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Welcome! This website was created on 31 Jan 2008 and last updated on 14 Mar 2024. The family trees on this site contain 11545 relatives and 1873 photos. If you have any questions or comments you may send a message to the Administrator of this site.
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About Mason Family Footsteps
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Hi Family Member's
 The Mason Family Footprints aim is to trace the Family Footsteps to see where we have walked before.To discover where our common interests -talents-trades-themes and medical problems have arisen from & to see which direction we are heading into the next century.

I'd like to Thank for their support and help
  Debra-Sue-Kathleen-Linda-Dianne-Bruce-Roger-Betty-Kerrie-Bill-Mum-Pat- Great Aunty Elma -Margaret-Geoff-John-Pamela-Valma-Belinda-Larrelle

Please sign the Guest book and leave your footprint!!
 If anyone else has any photos - certificates - family stories - job histories    and would like to contribute please email me ....

In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors.        To put flesh on their bones & make them live again. 
       To tell the family story and to feel that somehow those who went before        know &  approve.
       Breathing life into all who have gone before.  
       We are the storytellers of the tribe. 
       All tribes have one. 
       Those who have gone before cry out to us; 
       Tell our story.......... So, we do.
   
   In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. 
       It goes beyond just documenting the facts.
       It goes to who I am,& why I do the things I do. 
       It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever
       to weeds & indifference,saying I can't let this happen.        The bones here are bones of my bone & flesh of my flesh.            It goes to doing something about it. 
     
   It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish.           How they contributed to what we are today. 
       It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, 
       their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness           to go on & build a life for their family. 
  
   It goes to deep pride that they fought to make & keep us a nation.       It goes to a deep understanding that they were doing it for us,       that we might be born, who we are, that we might remember them.        With love and caring & scribing each fact of their existence,                 because we are them & they are us. 
                  I tell the story of my family. 
               I  answer the call and take their place 
               in the long line of family storytellers. 
                 That is why I do my family genealogy, 
                       that is what call those, 
              young & old, to step up & put flesh on the bones.

.......ABOUT SYDNEY TOWN HALL
 The Old Burial Ground (now occupied by the Sydney Town Hall) was used between Sept 1792 & 1820, when it officially closed. Its replacement was the Sandhills Cemetery (Devonshire St Cemetery), which later became the site of Central Railway Station. By the 1840s there were concerns about overcrowding & over the next twenty years a number of alternative locations were considered. In 1862 the government purchased 200 acres of land 'near Homebush on the Railway Line?' ? what was to become the Rookwood Necropolis ? for use as a general cemetery. The first registered burial took place at the Rookwood Necropolis in 1867. Sydney Burial Ground 1819-1901 (Elizabeth & Devonshire Streets) & History of Sydney's Early Cemeteries from 1788. The oldest surviving church building in Sydney IS St James King Street next to Hyde Park which  was consecrated in 1824.
  
 ...... About FORBES NSW
 The town of Forbes stand on land traditionally occupied by the Wiradjuri people. In 1817 explorer John Oxley passed through the area.He was closely followed by a number  of adventurous early settlers who commenced the development of rural industries that  have continued to be the mainstay of the area right up to the present time.  This development was interrupted for a time by the discovery of gold, which attracted prospectors in large numbers. A tent township with a population of more than 30,000 quickly sprang up.

.......About BRAIDWOOD NSW
 The region was the home of the Dhurga Aboriginals before European settlement in the 1830s.The first settlement in the area was called JEMAICUMBENE . During the 1840s incidences of closer settlement are known.  Dr David Reid's farm was subdivided into eighteen small farms, originally known as Irish Corner because of the number of settlers of Irish origin. A number of tenant farms were established at the Bedervale Estate on land between the Clyde & Mongarlowe roads from Braidwood to the approaches of the Clyde. 84 tenant farmers were there in 1860.Particular types of housing which are relatively unique include early settlers residences which seem to have been generally in wood, & often with a more secure stone building which probably acted as a store, eg. Ballalaba.
  The sale notice of George Galbraith's Nerriga probably gives a good indication of the early houses of the well to do!: Following the discovery of gold in 1851, a succession of small villages such as Araluen, Majors Creek, were established to service adjoining gold fields.September 1851 gold was found in the tableland heights above the Araluen Valley at Bells Creek.  In October the Majors Creek field was discovered, & in April 1852 gold was discovered at Little River (Mongarlowe River).In the following decades gold was discovered in the Shoalhaven River, extending as far north as Nerriga.  Collectively the gold fields were administered as the Southern District which eventually comprised Braidwood, Araluen, Jembaicumbene, Majors Creek, Little River (Mongarlowe), Moruya, Nerriga, Bombala, Nowra & Wagonga.
  The Victorian character of the town's buildings are indicative of the rapid expansion of the town between the 1860s & 1890s. For this was the period of the gold rushes in New South Wales, & gold brought many prospectors to Braidwood. NOTE MANY OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS HAD BEEN TO or where BORN / MARRIED/ DIED at  BRAIDWOOD   
               BETWEEN 1800- 1900 Some are still in surrounding area's.

...... About MAITLAND has long been an industrious area since the 1820s.  Its riverside location, stores & warehouses gave the settlers many a task to undertake within the frontier town. Maitland was home to a wide range of business, including flourmills, breweries, a bacon & tobacco factory, soap, candle making & salt store. Iron workers, blacksmiths & saddlers also thrived at this time. During the  1850s a series of riverside merchants traded, Interspersed within the retail area of  central Maitland were a selection of services and outlets such as tailors,  hairdressers, wig makers,confectioners, photographers & dressmakers who added to the  sense of vitality & diversity within the area.

....About BRIGHTON, VICTORIA
 Brighton is a residential bayside suburb 11 km. south-east of Melbourne. In 1840 the British Government's Land & Emigration Commission approved procedures for the sale of "Special Survey" land allotments of eight square miles (5,120 acres at one pound each - 2,072 ha.), chiefly as a revenue-raising arrangement. There were three such sales in the area of future metropolitan Melbourne before special surveys were stopped, they being Dendy's at Brighton (March, 1841), Unwin'sat Bulleen  Templestowe & Elgar's at Box Hill. All were five miles from the centre of Melbourne, as required by regulations made by the New South Wales Executive Council.

About GRAFTON NSW
 The area was occupied by the Gumbaingirr Aborigines at the time of European colonisation. It is thought that the first whites in the area were convict escapees from Moreton Bay who passed through the area in the late 1820s & early 1830s. One of their number, Richard Craig, reported a big river & a plenitude of valuable timber when he arrived at Port Macquarie in 1832. He was later employed by a Thomas Small of Sydney who, inspired by Craig's reports, sent off his brother & two dozen sawyers on board the schooner, the Susan, to the 'Big River'. It was the first European vessel to enter the river. Other cedar-cutters followed in their wake. Small took up a large parcel of land on Woodford Island, opening the way for other pastoralists along the river that Governor Gipps named the Clarence in 1839.
 A store & shipyard were established, on what is now South Grafton in 1839 & shipbuilding would remain a major local industry until the end of the century when the railways began to dominate internal trade.
 A wharf, store & inn adorned the northern bank by the early 1840s . Until 1861, when a punt service commenced, the only interaction between the two settlements was by row-boat. This area was known collectively & imaginatively as 'The Settlement'. Twenty establishments were listed on the Clarence River in 1841. The district was surveyed in 1843 & a police magistrate appointed in 1846, at which time the population was recorded as 120. A township was laid out in 1849 & named after the Duke of Grafton who was the grandfather of Governor Fitzroy. The first land sale took place in the early 1850s, a school opened in 1852 & the first Anglican church in 1854. The population, by 1856, had grown to 1069.
 Wharves were established in the 1850s & Grafton benefited both from its location on the main coastal road to the north & from gold discoveries on the upper Clarence River. It soon became the major town on the Clarence & was declared a municipality in 1859. That same year, Grafton became home to both the Clarence & Richmond River Examiner & the first National School north of the Hunter River. Sugar-growing commenced in the 1860s but dairying ultimately proved more successful. Development was further stimulated by the commencement of selection in the 1860s. A steam-driven vehicular ferry was established at this time.
 Grafton was declared a city in the mid-1880s, by which time its population had surpassed 4000. The arrival of the railway at Glen Innes in 1883 & the completion of the Casino to North Grafton line in 1905, contributed to a slow decline in Grafton's importance as a regional port although the river trade chugged along until the 1950s.

...About BOWRAL is situated in a valley at the foot of Mt. Gibraltar, largely on land originally granted to John Oxley, famous explorer of the early colony of NSW. For a generation it was farmed by his sons. With the coming of the railway in the 1860s, the Oxleys subdivided part of the land for a private village. On this land (not much  bigger than the current shopping centre) a town grew. Soon, there was a railway  station,churches, schools & public buildings. There were also many guesthouses, &  private'holiday houses', as Bowral became a favourite place to escape to from the  city. As early as 1886 Bowral was gazetted as a Municipality, & the corporate life of  the town began. Within 20 years it had over 1000 citizens & many community, social, &  sporting organisations

....About HURLEY PARK CAMPBELLTOWN NSW
 Daniel Tindall (1759-1827) 
 Daniel was a convict tried for treason, he was part of a plot to kill King George III in 1803 (known as 'The Despards Conspiracy'). He was sentenced to be hung, drawn & quartered in Feb 1803 but he and 2 other men were given a last minute reprieve & transported to Australia for life, on the condition that he never return to England.  He came on the 'Duke of Portland' in 1807. After 7 years of hard labour & good behaviour his family came to Australia free per the 'Kangaroo' in 1814.  "Construction of a convict-built reservoir next to modern-day Hurley Park,  Daniel Tindall, John b, William Eggleton, Daniel Geary & Thomas Tailby" Campbelltown roads note early land grantees in the surrounding areas - John Kellicar,  Daniel Tindall, John b, William Eggleton, Daniel Geary & Thomas Tailby. Thomas  Robinson was an early teacher at the St Peter's Church school & a small road behind  the motor registry recalls Barney Bugden, who ran a black-smithy at the southern end  of Queen Street in the 1920's.Campbelltown is lucky to boast several large parks or  reserves, some more than a century old. "Hurley Park was originally a cattle paddock  & the site of the first stone water reservoir, built by the convict iron gang. It  appears to have been used as a "common" later that century, but sparked controversy  in 1897 when the site "reverted" to the Crown. Alderman Charles Bull led efforts to  have the paddock declared a park, & while this debate raged, the Campbelltown News  mourned the death of P.B. Hurley in March 1898. There were many tributes made to both  he and his father, local pioneer John Hurley MLA, one of which was probably the  dedication of the park name. The fight to protect the site as a public reserve was  won, but it continued to  be used for grazing purposes, & even a small tip, until a  sportsground was created in the 1960s."

..About NORRKOPING SWEDEN
 Rock carvings at Himmelstalund & Leornardsberg bear witness to what was a habitation & focal point of cults in the Norrköping area during the Bronze Age. Norrköping first developed into a fishing hamlet that grew up on the banks of the River Strömmen during the 12th century. In the medieval period,  an important market attended by local farmers who sold their produce and delivered their grain to the many mills on the waterfalls in Strömmen. Norrköpings greatest textile era began in the 17th century  when several mills were built close to Strömmen. By the mid-17th century, Riga,  Stockholm & Norrköping were the biggest cities under Swedish rule. Industrial expansion accelerated during the 19th century when water power was replaced by steam engines. For many years, Norrköping was called Sweden's Manchester, as it was the country's centre for textile manufacture. In today's Norrköping, industry focuses on products such as microwave ovens, refrigeration installations, newsprint, plastics, telephone relays & confectionery.

About TIPPERARY IRELAND
 County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in the Republic of  Ireland situated in the province of Munster. Tipperary was one of the first Irish  counties to be established in the 13th century. The county is divided into North  Tipperary (county town: Nenagh) & South Tipperary (county town: Clonmel).  This division dates back to the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, the county's two "ridings" having had separate assize courts for much longer.  The use of riding for the divisions was a historical misnomer, since the word derives from the dividing of an area into three parts. Indeed the expression riding has been discontinued for official purposes since 2002 (Local Government Act, 2001 section 10 and schedule 5) The Nation newspaper in the 1840s as a tribute "where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows". Tipperary is famous for its horse breeding industry & is the home of Coolmore Stud,  the largest thoroughbred breeding operation in the world. The County forms a large part of the Golden Vale (or Vein) of Munster, boasting a rich  fertile agricultural landscape.The town of Tipperary situated in the south west of the county was the subject of the famous World War I British army song It's a Long Way to Tipperary. As with several other counties in Ireland named for a town or village (examples include Leitrim ,Mayo) Tipperary Town has never been the county town of County Tipperary. That honour belonged to Cashel for a while prior to the creation of the County Palatine & thereafter to Clonmel until the creation of separate assizes in 1838 when Clonmel has shared the honour with Nenagh

About  ABERDEEN SCOTLAND
 Aberdeen area has seen human settlement for at least 8,000 years.[6] The city began as two separate burghs: Old Aberdeen at the mouth of the river Don; New Aberdeen, a fishing & trading settlement, where the Denburn waterway entered the river Dee estuary. The earliest charter was granted by William the Lion in 1179 & confirmed the corporate rights granted by David I. In 1319, the Great Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property-owning financially independent community. Granted with it was the nearby Forest of Stocket, whose income formed the basis for  the city's Common Good Fund which still benefits Aberdonians. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, Aberdeen was under English rule,  so Robert the Bruce laid siege to Aberdeen Castle before destroying it in 1308  followed by the massacring of the English garrison & the retaking of Aberdeen for the townspeople. The city was burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was rebuilt  extended, & called New Aberdeen. The city was strongly fortified to prevent attacks by neighbouring lords, but the gates were removed by 1770. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1644-1647 the city was impartially plundered by both sides. In 1644, it  was taken & ransacked by Royalist troops after the Battle of Aberdeen. In 1647 an  outbreak of bubonic plague killed a quarter of the population. In the eighteenth century, a new Town Hall was built & the first social services appeared with the Infirmary at Woolmanhill in 1742 & the Lunatic Asylum in 1779. The council began major road improvements at the end of the century with the main thoroughfares of George Street, King Street & Union Street all completed at the start of the next century. A century later, the increasing economic importance of Aberdeen and the development of the shipbuilding & fishing industries led to the existing harbour with Victoria Dock, the South Breakwater,& the extension to the North Pier.  The expensive infrastructure program had repercussions, & in 1817 the city was  bankrupt. However, a recovery was made in the general prosperity which followed the  Napoleonic wars. Gas street lighting arrived in 1824 & an enhanced water supply  appeared in 1830 when water was pumped from the Dee to a reservoir in Union Place. An  underground sewer system replaced open sewers in 1865. The city was first  incorporated in 1891. Although Old Aberdeen still has a separate charter & history,  it & New Aberdeen are no longer truly distinct. They are both part of the city, along  with Woodside & the Royal Burgh of Torry to the south of the River Dee.

....About ESSEX UK
 The name Essex derives from the East Seaxe or East Saxons. The Kingdom of Essex was traditionally founded by Aescwine in 527 AD, occupying territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating much of what would later become Middlesex & Hertfordshire, though its territory was later restricted to lands east of the  River Lee. It is through this origin as one of the 'Saxon' kingdoms that Essex is specifically not part of the region known as East Anglia (the latter comprising Norfolk, Suffolk, & Cambridgeshire), settled by tribes calling themselves 'Anglian'. Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunon, & was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. Hornchurch, Ilford, Leyton, Romford, Walthamstow & Wanstead & Woodford districts was transferred to form the London  boroughs of Barking, Havering, Newham, Redbridge,& Waltham Forest; an area similar to  that known as Metropolitan Essex. Essex is crammed full of historic gems, hidden in  tiny villages throughout the county, from Copford Church with its beautiful Byzantine  frescoes to Layer Marney tower, the tallest Tudor gatehouse in England. Colchester  Castle & Museum at the heart of Britain's oldest recorded town or west to Hedingham  Castle, a stunning Norman Keep built in 1140 & visited by Queen Elizabeth I.  Also did you know around 1645 the was a massive witch hunt throughout Essex. Many people where wrongly imprisoned,tortured or killed during this time.

About BUCKINGHAM BUCKS
 The name Buckinghamshire is Anglo Saxon in origin & means The district (scire) of Bucca's home. Bucca's home refers to Buckingham in the north of the county,& is named after an Anglo-Saxon landowner. The county has been so named since about the  12th century; however, the county itself has existed since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia  The history of the area though predates the Anglo Saxon period &  the county has a rich history from the Celtic through to Roman periods though the  Anglo Saxons did have perhaps the greatest impact on Buckinghamshire out of these  groups:the geography of the rural county is largely as it was in the Anglo Saxon  period. Later Buckinghamshire became an important political arena, with King Henry  VIII intervening in local politics in the 16th century & just a century later the  English Civil War was reputedly started by John Hampden in mid-Bucks. The biggest change to the county historically came in the 19th century when a combination of cholera and famine hit the rural county forcing many to migrate to larger towns to find work.

About MANUDEN ESSEX (pronounced > MANEWDEN ,a village on the border of the counties of Essex & Hertfordshire in England.

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Getting Around
There are several ways to browse the family tree. The Tree View graphically shows the relationship of selected person to their kin. The Family View shows the person you have selected in the center, with his/her photo on the left and notes on the right. Above are the father and mother and below are the children. The Ancestor Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph above and children below. On the right are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The Descendant Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph and parents below. On the right are the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Do you know who your second cousins are? Try the Kinship Relationships Tool. Your site can generate various Reports for each name in your family tree. You can select a name from the list on the top-right menu bar.

In addition to the charts and reports you have Photo Albums, the Events list and the Relationships tool. Family photographs are organized in the Photo Index. Each Album's photographs are accompanied by a caption. To enlarge a photograph just click on it. Keep up with the family birthdays and anniversaries in the Events list. Birthdays and Anniversaries of living persons are listed by month. Want to know how you are related to anybody ? Check out the Relationships tool.

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