Welcome to my personal space on the Web.

I have lived in Melbourne, Townsville and Perth prior to moving to Canberra, the Australian national capital, several decades ago.

This website grew from a page first placed online in July 1995. It has changed many times, to reflect my then-current pre-occupations and interests.

My main social/community activities over the past fifty years have involved gay rights, HIV/AIDS activism, amateur boxing, family history research, and campaigning for voluntary assisted dying laws.

This website now mainly concerns the family history research I conducted from 1996 till about 2021.

“Even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights.  He has a right to harbour and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases, provided only he does not try to inflict them upon other men by force.  He has a right to argue for them as eloquently as he can, in season and out of season … But … he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them.  He has no right to demand that they be treated as sacred.  He has no right to preach them without challenge.” (HL Mencken, 1880-1956)*

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” (HL Mencken, 1880-1956)*

* I like those quotes from the American Henry Mencken, though some of the other views he expressed are not agreeable.

“One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. So now people assume that religion and morality have a necessary connection. But the basis of morality is really very simple and doesn’t require religion at all.” (Arthur C. Clarke, 1999)