Our PURNELL research began from our mother having recorded what she knew about our Ancestors & Descendants marriages, births,christenings, deaths & burials - in her very big old Family Bible. As we grew up & married she would bring out the Bible for each of us to record our own family information.

Even though our parents divorced she still recorded anything she found on the PURNELL families. She also wrote names, dates & places, when she could remember - on old photos & insisted we all do the same. Without her insight into the importance of recording all this, our task would have been much more difficult when we had`aged a little`& had the time to begin to search for more of our relatives - in the land of the past & the living.We began by finding a PURNELL still living around the Hornsby area of Sydney NSW who told us our Aunty `Myrtle` (Alice Myrtle BLACK nee PURNELL) was the only member of our father`s PURNELL family still alive. She was well into her 80`s & a wealth of information.She lived to be almost 104 & what a character she was. She told us many names - some nicknames or shortened,all turning out to be true. We found out who our PURNELL Great Grandparents were & from there on we were up & running.Our 1st PURNELL (William)was a convict transported in 1816  from Gloucestershire in England for 7 years for stealing 3 pigs with the help of a male companion arriving aboard the`Larkins`in 1817. To mention the word convict without a name attached was enough to bring Myrtle to say in no uncertain terms for us not to believe everything we heard,understandable in that era.

We later progressed into all branches of our Families & many times we wished Mum was still around to help fit Aunty `so & so ` into the right spot for us.

She would be proud of us.

William PURNELL, transported to Australia in 1817 "Larkins", cohabitated  with Bridget WELSH nee MURRAY & they had two daughters Sarah & Mary & a son  Stephen PURNELL who married Rosetta MOULDS. They were my Great Grandparents.

From William PURNELL our Convict born 1795 Gloucestershire, England,I have  managed to trace back 10 generations to 1400/1500's in Gloucestershire & those  that migrated to Maryland, Virginia USA in the 1600's.