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With recently discovered information coming to light, the author revisits and presents new stories and pictures illustrating his family's complex genealogy in this reworked edition of the 1992 manuscript 'Life's Race Well Run'. The original concept of 'A Diary of Discovery' has been maintained and the book is now published for the first time.
There is a dynasty established by a Foundry owner and his eleven sons who were draftsmen, fitters and turners, machinists, mining engineers and a mercer. They spread worldwide searching for new challenges and in the service of their country. Two elusive grandfathers are eventually tracked down with their fascinating histories and stories revealed.
A never before heard of great, great, grandfather is discovered. His seven-year transportation sentence to Van Diemen's Land extends to sixteen years' incarceration at various locations. When he finally gains his ticket of leave and then is emancipated in 1849, he travels to the mainland where his sons and granddaughters link in with the genealogy outlined in the 1992 book. This leads to revelations of more ex-nuptial children and half-brothers that had never been previously known.
The exceptional women in the story are not neglected. Their perseverance and endurance is outlined. Aunts, grandmothers, and great grandmothers all have unique tales to tell. They had large families, and many had to face the pain of losing their children to illness, disease, and accidents.
Locations where the characters lived and died, religions, occupations, and service in wartime are detailed. The ships, from small sailing ships to luxury ocean liners, on which they travelled are described in detail.
Then there is the expanded bloodline genealogy that was never fully explored in the first book. While keeping much of the original material, these new stories open a whole new world of investigating a family history.
About the author
Jeff Hopkins (1950) is a retired schoolteacher. He lives in Walyalup, Western Australia. Walyalup which means 'lungs' is the Whadjuk name for Fremantle, and is part of the Noongar Nation. As the drama master at Hale School in Perth, he wrote ten original musical plays and produced and directed them at the school. In 1992, he researched and wrote a family history, 'Life's Race Well Run', and after retiring in 2006 he has written seventeen novels, a memoir, and three 'faction' biographies.
