Search for John Small

 When we were in Dunkeld there was a small bookshop there at the end of the street and we just had to pay them something, as no one went in while we were in the street.  I found a story about one of the first fleet convicts.  The author Mollie Gillen has a family connection to John Small.  We know something of the time and costs of tracking family connections. There are around 500 books and documents listed as source material to uncover this guy's lifetime.  He was a sailor in the early days and at the end of service it generally works out that the pay you are owed is cancelled out by deductions along the way.  So having tried to rob a traveler with some sailor mates, they end up being sent to Australia for seven years but stayed as settlers.  He then survived all the hardship of the colony startup to die at age 89 in 1850 after 62 yar in Australia and with over 70 grandchildren. He was the last survivor of the first fleet.