These pages contain the result of many years of research into my family history. The research covers my father’s (Nichols & Jennings) and my mother’s (Leach and Belshaw) families. They were ordinary families who migrated from places such as Ireland, England and Wales and journeyed to Australia. Some came as convicts, others to make their fortune in the goldfields whilst others to explore new opportunities. I hope you enjoy exploring these pages and if you by chance happen to discover a connection, please get in touch. This site is updated regularly with new details and more information will be added as time goes by, as more resources are examined, and new connections found, so please return often and enjoy your visit!

Genealogy often begins as an interest, then becomes a hobby and eventually an obsession. My interest in Family History has also developed an appreciation of the past. Although I am keen to gather names and dates, I am also fascinated by placing my ancestors into a broader historical context. Now more than ever there is much more material available to easily access, but some information may only be available from personal resources, such as letters, photographs, diaries and reminiscences etc. If your family is fortunate to have some of these items it is a good idea to share them with others. Sharing often leads to advantages such as exchanging certificates, photographs and finding more information.

There are other researchers who have contributed to this research over the years and have provided information some of which is included on this site. To them I am extremely grateful, they've helped put many pieces of the puzzle together. I am a firm believer of preserving our family history records and memories and sharing information to ensure that it will be passed on to forthcoming descendants.

If you have any queries about this website, would like to make a comment or if you have ancestors connected to others on this site, we'd love to hear from you.

Details about people connected to this tree that are “living” have been excluded from these web pages due to privacy issues. These reports were created with The Master Genealogist (TMG) and formatted for the web with a great companion program called Second Site written by John Cardinal.