherine, and also James McInerheny are buried there.

I do want to let it be known to all concerned, that I'm the person who found our  Royalty links.  It was NOT known that we were related to Diana Spencer before I  followed the Yates line down to her....and us!  It was also not known that we were  descended from Henry II until I found this information.  It is going around some of  the Hissey websites that someone else has found this info.  This is not True.  I gave  this info to her. It is even listed on her website that it was me who found the links back to the  Royalty.

I am most happy to share my research, photos, certificates, censuses, wills, and probate records etc  that I have collected over the years.  Most who know me, know I believe in sharing to keep the  history alive, and if wasn't for like minded cousins who have already shared with me, then the  information I have, would not be as complete as it is.

I do hope you find this website of use to your endeavours of  finding where we came from.  It has been a labour of love on my part, and many others, and has taken  us many many man hours of searching through records, and census's etc. I do have copies of all  censuses Ive researched but they arent attached to this tree yet, but are to my gedcom on my  computer.  But if you want any copies, just contact me.  I hope the tree has helped you and if you  have any questions, please, dont hesitate to ask.  I'm here to help you if I can.

Im doing this to help the next generation know where we all come from.

KEEP THE HISTORY ALIVE!

;-)

Jo

                        WOULD YOU LIKE A BOOK OF YOUR LINE..??

                                  CONTACT ME HERE OR

                          LEAVE A MESSAGE IN THE GUEST BOOK.

Now for something that I found one day and thought it very funny.  Hope you enjoy!

I'm My Own Grandpa written by Guy Lombardo.
 (Look on you tube for the song, its great..!)
 And it has a diagram expaining how it all fits together.  :-)

Now many many years ago when I was twenty-three
 I was married to a widow who was pretty as can be
 This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red
 My father fell in love with her and soon they too were wed

Oh I'm my own grandpa
 I'm my own granpa
 It sounds funny I know,
 But it really is so
 Oh I'm my own grandpa

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life
 My daughter was my mother 'cause she was my father's wife To complicate the matter even though it brought me joy
 I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad
 And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad
 For if he was my uncle, then that also made him br'ther
 Of the widow's grown-up daughter who was also my stepmother

Father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run
 And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter's son My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue
 Because altho' she is my wife, she's my grandmother too

Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I'm her grandchild And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild
 For now I have become the strangest case I ever saw
 As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa

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Just as a side note on the above song....there are no unlawful relationships..!