More than 570 people gathered at York Racecourse on Sunday 6 May, coming together with one thing in common.
They all had a connection to one man – Martin Stone.
Martin was a convict on Scindian, the first convict ship to arrive in the Swan River Colony.
It was 1850 and 24-year-old Martin was convict number 25 of 75 men.
He went to York as a Ticket of Leave man, where he married free settler, Emma Bagshaw, and lived out his life as a farmer.
Event coordinator, Jennifer Winter, has been researching Martin’s life on and off for almost twenty years.
She said she started to wonder how many people were alive today because Martin came to York all those years ago, and so her vision of a gathering began.
A committee formed, each representing one of the 13 children of Martin and Emma’s who lived to adulthood.
Jennifer sais the group of hard-working women had the reunion of descendants possible.
“We all pushed ourselves beyond our comfort zone and learned a lot,” she said.
“It has been a fascinating journey.”
Jennifer said establishing that Martin and Emma had 110 grandchildren was the easy part.
“Finding living descendants has been far more challenging than finding ancestors,” she said.
“But we have had so much fun putting it all together and it has been bigger than I could have ever imagined.”
The date chosen for the event was of significance, being almost exactly 110 years since Martin’s death on May 71908 in York.
His obituary in the Eastern Districts Chronicle described him as “one of York’s oldest and most respected residents”.
Jennifer said Martin would have been astounded to know that he and his wife would be responsible for a family tree of more than 4700 people just over a century later.
Hundreds of descendants of Martin Stone, and their families, came to York for the reunion.
Some continued to live in the Wheatbelt, many from other parts of the state, and beyond.
A descendant of Martin’s brother, James Stone, flew over to WA from England especially for the event.
Those in attendance ranged in age from their nineties down to only weeks old.
Many said they had never visited York before, while others were meeting each other for the first time, or after many years apart.
This includes half-siblings who had never met, and first cousins who had not seen each other for over fifty years.
Stories and memories were shared, and people crowded around the family tree charts, old photos and biographies.
Jennifer said there was a real buzz in the air, a sure sign that this event was a catalyst for Martin’s extended family to continue to connect and grow.
She said her children who are in their 30’s are now interested in researching their family history, a goal Jennifer had from the beginning.
She said she wanted to get the younger generations involved in the process.
More family gatherings are planned to take place, but this time with smaller branches of the family tree.
