the family of james belcher of waterford, ireland - University of ...
the family of james belcher of waterford, ireland - University of ...
the family of james belcher of waterford, ireland - University of ...
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Preface<br />
Nei<strong>the</strong>r a Genealogy nor a Family History is ever finished. New children are born to<br />
go to <strong>the</strong> bottom <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Family Tree. New information becomes available from o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>family</strong> - branches which may not have been known before, second<br />
names and dates previously unknown, or corrections to errors in <strong>the</strong> data used for<br />
<strong>the</strong> Family Tree or <strong>the</strong> History. A Family History can always be expanded fur<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
as more detail <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> past becomes available, or information on <strong>the</strong> present or future<br />
is inserted. This Book is bound by a particular time - <strong>the</strong> 150th Anniversary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
arrival <strong>of</strong> John Belcher and his wife and two sisters in Australia. Such a history might<br />
have been published in 1949, <strong>the</strong> Centenary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir arrival, but too few people were<br />
interested in <strong>family</strong> history in those days, and many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sources currently available<br />
could not be used - ei<strong>the</strong>r because <strong>of</strong> secrecy in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> Birth, Death and Marriage<br />
records or because archives had not been collected toge<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
There will be errors in this book. Not every date has been able to be verified from<br />
original documents, or by members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>family</strong> with personal knowledge. Some <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> data came from “Birthday Books”, where human error or lack <strong>of</strong> knowledge has<br />
resulted in an errant name or figure. I ask that any person who can identify errors or<br />
omissions from <strong>the</strong> book to let me know - perhaps at a later date, a second edition<br />
can be printed, or at least an errata circulated to purchasers. I have also included a<br />
Family Tree at <strong>the</strong> back <strong>of</strong> this book in Appendix G.<br />
Much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> material in both <strong>the</strong> genealogy and <strong>the</strong> <strong>family</strong> history has been passed<br />
on to me by o<strong>the</strong>r members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>family</strong>. Those whose own studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>family</strong><br />
history have been significant are listed in <strong>the</strong> bibliography, but many o<strong>the</strong>rs have<br />
contributed, over <strong>the</strong> years, information on <strong>the</strong>ir own branch or twig <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tree. and<br />
I am very grateful for <strong>the</strong>ir assistance. There are important branches where little<br />
information has been discovered or made available in respect to later generations, or<br />
where information from public records has not yet been freely released, and or where<br />
people contacted have nei<strong>the</strong>r interest or knowledge. O<strong>the</strong>r branches are complete<br />
at perhaps July 1999. Again I seek <strong>the</strong> information so that <strong>the</strong> maintenance and<br />
iii