Grahame Thom’s family history

Welcome to my family history site established in March 2006.

The purpose of my web site is to share information about my family tree. I have been researching my family history since 1968. I am a Fellow of the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra Inc. I have lived in Sydney, Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne, and now live in country Victoria, Australia. I am married with four children and nine grandchildren.

The surnames in my family tree I am researching are :-

Allen – Cornwall ENG                                             McDougall – Lanarkshire SCT
Anderson – Oxfordshire ENG                                  Mahone – Hampshire ENG
Artus – Gloucestershire ENG                                   Manning – London ENG
Ashby – Leicestershire ENG                                    Martin – Lanarkshire SCT
Boyd – Dublin Co IRL                                             Miller – Somersetshire ENG
Brabyn – Cornwall ENG                                          Mullin – Ireland
Bullivant – Leicestershire ENG                                Parker – Cornwall ENG
Buscombe – Cornwall ENG                                      Phillips – London ENG
Butler – Glouctershire ENG                                     Reid – Lanarkshire SCT
Butts – Kent ENG                                                     Reilly – Westmeath IRL
Byrne – Ireland
Cock – Cornwall ENG
Cox – Herefordshire ENG                                        Rogers – Cornwall ENG
Donaldson – Lanarkshire SCT                                  Russell – Gloucestershire ENG
Flemimg – Lanarkshire SCT                                     Thom – Lanarkshire SCT
Hardy – Tyrone IRL                                                  Trainer – Westmeath IRL
Harris – Cornwall ENG                                            Turnbull – Roxbugh SCT
Hughes – Tyrone IRL                                               Walker – Tyrone IRL
Ikin – Shropshire ENG
Jones – Monmouthshire WLS                                   Ware – Gloucestershire ENG
Kerr – Lanarkshire SCT                                            Warr – Scotland or England
Lane – Herefordshire ENG                                       Weir – Lanarkshire SCT
Lattin – Ireland                                                         Whitelaw – Lanarkshire SCT
Llewellyn – Glamorganshire WLS                            Williams – London ENG
May – Cornwall ENG                                               Williamson – Lanarkshire SCT
McBride – Lanarkshire SCT                                      Wilson – Lanarkshire SCT
McClean – Tyrone IRL                                              Woor – Herefordshire ENG

Based on my 27 ancestors who arrived in Australia, my origins makeup is 39% English, 28.1% Scottish, 31.3% Irish and 1.6% Welsh.  I had my DNA evaluated in 2013 and on the male line it is highly Celtic, and on the female line, I descend from Jasmine. Since then I have my DNA tested by familytreeDNA, livingDNA, and in 2021 by ancestryDNA.

After having my DNA tested by familytreeDNA one obversation I made was that there were no matches to my  assumed Wardle and Little ancestors. Then after having my test with ancestry, I noted again no Wardle and Little matches. Instead there were around 12 good matches to the surname Byrne. After investigations, set out elsewhere on this website, I made the decision in October 2021 to delete the surnames Little, Murphy, Page and Wardle from my family tree. In their place I have added Byrne, Mullin and Lattin. This has changed my percentages above by decreasing English from 51.5% and increasing Irish from 18.8%.

I have retained my articles on Wardle and Little, although now not connected to my tree (Oct 2021), and will be adding articles about Byrne and Lattin soon.

Publications

I have published four books about my Ikin ancestors, see below. Copies have been lodged with various libraries, including, National Library of Canberra, Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra, State Library of New South Wales, the Stanton Library, North Sydney, the Lane Cove Public Library, the Society of Australian Genealogists, the Nepean Family History Society, Penrith City Library, the 1788-1820 Pioneer Association, the Tasmanian Family History Society and the State Library of Tasmania.

Obadiah Ikin – The story of a Shropshire Soldier and his family in Australia, by Grahame Thom and Margaret Miller, 1986, Canberra.

Some Ikin Reminiscences – Ikin Family Gathering – Sydney June 1990, by Grahame Thom and others, 1990, Canberra.

Henry Ikin (1816-1900) – An Autobiography, edited by R Wesley Hartley and Grahame Thom, 1988, Canberra.

Ikin Newsletters Numbers 6 to 30, by Grahame Thom, Wallan 2003. Please note that Newsletters 1 to 5 are included in Some Ikin Reminiscences.

In 2016, my cousin Margaret Miller and I published our book A Publican’s Life in Early Sydney – Charles James Bullivant – Ensign 46th Regiment. Copies are still available – please email me as above.

In 2023 I compiled and published a book of my grandfather Alfred Oram Lane’s poems written during the  period 1909 to 1950 titled Orie’s Poems. Many were published in New South Wales Country newspapers. Copies are available – please email as above.

Please appreciate that despite being as careful as I could about putting accurate and reliable material on my website errors can occur. Please let me know if you find any.

Click on the buttons below to see various articles that have been written about my ancestors. If you would like to contact me, or Rosslyn please click on our email address at the top of each page.

Copyright

The stories, photographs, plans etc are copyright to the various authors or indicated in accordance with Australian law.

Website history

My original site was created using the proforma established by the “my connected community” (mc2) host, part of the State Library of Victoria. When mc2 ceased in 2011, I transferred my site, as is, to the other State Library host, VICNET, but it ceased in January 2014, except for historical societies.  I then establised a new site with Webcity. This host was taken over by Vodien where my host server then operated without change. Then in early October 2022 my site was hacked and I could not access any pages. I then contracted with Vodien to restore my website without change but on a wordpress platform with improved security. This was successfully achieved and my updated website (same URL) went live on 26 December 2022.

Archive

In November 2013, the National Library of Australia, as part of its Pandora project, asked for my permission to archive my VICNET site before it closed down in January 2014. After giving my permission, the site was first archived on 9 December 2013. This then provides, into the future, a look at my website as it was on 9 December 2013. My website <grthom.info> has been archived five times by NLA. Click here to access Pandora, then click on a date to access my “old” site.

Rosslyn Marie-Therese Thom

In 2015 I created a section to publish my wife’s family history, click on the bottom link below.

Last updated on 25 December 2023