Irony, Beauty, Family and a little bit of Hi-jinx from the Great Cricket Ground in the Sky...

Several months ago I was chatting about my families military history in Australia with a new FB friend and how I am in the process of writing a family saga based on all our military history in Australia.

I told my new friend about Leslie Dogworth Tunks who was a Trooper in the NSW Lancers and went to the Boer War where he died of disease, not Battle Field injuries. The NSW Lancers were in existence prior to Federation.

My new FB friend mentioned that she and her husband had just retired from the NSW Lancers and began to help me finding information. All I had was Leslie's basic details and a photo of the memorial to the Boer War Soldiers that is in Parramatta, where the Tunks family had settled after William Tunks arrived on board the Sirius, Flagship of the First Fleet.

Not long after this discussion with my new FB friend the Tunks Descendants Association Inc approached me to write and article for the Tunks Talk Newsletter in relation to the Australian military history from my line of the family.

One irony occurred when I shared the newsletter with the family association, they didn't know that Leslie had even existed, he died without kids and in a foreign land, so he'd never been documented as part of the family. The good news is he is home, and part of the family albeit in our records.

Leslie was the grandson of John Tunks, son of George Henry Tunks. and he was the Great Grandson of William Tunks the Marine.

William Tunks and Sara Lyons had three children, Ann Tunks, John Tunks and Charles Tunks.

Just last week I thought to share this article with my new FB Friend. Her reply was 'oh I have a Tunks in my family tree' ...

I downloaded the family tree to show her, she is a descendant of Ann Tunks. She is my family.

And more significantly she and her husband never knew how they were honouring Leslie Dogworth Tunks' memory through their service in the NSW Lancers.

I have a new cousin, Sue Akela - Day.

Thank you to all those family members who've gone to the Great Cricket Ground in the Sky for orchestrating my friendship with Sue. If there are others your planning to reunite can you spread them out a bit time wise, just so we can manage the birthdays etc