Overview

This is a narrative about three Gray families and their new lives in their chosen home of Van Diemen's Land in the late 1830s and the reasons which propelled each one into such a momentous change. However, their family journey originated centuries before in Ireland during the tumultuous English Civil War when their ancestor Lt Colonel John Grey stepped ashore at Ringsend, Dublin as part of Cromwell's Army on the 15th August 1649. Their story embraces just about all of our human emotions, through the quest for a better life, not only for themselves but for their children and future generations. In essence, like most emigrants, this was their primary motivation although compelling events such as war, economic and social challenges beyond the individual were also at play. The Greys were no different from thousands of other families who chose to travel to Australia and by exploring their lives, experiences and destinies we can learn just a little more about life in early colonial Tasmania.