G'day Big Tim,

Of course, when you change countries, your name depends on the last clerk that wrote it down (and that's still true today!)... and they were British Army administrators then ... often less educated that the Irish convicts they oversaw.

There is a story(which I must admit I have have never confirmed) that the free settler registering the first farm in the new colony of New South Wales was obviously of a classical bent and wished to call his small land grant "Alpha Farm". When he received his deeds, he found that he was now the proprietor of "'Alf a Farm"! The clerk thought he was being sarcastic about the size of his small grant.

Anyway, I will keep posted on your success or otherwise with John Graham, as I will be down in the Illawarra in another 3 weeks for the Illawarra Folk Festival at Jamberoo ... and Gerringong is only another 20 km, or so, to the south east.

Regards,

Bob Bolton