JMF genealogy

This website is devoted to the history of the Fleming, Jolliffe, Kessey and Murphy families of New South Wales, including their forebears. In addition, I maintain a separate website for my published output at www.jmfwriter.net.

Recently published book

Cover for "All our tracks and ways"In November 2024 I published the acclaimed All Our Tracks and Ways. The book provides a history of a pioneering Bourke family headed by James Reed and Frances Heazle, a devoted, resilient and resourceful couple whose lives of initiative and enterprise helped to forge a better future for their ten adult children and eighty-nine grandchildren. It details the struggles and successes of ordinary people from rural England and Ireland throughout the nineteenth century and their Australian offspring. The background to their lives features the Napoleonic war, the Aboriginal Wars, the development of democracy in NSW and the experience of women on the Australian frontier.

Presented as an heirloom-quality hardback, the book has appeal for descendants, the Bourke community and readers of Australian history. It comprises 612 pages that include 51 photographs, 19 illustrations, 11 maps, 3 descendant charts, detailed family group sheets and an appendix on Bourke hotels. Click the image at left to open his other, book-focussed website for full details about the book.

Shop now to obtain your copy for $60

Latest blog posts

Links to my last few stories and research findings are provided below. For earlier blogs, click on the Blog menu item (or click here).

10/7/2023
Mary Lahy's
fate
19/10/2022
Frances Reed
pioneer of Bourke
28/7/2022
William Baker's
arrival in Australia
10/7/2022
Alfred Ernest Whye
one of the first Aboriginal servicemen
8/7/2022
James Murphy's demise

Explore the family tree

Explore the family tree by clicking on any + sign; or the blue [Expand] button. Click on any name to access details about that person.