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« on: Tuesday 11 August 15 03:23 BST (UK) »
Hello Marg, Ann Healy and Nicol Mercer were my great grandparents. I have also been trying to track the elusive Ann. Relatives who have since died fed me stories some of which aren't true. Here goes: Ann arrived in Australia with her 5 elder brothers, she was about 7 and they had been orphaned, th father having been some sort of accountant in Ireland. Ann was fostered by a lord and lady somebody and grew up on the Bogong high plains (location has been proven to be fable as there were no white people there at that time, as to the fostering I don't know). Supposedly the 5 brothers went to Queensland and built the railway there. My grandfather Alexander Mercer had Healy relatives in Ipswich Queensland the true story of one of these relatives was George Healy who as eldest son went to work for the fire brigade to help support his family after his father died. George however had always wanted to go to University. He worked his way up to Fire Chief in Ipswich and eventually retired then went to Uni. He ended up with a PHD and wrote history of the Australian Labor party in Queensland. Ann however is still a mystery. The tales I have been told do not seem to match with the arrival in Adelaide that you seem to have found. Regards R.